Style: Power Metal, Progressive Metal (Clean Vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Unlucky Morpheus, Versailles, (Luca Turilli’s) Rhapsody (of Fire), Stratovarius
Country: Japan
Release date: 15 July 2026

---

Vanishingly few artists have escaped this reality: after enough time, the creative well runs dry. How long that takes varies considerably—from the bands who expel all their great ideas on their debut (Warforged) to those that keep the ideas flowing for well over a decade (Dream Theater). Japan’s definitive power metal band, Galneryus, had a fantastic track record over their first sixteen years and twelve albums, but their most recent three, starting with 2021’s Union Gives Strength, have been noticeably more generic—still very good power metal, mind you, just less inspired. Will A Cry from the Sky Above bubble with a newfound verve for Galneryus? The AI-generated art doesn’t inspire hope…

But the tracklist does with its extended runtimes. Galneryus have written several of the best seven–eight-minute power metal songs ever (“Rain of Tears,” “Destiny”), as well as the best lengthy, ten-minute-plus epics (“The Force of Courage,” “Angel of Salvation”)—hell, “Angel of Salvation” is my favorite song of all time. For those who are unfamiliar with Galneryus: Syu’s neoclassical shred—he’s my favorite guitarist of all time—and Sho’s commanding vocals, along with the steamrolling drums of Lia and symphonic edge of keyboardist Yuhki, firmly put Galneryus among the upper echelon of virtuosos in power metal. The band also writes some of the best choruses ever, and their winding long songs mix epic solo sections like Dream Theater with choruses as tight as Blind Guardian’s. It’s the perfect mixture. So with the average track length on A Cry from the Sky Above hovering around the seven-minute mark, along with the longest song of Galneryus’ career, the fifteen-minute “Without You,” I went in cautiously optimistic that Galneryus are wielding proggy song structures to write their most inspired work in a hot minute.

Galneryus aren’t economical with their songwriting on A Cry from the Sky Above, though, and most tracks would benefit from being pared down. The chunky, nine-minute lead single “Light of Hope” is a prototypical Galneryus song—but stretched out. Just like every leaner Galneryus song for twenty years, “Light of Hope” has an anthemic, fist-pumping chorus and mindblowing neoclassical solo duels from guitarist Syu and keyboardist Suhki. But it’s just that for the majority of the track, only straying from the formula near the end where after a slow ballad-y bridge, the band includes a men’s chorus for a exultant conclusion. The song would have been more memorable as a tight banger—and that’s coming from somebody who adores Galneryus’ penchant for excessively long solo sections. Several other tracks on the album suffer a similar fate (“Let No Time Decay,” “Break the Silence!”). The album is deceptively not proggy—it’s bloated.

That would be fine if more tracks were omega bangers like Galneryus used to write, but large chunks of the album are slower than is ideal for the style, making the whole package feel lethargic when I crave—nay demand—high-octane energy. Even “Without You” feels a bit like a self-pastiche of the band’s magnum opus, following a very similar structure as “Angel of Salvation” without reaching the same giddy peaks. I’m thoroughly entertained by the track as a fanboy of the band and style, but I also don’t see myself bothering to return to it when I already have tracks like “The Force of Courage,” “Ultimate Sacrifice,” and “Angel of Salvation” in my back pocket. 

The strongest track on A Cry from the Sky Above is certainly “To the Last Breath”: not only does it up the pace, but it uses Rhapsody-esque orchestration to perform the triumphant main melody. Sho and Syu also demonstrate chemistry here in the verses—the vocals and thrashy guitar energy matching each other’s fervor—that isn’t present on the rest of the album. Ironically, even though I feel like the rhythm guitars are mixed too quietly, I feel Sho’s vocals get lost in them during the record’s verses; thankfully, the producers never lose him on the catchy, soaring choruses. The orchestration is really what boosts “To the Last Breath,” though, because Galneryus opt for cheesy, twinkling keyboards on the rest of A Cry from the Sky Above, starting from the aimless instrumental intro “Call of the Horizon” and ending on pointless instrumental outro “Where You Were.” These keyboards have a tonal quality worse than any other decision in the band’s lengthy career and cheapen the whole experience. So, “To the Last Breath” shows Galneryus are clearly at their best when they lean into their most neoclassical—also note that this is the shortest real track on the album, not coincidentally. 

I’ll be frank: I so badly want to give A Cry from the Sky Above a higher score and ignore its obvious flaws because it’s a style of music I love by an all-time-favorite band. But I can’t in good faith. There are a couple great tracks and a moving ballad (“Echoes of Fate”), and “Without You” is still worthy of being called “epic,” but the album is deeply flawed. Despite the band’s relatively weaker recent output, I’m still a little shocked that Galneryus, a paragon of quality and consistency, has lowered their floor even more: from rock-solid to just good.

---

Recommended tracks: Beyond the Sunrise, To the Last Breath, Echoes of Fate, Without You
You may also like: Syu, Lightbringer, Jupiter
Final verdict: 6/10

Related links: Official Website | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Warner Music Japan

Galneryus is:
– Syu (guitars)
– Sho (vocals)
– Yuhki (keyboards)
– Lea (drums)
– Taka (bass)