'Sevi' is a Bulgarian melodic metal band which has already been in existence for more than 10 years (the first album 'What Lies Beyond' dating from 2012) and which is already on its fourth studio recording with 'Genesis'. It was with this album that I discovered them and, after a first listen, I wanted to dive back into them because I was pleasantly surprised by the catchy melodies which were grafted directly into my head. Led by the singer 'Svetlana Bliznakova' who is also the author and composer of the group and who released a very beautiful solo album 'Tomorrow' in a much more moderate style, we find on bass 'Rally Velinov' (also composer and at the origin of the project with 'Svetlana Bliznakova'), guitarist 'Alexander Kirilov' and drummer 'Pavlin Ivanov'.
On the menu of this album, 12 direct and effective compositions in a radio format not exceeding 4 minutes and for those who followed the last 3 years of this band, singles have already been released, each accompanied by YouTube videos , with first of all 'Shattered' in early 2020, which was followed by 'Dark Knight' in 2021, and finally by 'Hate You' and 'Drowning' in 2022, the first three showing very catchy metal with catchy melodic lines and the last 'Drowning' being a very beautiful ballad in which 'Svetlana Bliznakova' shares the microphone with the singer of 'Axel Rudy Pell', 'Johnny Gioeli'. The rest of the album is like the first three singles and, after the very calm introduction reminiscent of baby music boxes, 'Ghosts' starts the album strong with a melody reminding me of 'Delain', 'Charlotte Wessels' period. The following compositions continue in this strong style with 'Insane' which shows all the lead guitar talent of Alexander Kirilov', then, 'Unreality' is a mid-tempo with beautiful variations of intensity bringing us back to 'Delain'. Make way for the title song, which has nothing to envy of the previous one with its powerful saturated riffs on which 'Svetlana Bliznakova' offers a new admirable vocal performance, the melody reminding me of 'Stream Of Passion' who have just reformed to release the EP 'Beautiful Warrior', then, 'The Spell', introduced by a remarkable guitar solo from Alexander Kirilov' is an up tempo with a catchy melody and catchy rhythm. Follows 'Higher Than the Stars' which highlights the guitarist 'Alexandra Zerner' and the Finnish drummer 'Mirka Rantanen' ('Thunderstone') and 'Svetlana Bliznakova' offers us to close this very beautiful opus the magnificent ballad 'World That Doesn't Fit' which allows us to recover all the energy deployed throughout the album, showing that she is also very comfortable in more moderate atmospheres, atmospheres that we find on his solo album 'Tomorrow' (link above).
In summary, even if the Bulgarians of 'Sevi' are added to the already long list of metal formations whether melodic or symphonic, they show how far they have come over the past ten years by offering us a quality album performed by talented artists led by an excellent singer: if you are a fan of accessible melodic metal, you should undoubtedly adopt 'Genesis' because all the compositions have catchy melodic lines that can be tamed at the first listen... | |
