BLACK & DAMNED – Resurrection

As the follow-up to Servants of the Devil (2023), German heavy metal band Black & Damned are back with their third studio album simply titled, Resurrection (2025). The glorious and eye-catching album cover makes listeners believe there’s greatness to come, but unfortunately, that is not the case.

From Then Till Now

Before continuing, let’s go back to 2020, where guitarist Michael Vetter and vocalist Roland Seidel decided to record an album together during the pandemic. Their goal was to make a modern heavy metal record in the style of Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, and Helloween. With a solid lineup to back them up, Black & Damned released their debut album, Heavenly Creatures (2021), which was produced by Achim Köhler. Servants of the Devil was released two years later, again, produced by Köhler. For their third record, however, Black & Damned went with a different producer, Stefan Leibing.

Resurrection starts off on a high note with the beautiful and atmospheric, “Silence Breaker,” the most power metal-like song on the album. “Red Heavens” is a majestic and soaring ballad with lots of symphonic instrumentation. “Bound by the Moon” is the song for the werewolves. It’s dark, moody, and oddly catchy. “Circle of Amnesia” has a cool marching drum intro before elevating into a magical and stunning, slow headbanger. That one has a great chorus. “Searing Flames” is an upbeat rocker that gives speed metal vibes, but it’s not quite there yet, especially with the tempo changes. There’s some killer wah-wah guitar work on the track, and it goes nicely with the thick and mighty bass line.

The Good and the Bad

Part of the problem with Resurrection is Seidel’s vocals; while his low register is similar to Bruce Dickinson’s low register, he doesn’t stretch his vocal range like the great British frontman. He has his moments on “Red Heavens,” but throughout all of the songs, Seidel stays in a comfortable, midrange level, not adding much variety to the songs. The other noticeable enemy for the album is the band’s obsession with writing slow, mid tempo songs. Every song has a slow, midtempo portion included, maybe even below midtempo? Not every song needs a slow portion because the tempo changes and time signatures are confusing to keep up with, especially on the closing track, “Navigate Me to the Sun.” There’s not much variety to enjoy musically, making the album very boring to listen to, despite the standout tracks on the album.

As for the positives, besides the songs mentioned above, the melodic guitar work is really good and it adds to the atmospheric vibe of the album. The thick bass lines are also fun to listen to. Sonically, the album sounds great, not too slick, but more so in the middle, again, with the midrange references. Oh, and the band gets an A for effort. Hey, the Rossington Collins Band only made two studio albums, so at least Black & Damned made it to album number three.

Final Assessment

In the end, it all comes down to the listener because everyone hears things differently. If curious, give Black & Damned’s Resurrection a chance!

Album Tracklist

1. Silence Breaker
2. Ruthless Wrath
3. Red Heavens
4. Bound by the Moon
5. Circle of Amnesia
6. Injustice
7. Searing Flames
8. Shadows
9. Reborn in Solitude
10. Navigate Me to the Sun

Band Lineup

Roland “Bobbes” Seidel – lead vocals
Michael Vetter – guitars
Aki Reissmann – guitars
Pappe Lee – bass guitar
Axel Winkler – drums