SEVENTH WONDER – Mercy Falls [Frontiers Records Reissue] (2023) *HQ*

SEVENTH WONDER are among the most amazing melodic progressive metal acts from the last two decades. Frontiers Music will reissue the long out of print first four studio albums from the Swedish Progressive Metal masters: “Become”, “Waiting In The Wings”, “Mercy Falls”, and “The Great Escape”.
Seventh Wonder was formed in 2000 by bassist Andreas Blomqvist, guitarist Johan Liefvendahl, and drummer Johnny Sandin after their previous band fell apart. The music they were writing and playing quickly turned towards progressive metal. Two demos were recorded and the latter caught the attention of Lion Music, who signed the band. That collaboration spawned the first Seventh Wonder album, ‘Become’, which was released in 2005.
”Mercy Falls” is the third Seventh Wonder studio record, a concept album that tells the story of a victim of a car crash who, upon awakening from a coma, finds himself in the mysterious town of Mercy Falls, a fictional world he has dreamed up in his comatose state.
It’s the only Seventh Wonder album consisting in short tracks. Musically surpasses the previous efforts – if that is possible – in an absolutely stellar manner. Just… Brilliant.

The nature of this tale sets ”Mercy Falls” on a different pedestal than its predecessor, one that practically extinguishes their metal influences. Just looking at the album art you can gather that this will be a darker, more personal affair, but not nearly to the extent that the band feel transformed again.
Instrumentally, ”Mercy Falls” is a fitting successor to Waiting in the Wings, though Seventh Wonder have made a few small, appropriate changes.
One of the band’s endearing qualities has been (and continues to be) their emphasis on Andreas Blomqvist, who again shines by making a strong case for memorable basslines. This time, however, the rest of the band have started catching up; there’s definitely a more balanced sense to not just how everyone plays, but how they’ve been mixed together.

You can immediately notice this in “Welcome to Mercy Falls,” the third of what could be called the album’s intro tracks. The drums have been brought up to enhance the backing rhythm Blomqvist would’ve previously dominated, creating a stronger overall foundation for the music. From this we’re able to notice a bit more from the guitar leads and keyboards, with the latter (by Andreas Soderin) being memorable thanks to a host of recurring notes throughout the entire album.

Discussing Seventh Wonder post-debut album wouldn’t be complete without appraisal to singer Tommy Karevik, who could deliver the same performance level on every album and still leave our ears in a constant state of climax.
Yet even he took a subtly different approach for ”Mercy Falls”, namely with regards to how he handles his enthusiasm. He’s still as powerful as before, but the serious nature of the album is kept all the more in-check when he sings. It doesn’t feel like he’s trying to show off as much, and to compensate, we get a more palpable sense of emotion from his deliveries. This works even better when you consider the above points about the band feeling wholly balanced.
Where Waiting in the Wings at times felt like a clash of proficiency, often by Blomqvist and Karevik, ”Mercy Falls” consistently feels like a true team effort.

”Mercy” Falls also remains Seventh Wonder’s longest album to date, clocking in at just under 75 minutes. Since the aforementioned proficiency is still in high supply (just better handled), there is a slight growing curve.
One may be turned off by the initial batch of spoken words (“A New Beginning” and “Tears for a Son”).
Thankfully, the album barely contains any of these after “Paradise” kicks off, beginning a stretch of tracks that dedicated listeners will eventually find themselves engrossed by.
Like Waiting in the Wings, ”Mercy Falls” contains a 9-minute song (“Break the Silence”), a captivating piece, and just one of many shining moments in what may end up being the band’s most elaborated album.
A mindblowing listening experience.
HIGHLY Recommended

01 – A New Beginning
02 – There And Back
03 – Welcome To Mercy Falls
04 – Unbreakable
05 – Tears For A Father
06 – A Day Away
07 – Tears For A Son
08 – Paradise
09 – Fall In Line
10 – Break The Silence
11 – Hide And Seek
12 – Destiny Calls
13 – One Last Goodbye
14 – Back In Time
15 – The Black Parade

Tommy Karevik – vocals
Johan Liefvendahl – guitars
Andreas Blomqvist – bass
Andreas Söderin – keyboards
Johnny Sandin – drums
with:
Jenny Karevik – female vocals

Pre order:
www.amazon.de/-/en/Seventh-Wonder/dp/B0C6MMKWYS