Serious Black

Vengeance Is Mine

Release
February 25, 2022
Genre
Melodic Metal
Producer
Mario Lochert
Studio
Serious Black Studios, Munich / Kirchseeon
Cover Artwork
Stan W. Decker
Photographer
Thomas Friedl

One of the new songs on Serious Black’s upcoming studio album ‘Vengeance Is Mine’ is called
‘Album Of Our Life’ and hits the nail on the head in several respects. On the one hand, the
international power metal band surrounding bassist and founder Mario Lochert has succeeded
in creating what is probably the most powerful and imaginative work of its career so far, with
loads of great guitar riffs, grooving rhythms and anthemic melodies. On the other hand, the
album’s lyrics venture into territories previously uncharted by the band. Lochert: “This time, I
have allowed more insights into my emotions and private life than ever before, i.e. into how I
think, how I feel, how I am, and how difficult it can be to keep a band going when you yourself
aren’t well. The lyrics on ‘Vengeance Is Mine’ reflect the past four or five years. This, of course,
has had an impact on the songwriting, which has become even more intense and emotional.”

Serious Black’s mastermind is referring to an album that is scheduled for release on 25 Febuary
2022, but will provide plenty of appetisers beforehand in the shape of four lead singles. 17
September 2021 will see the arrival of ‘The Story’, including an official lyric video, followed just
under a month later on 15 October 2021 by the second single including the official music video.
The third song, supported by another lyric video, will arrive at the physical and digital stores on
2 December 2021, before the main single ‘Out Of The Ashes’ (also including an official video
clip) will be out on 7 January 2022. The full new album will be available exactly three weeks
later.

Lochert`s assessment that his band has succeeded in creating a masterpiece in ‘Vengeance Is
Mine’ is based on the band’s latest addition: Nikola Mijic, a powerful singer from Serbia who,
after a successful guest appearance with British act Eden`s Curse, has become Serious Black’s
new frontman. Mijić has replaced the group’s former vocalist Urban Breed, who had announced
his departure in spring 2021. Lochert: “To be honest, we were pretty stunned when Urban left
during of the songwriting for ‘Vengeance Is Mine’, but of course, we wish him all the best for
the future. Since we didn’t want to lose any time due to Urban's departure, we immediately set
about looking for a new singer while continuing to work on the new material.” Fortunately, help
was at hand: Serious Black`s vocalist friend Henning Basse (ex-Metalium, -Firewind) stepped in
to help work out the vocal melodies and vocal phrasing of five songs, and Greek
multi-instrumentalist Bob Katsionis (Firewind, Outloud) supported the writing of the new
material. Lochert: “We have been close friends with Henning and Bob for years, so we were of
course very happy that they helped out.”
https://www.serious-black.com https://www.facebook.com/seriousblackofficial/
+49 40 67509788-411 Sidney Weiß sw@afm-records.de

info@afm-records.de https://www.facebook.com/afmrecords
+49 40 67509788-0 https://www.youtube.com/afmrecords
https://www.afm-records.de https://www.instagram.com/afm.records
https://shop.afm-records.de Van-der-Smissen-Str. 3, 22767 Hamburg, Germany https://www.twitter.com/afm_records
And so what belongs together has at last come together in Serious Black: Thanks to Nikola
Mijić’s expressive timbre, guitarist Dominik Sebastian’s rapid riffs and hooks, drummer Ramy
Ali’s driving grooves and bassist and bandleader Mario Lochert’s diverse songwriting,
‘Vengeance Is Mine’ has turned into a prime example of a deeply melodic and at the same time
exudingly dynamic power metal album.

‘Vengenance Is Mine’ was produced and mixed by Lochert at his Serious Black Studio in
Kirchseeon. The guitars were recorded by Dominik Sebastian at his own studio and all
orchestral arrangements and keyboards were cut by Bob Katsionis in Greece. Serious Black
enlisted singer Anna Likunic from Belgrade for the anthemnic background vocals (Lochert: “You
could also say: angel choirs!”). Mika Jussila (Avantasia, Stratovarius, Nightwish) was in charge
of the first mastering sessions at the renowned Finnvox Studios in Helsinki, before the
recordings were polished by Konst Fischer during a second, innovative mastering process to
optimise the sound. Lochert: “This time we really pulled out all the stops to get the optimum
result. And I think our efforts have really paid off!”

Artist Line-Up
Nikola Mijic (Vocals), Dominik Sebastian (Guitar), Bob Katsionis (Guitar) Mario Lochert (Bass), Rami Ali (Drums)

Tracklisting
CD or DVD: (00:52:41)
CD 01 - Rock With Us Tonight | CD 02 - Out Of The Ashes | CD 03 - Fallen Hero | CD 04 - Senso Della Vita | CD 05 - Ray Of
Light | CD 06 - Soul Divider | CD 07 - Tonight I'm Ready To Fight | CD 08 - Just For You | CD 09 - Soldiers Of Eternal Light |
CD 10 - The Story | CD 11 - Queen Of Lies | CD 12 - Album Of Our Life | CD 13 - Alea Iacta Est |
Vinyl: (00:48:27)
A 01 - Rock With Us Tonight | A 02 - Out Of The Ashes | A 03 - Fallen Hero | A 04 - Senso Della Vita | A 05 - Ray Of Light | A
06 - Soul Divider | B 07 - Tonight I'm Ready To Fight | B 08 - Soldiers Of Eternal Light | B 09 - The Story | B 10 - Queen Of
Lies | B 11 - Album Of Our Life | B 12 - Alea Iacta Est |

Tour Dates
24.11.2021 - ES - Barcelona | 25.11.2021 - ES - Madrid | 26.11.2021 - ES - Vitoria | 27.11.2021 - ES - Valldolid | 28.11.2021 -
ES - Vigo | 26.01.2022 - HU - Budapest | 27.01.2022 - AT - Salzburg | 28.01.2022 - DE - Selb | 29.01.2022 - DE - Stuttgart |
30.01.2022 - DE - Saabrücken | 31.01.2022 - CH - Pratteln | 01.02.2022 - FR - Paris | 02.02.2022 - BE - Bilzen | 03.02.2022 -
DE - Bremen | 04.02.2022 - NL - Tilburg | 05.02.2022 - DE - Monheim Am Rhein | 06.02.2022 - DE - Bochum | 08.02.2022 -
DE - Hamburg | 09.02.2022 - DE - Frankfurt | 10.02.2022 - DE - Berlin | 11.02.2022 - CZ - Prag | 12.02.2022 - DE - Leipzig |
13.02.2022 - DE - München |

https://www.serious-black.com https://www.facebook.com/seriousblackofficial/
+49 40 67509788-411 Sidney Weiß sw@afm-records.de

info@afm-records.de https://www.facebook.com/afmrecords
+49 40 67509788-0 https://www.youtube.com/afmrecords
https://www.afm-records.de https://www.instagram.com/afm.records
https://shop.afm-records.de Van-der-Smissen-Str. 3, 22767 Hamburg, Germany https://www.twitter.com/afm_records