Freedom Call - Beyond (2014) [Gorgatz]

Freedom Call - Beyond (2014) [Gorgatz]



- I N F O -

True in the name of fantasy, true in the name of what is Metal and the heavenly meaning of life of enjoyment and partying, looking for the right thrill. It is above and beyond being mere serious about things, it is about letting yourself out, free as bird, or an eagle in the sky looking for chances, for its next prey. Keeping it steady as they go, not abiding by any other contemporary trend, there is the German FREEDOM CALL, a veteran band led by Chris Bay, no short or far in their musical range than late 80’s / early 90’s HELLOWEEN along with a hefty dosage of mid to late 90’s GAMMA RAY, retaining it Teutonic, massively melodic and bombastically memorable as it can be. Following a tight stature, FREEDOM CALL is about to release their eighth album, “Beyond”, via SPV / Steamhammer Records. Though easily a reminiscent of everything that is considered German Metal, minus ACCEPT, or melodically within the German Metal scene, this album strongly positioned FREEDOM CALL as a free spirit, implementing flowing and smooth songativity, a measure of cheerfulness, plenty of imagination but with a distinct upfront Power Metal prowess.

Fortunately, I had the chance to write about the band’s previous, “Land Of The Crimson Dawn”, and also the “Legend Of The Shadowking” album, and it helped me to keep a certain perspective with “Beyond”. Scouring and molesting this album for countless of times, it made me realize how glued I was to the songs. It is fairly true that FREEDOM CALL are the last band to be recognized as genuine, especially with the adjacent proximity to GAMMA RAY (Sometimes even Chris Bay sounds like Kai Hansen) and at times one would notice how their melodic guitaring, meaning the leads and licks aren’t that varied and being represented as clichés under equally similar templates in different versions. However, in an awkward kind of way, this foursome crew has the ability to keep certain elements as their own, for example their commendable lust for life that inspired positivity within their tunes, adhering party like tracks of Traditional Metal, leaving Hard Rock and emotive AOR behind, while flaring the Boogie with heaviness and class. In overall, “Beyond” felt less dark, needless to say sinister, than its previous contenders. On the contrary, it is much more welcoming, haunting, harmonic, fluent songwriting that somewhat focused on the traditional structure of 80’s oriented songs along with emphasizing the choruses that are the bread and butter for any sing along. Instrumentally, I noticed raging rhythm guitar heavy riffery and brick wall rhythm section searing speed junkets by the book, while pampering all the merits that preserved German Metal’s influence. Also several tuned thundered with wonderful soloing and of course, hard to pass it by, tremendous vocal performance under an extraordinary vocal production, nothing shorter than a semi operatic conclusion.

Thus, while virtually crossing the hour mark, “Beyond” felt as if it was much shorter in length, it passed me by so rapidly that I just had to push the play button once again to let the material sweep me for another outing. “Heart Of A Warrior” is yet another war hero track, a hymn that is one of the many that signaled me why Metal music is the best thing that ever happened to, a classic Power Metal emblem that had me thinking of early HAMMERFALL, specifically due to its emphatic chorus. “Paladin” and “Follow Your Heart”, a chain of two hits, one by one they barraged my essence with memorable sheer moments of heavenly glory, musically nothing really changed, captivating melodic turmoil, sparkling with a few heavier passages, yet I was more obsessed by production of the vocals, typically on these two, multi channeled fury highlighting an imposing spiritual release, riding into the night under the wings of a dragon. “Beyond”, could be mistaken as the album’s epic, yet though its length, it is nothing of a sort from my end. This song’s character is the precise formula and means for the creation of an ultimate Power Metal track tracking over seven minutes. Infusing GAMMA RAYish harmonic main lead guitar riff, bombastically treading near operatic proportions and combining them with both slow to fast tempo drum ignitions, you may have yourself a winner, an ultimate song that will carry you with it for just enough time for you to grasp it straightforwardly.

FREEDOM CALL, in their own special way, might be disjointed a bit from what is happening around them, as our existence became harsher over the years, however, they remained true to their previous forms, snubbed Hard Rock a bit in favor of hard to the bone Metal, reoccurring themselves occasionally but in this here release formed a heartwarming demonstration of notable songwriting that would cause you to bite the bullet time and time again.

Freedom Call – a.k.a. the happiest power metal band in the universe – are back with a new studio offering, their eighth overall, titled Beyond. The long-running German band took a risk with their last album – 2012’s Land of the Crimson Dawn – where they mixed in quirky, Edguy-style rock songs with their usual shiny, happy, power metal. It wasn’t terribly well received, so the band is back on (very) familiar territory with Beyond.

If you have at least one older Freedom Call album, you probably know what to expect from Beyond. The band basically takes the Helloween formula and makes it even faster and more melodic. Between Chris Bay’s melodic guitar work and his high-pitched vocals, it’s hard to sit still when a Freedom Call album is playing. Beyond takes the band back to the familiar lyrical territory of warriors, enchanted lands and unity in metal. Yes, it’s cheesy and yes, it’s a little weird to hear battle hymns sung in such a high octave, but it’s so damned hard to resist when these guys get going. Only “Come on Home” and “In the Rhythm of Light” bear a resemblance to the quirkier songs from the previous album. The rest – especially “Union of the Strong,” “Knights of Taragon” and “Journey Into Wonderland” – are back to basics Freedom Call anthems.

Freedom Call may not be breaking any new ground here, but chances are if you’ve stuck with the band this far that probably won’t bother you too much. Beyond is a very solid, totally enjoyable addition to the Freedom Call discography, and will probably be a most welcome return to form for those fans that were turned off by Land of the Crimson Dawn. If you’re new to the band or a casual fan it’s really hard to beat those first three albums. Either way, if you’re a fan of bands like Helloween, Gamma Ray and Gloryhammer, you need to have some Freedom Call in your collection. Go forth, Knights of Taragon!

Edition Notes: There is a limited box set version of Beyond that features deluxe packaging, a poster and a second disc with live and unplugged tracks. It’s a nice looking release, and a cool display piece for those who still buy physical media.

- T R A C K L I S T -

01. Union of the Strong
02. Knights of Taragon
03. Heart of a Warrior
04. Come on Home
05. Beyond
06. Among the Shadows
07. Edge of the Ocean
08. Journey into Wonderland
09. In the Rhythm of Light
10. Dance Off the Devil
11. Paladin
12. Follow Your Heart
13. Colours of Freedom
14. Beyond Eternity

Format: 192 mp3
Genre: Power Metal
Size: 91.92 MB