Freedom Call

"Eternity"
(SPV)  

Hail the metal invasion! Freedom Call have just released their third album (always an important and decisive album in any band's career), and if you like power and/or progressive metal, this is definitely worth checking out! It's all here-galloping guitar riffs, double bass drumming, rich, soaring, operatic vocal harmonies (singer/guitarist Chris Bay does sound quite a lot like Hammer Fall's Joacim Cans), and they also use some violins, keyboards, and other orchestral instruments and arrangements (a la Rhapsody or Blind Guardian) in some of their music, which is very melodic. Freedom Call can be compared to all the "usual suspects" (some of which I already mentioned): Helloween, Hammer Fall, Blind Guardian, Gamma Ray, Virgin Steele, Rhapsody, Dream Theatre, etc. Many of the album's songs go full speed ahead, like "Metal Invasion", "Flying High", "Ages Of Power", and "Warriors", among others. We also have a couple of ballads: the Queen influenced "Bleeding Hearts", which is very nicely done, and the album's closing track, "Turn Back Time", on which they use classical guitar and power chords, more of a typical "power ballad", for lack of a better term, but still good. According to the press release that came with the album, these songs are the first time the band has used acoustic guitar in their music, so they seem to be exploring some new ground with their new album. They also have a couple of more mid-paced songs on here, those being the Zeppelin-ish "Flame In The Night", and "Land Of Light". The lyrics are your typical power metal fare, but who cares about lyrics? It's the music that matters, and the music on here is very good. Freedom Call are a talented band who play very well, and have turned out a fine power metal opus here. Things can only go up for these guys! One could argue that they're no different from the other many power metal bands around today, and granted, they're not really doing anything all that different, but does that mean they suck? Hell, no! A good band is a good band, so listen without judgment! You may call bands like this "cookie cutter", but some of us like the way the cookie tastes! And this "cookie" has all the right ingredients! Being a power metal junkie myself, I can never say anything bad about a band like this (Anybody got a problem with that?). For more info check out www.freedom-call.de.

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