MAJESTICA – Above The Sky [Digipak +2] (2019)

Currently the guitar player for Sabaton, Tommy Johansson previously fronted his own band ReinXeed. Put on hiatus due Sabaton’s busy schedule, now Tommy reformed ReinXeed, re-branded the group to MAJESTICA, and the band is releasing their debut CD “Above The Sky” tomorrow.
On the 10-track record – plus 2 bonus tracks in this Digipak version – Tommy presents not only his guitar skills but also his vocal abilities once again, more mature and focused than before.

Majestica sounds heavy, yet groovy and melodious. Their sound is typical power metal 2010’s: commercial and pretty catchy, metallic at places, with a harmonic twin guitar tamdem driving the songs, clean vocals, keyboard flousishes and a pinch of sympho.
While the musicianship on “Above The Sky” is tremendous, thematically Majestica have opened the gates to apply their sound to some themes not usually associated with this genre.

The colourfully sinister organ features in the suggestively titled ‘Mötley True’ recount an intense mission for metal, while ‘Night Call Girl’ is a brilliantly innovative track, invoking a seedy 1980s atmosphere with more than one foot in the grimy real world and conspicuously eschewing the opulent sense of uplift normally infused into power metal.

Lyrically, lines offered by ‘The Rat Pack’, such as ‘your credit cards won’t help you when I call on my horde …’ hint at Majestica’s expansive and indeed humorous application of power metal prerogatives on the album. Majestica’s inventiveness takes its ultimate form in ‘Father Time’, which is playfully upbeat in an almost carnivalesque sense, and darkly hilarious lyrically.

With trumpets sounding proudly, ‘The Legend’ is like a symphonised Freedom Call, complete with its ultra catchy singalong chorus and grabbing, passionate riffs all capped off once again by Johansson’s astounding voice that is as high as it is heartfelt.
Hugely impressive, “Above The Sky” is truly up in the clouds as its title suggests. It’s a twist on the regular power / classic metal, and I like it.
Strongly Recommended

01. Above The Sky
02. Rising Tide
03. The Rat Pack
04. Mötley True
05. The Way To Redemption
06. Night Call Girl
07. Future Land
08. The Legend
09. Father Time (Where Are You Now)
10. Alliance Forever
Bonus Tracks:
11. Future Land (2002)
12. Spaceballs

Tommy ‘ReinXeed Johansson’ – Vocals, Guitars
Alex Ortiz – Guitars
Chris David – Bass
with:
Uli Kusch (Helloween, Gamma Ray) – Drums

Pre Order:
www.nuclearblast.de/en/products/tontraeger/cd/cd-digi/majestica-above-the-sky.html
.