FREEDOM CALL - Land Of The Crimson Dawn CD Review

ARTIST: Freedom Call
TITLE: Land of the Crimson Dawn
LABEL: SPV / Steamhammer
YEAR: 2012
REVIEWED BY: Steve Miller

I'm going to preface this review with a well known fact about myself : I fucking love Power Metal. I'm actually warming myself up for this album with a nice Rum and Coke and listening to Helloween's "Better Than Raw" and subsequently, most likely Blind Guardian's "Imaginations From the Other Side". After that, I'm going to rock the living hell out of Stratovarius' "Infinity" (which is next to impossible for me NOT to jam along to on my guitar, that is some classic, sappy, cheese filled, LAME [but wicked] PM). Now, I know what you're thinking right now : "Steve, what the hell dude, you do this all the time, shut up about bands we already know are great, get to the new Freedom Call, or at least make some mention of the related Gamma Ray!".

I'm getting to it, don't worry gents, and apparently, some ladies (not being sexist or anything, but I can count on 2 hands the amount of women I see at Power Metal concerts unless it's Sonata Arctica). I'm a little apprehensive to even listen to this album. You see, once upon a time (yeah, old Freedom Call fans will see what I did there) I was completely in love with Freedom Call, for the sake of argument, let's call this 2002. I remember hanging out with the dudes from Borealis [sub-point to Power fans, wicked Ontario based Power Metal band from my hometown, 2 solid albums], and just completely overplaying the hell out of Live Invasion. Then the unthinkable happened, and it was called "The Circle of Life". It was lame, repetitive and completely uninspired. After that, it just sort of got... somehow worse.

Well, I'm about to dive into their upcoming release "Land of the Crimson Dawn" (it's late, so forgive me for the tangents, but can a PM band not release an album or song without the words "land", "dawn", "crimson", or any sort of element? Come on, Manowar did that to DEATH). Enough, enough, time to bite the bullet, pull out a sword and ride into non Viking-Metal battle!

So I do have to say, this looks like a pretty daunting task, this is a 14 track album, and I've still got a baaaaad taste from the last few releases. So far after three tracks, I've got to say, I'm getting a "Crystal Empire" feel from this, which I'm completely fine with. I've found a good solid groove to the traditional battering style of our beloved cousin of Heavy Metal to lock into, and don't think I've stopped bouncing in front of the monitor. Lyrically, they're about on par with the rest of traditional Power Metal, except I'm not sure if I've heard anything about a dragon yet, which naturally loses points. "I wants to rides ins on a dragons!". There is the second track "Rockstars", which I was slightly afraid was going to be Edguy-esque, but thankfully, I'm pulling a complete Helloween vibe off of. The title track "Crimson Dawn" is pretty damn catchy and I'm still locked into the groove, and can see loads of people adopting this as a drinking anthem.

There is a pleasant oddity arising thus far : This is more like a Freedom Call album, and the only original member remaining is vocalist Chris Bay. Lars Rettkowitz is doing a pretty good job delivering the axe chops, and I have to say, Klaus Sperling is doing a pretty decent job of replacing Dan Zimmermann (who is best known for his battery attacks in Gamma Ray). "99 Warriors" is a total throwback to "Warriors of Light" and other such gems as "Warriors of Warrioring" and "Wario the Warrior" (I may have made those last two up, but you know, Freedom Call like warriors). It's a little repetitive, but the nice melodic solo break in the middle splits the heavy from the chanting elements.

You'll have to excuse me for a moment, I cannot stop laughing at "Warrior on Video" for it's complete radio pop vocal intro and Valley of "Kingdom". As soon as I hear the word rainbow I lose it. Regardless of pounding drums, tight leads and a decent vocal performance, these lyrics just SCREAM "Yep, we're the band that has an album called STAIRWAY TO [god-damned] FAIRYLAND".

The rest of the album plays out like you'd expect of Freedom Call, except they thankfully left out the usual sappy-as-hell-ballad. There are so many glorious (THEIR LYRICS ARE INFECTIOUS I SWEAR) moments that begin so ball-bustingly-heavy, but fall into the usual repetition of their usual material. After all this, I can't help but think that maybe change may be good for them, but most certainly in a different direction than their last few albums. Not to say I didn't enjoy this album, and get so nostalgic I'm actually listening to "Eternity" right now, but I would have liked to see them play out some of those heavier moments like Helloween did in "Escalation 666" or something to the tune of that. Also; less about wanting to be a Rock Star would be nice...

I guess my Freedom Call crisis of faith is over, and can proudly (but not too loudly) proclaim that once again, I've rejoined the ranks of the Warriors of Light, but here's to hoping they'll come around my neck of the woods on tour some time (not likely) and play out some of those ballsy riffs a little longer for the crowd to get into it!

TRACKLISTING:
01. Age of the Phoenix
02. Rockstars
03. Crimson Dawn
04. 66 Warriors
05. Back into the Land of Light
06. Sun in the Dark
07. Hero on Video
08. Valley of Kingdom
09. Killer Gear
10. Rockin` Radio
11. Terra Liberty
12. Eternity
13. Space Legends
14. Power & Glory