Seven Kingdoms were once a promising outfit creating excellent, High-Fantasy-inspired, European-style Power Metal from. . . *checks notes*. . . Florida? Really? Fifteen years into their career, they’re now a great band, still producing some of the best Power Metal of the modern era. But they’re not just churning out the same album over and over; they’ve grown in all the right ways, as evidenced on their 2022 release, “Zenith.”

The lyrics still draw from geeky materials (Is it weird for a band from Florida to sing that “The North remembers?”), but their topics and storytelling have also become more diverse, richer, and more mature.
Possibly the most important evolution for this band, fully evident on “Zenith:” they’re having a good time. It’s not a joke, a la Steel Panther or Alestorm, but they’ve grown confident and comfortable enough to allow themselves to have some fun - - on stage, in videos, and on record. This lighter attitude sometimes brings in elements of 80s Glam Metal and AOR, but it never feels out of place. Not a single long term SK fan will feel betrayed; this emerging aspect of their sound works beautifully. It also frees them up for killer cover tunes, like Heart’s “Barracuda” and Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer” from previous releases, and Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself For Loving You” on this album.
Seven Kingdoms continue to deliver excellent high tempo double-bass-drum, sixteenth-note riffs when they choose to, but they’re also now bringing different musical feels, styles, moods, tones, influences, and textures to their songwriting. Every song on the album is well-written and distinctive. Melodic, heavy, powerful, evocative, charged, kinetic - - everything you want from a Power Metal record. SK’s twin lead guitars shine with tremendous power and riffs. Look, I love and appreciate the bass as its own vital instrument; I will defend it until the end - - but its absence is a non-factor here. You don’t miss it.
But of course, the real not-so-secret weapon to their sound, what brings everything together, is Sabrina Cruz. That she can go from Joan Jett to Anne Wilson to soaring Brittany Slayes-esque vox, with charisma, pathos, and talent x10,000, is simply astonishing. She has so many weapons in her arsenal, and she can deliver on just about any level. Sabrina is truly one of the best frontpersons in the modern Metal world. The stellar backing vocals from the rest of the band certainly don’t hurt.
The “Zenith” tracks that have been burning holes in my speakers: “The Water Dance,” “Valonquar,” “Empty Eyes,” “Life Signs,” and yes, “I Hate Myself For Loving You.”
This is great stuff for just about any Metal audience, but especially for those with a love of classic, traditional Power Metal.