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Artist: Freedom Call |
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Formed
back in early 1998 Freedom Fall is the brainchild of vocalist/guitarist
Chris Bay and drummer Dan Zimmermann, who were joined by Sascha Gerstner
on guitars, (who later went on to join Helloween and was replaced by
Cedric Dupont from Symforce) and completing the line-up Ilker Ersin on
bass. Since their first album ‘Stairway to Fairyland’, the
band have grown in stature and with the following studio albums
‘Crystal Empire’ in 2000, ‘Eternity’ in 2002 and ‘The Circle
of Life’ in 2005. ‘Dimensions’ also sees the band with a couple of band member changes. Firstly a new bass player in Armin Donderer who replaces Ersin, who left the band shortly after the completion of ‘The Cirlce of Life’ and who went on to form Powerworld, and a new guitarist in the very talented Lars Rettkowitz. The year is 3051 and the world is under a blackened sun, and thus the album raises the question if the climatic disaster of all disasters is imminent, what future does the human race have and asks if the future lies not on earth, but perhaps on another planet in the universe. The album itself gets underway with the intro ‘Demons Dance’ which lays down the foundations and mood for the rest of the album (as all good intros should), then it's into the album proper with ‘Innocent World’, and instantly your captivated by the power and grace of the bands sound as they mix grandiose guitar structure with a pile-driver of a rhythm section, all encased in huge vocals of Bay, from this point on in you're hooked on the album. The splendour continues with ‘United Alliance’, this time with a more up-tempo guitar spewn assault, while still retaining that melodic edge that has made the band so popular. The album continues with the riff laden heavy metal sounding of ‘Mr Evil’, a track that reminds me very much of Helloween in its conception, before really showing what they can do with the excellent ‘Queen of My World’. This is the band at their grandiose best as they bring a little Power Metal into the mix of harder edged rock with rampaging guitars, then picking up the rhythm section with a hammering attack on the senses, before letting Rettkowitsz show his worth with some quite outrageous riffs. Another track where Rettkowitsz shines is ‘Light Up The Sky’, a track that starts off from humble beginnings, but quickly builds into a flurry of guitars and keyboards along side the powerhouse rhythm section. Things slow down just a little on ‘Word of Endeavour’. This semi acoustic Power Metal ballad breaks up the album nicely with it's almost symphonic edge and also gives Bay with a chance to show off his vocal prowess, as with this he gives one of his best vocal performances on the album. The serenity is short lived as the band turn up the heat once more with the darkly moody ‘Blackened Sun’, before really going all out in the title track ‘Dimensions’ and the riff laden ‘My Dying Paradise’. The
album finishes with my two favourite tracks off the album, firstly the
bass driven tones of ‘Magic Moments’ and secondly the album closer
the superb dance along tones of ‘Far Away’, which comes complete
with bagpipe intro and rounds of a truly magnificent album. |
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Tracklisting:
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All content copyright of The Mayfair Mall Zine unless otherwise stated. |
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