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It has been since 2002 with the release of "Eternity" that we last heard a new studio album from the German power metallers Freedom Call. Inbetween they had time to record a double live album which served to satisfy many fans who were hungry for fresh material. It is impossible to mistake a Freedom Call album for anything else and the same goes for the brand new album "The Circle Of Life". It is upbeat and bubbling with positive energy, graced with memorable sing-along choruses produced by the crisp vocals of frontman Chris Bay who is one of the few power metal vocalists who has a personal voice and style of singing. Sometimes the vocals border on cheesy but in this case it doesn't bother me because Chris manages to escape the mouse's trap with ease most of the time. Freedom Call resides on the softer side of the power metal scale but even though I am a big fan of bands like Cannibal Corpse and Darkthrone I have always appreciated the unique sound that has been present on every single release since the 1999 debut "Stairway To Fairyland".
Songs like "Mother Earth", "Starlight" and "Kings & Queens" will stick like glue to your mind right after the first listening session and stand as some of the finer ones in the entire Freedom Call catalogue. When the world is full of Hammerfall and Italian power metal clones it is truely refreshing to listen to a band like this who, despite not re-inventing themselves from time to time, always deliver what is expected from them in a personal fashion. Let us all hope that we will not have to wait until 2008 for the next studio recording because the power metal scene is in urgent need of albums like this one. Warm, passionate, harmonic yet heavy metal at its best. The boys of Freedom Call can still be relied on.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Mother Earth |
| 2. Carry On |
| 3. The Rhythm Of Life |
| 4. Hunting High And Low |
| 5. Starlight |
| 6. The Gathering (Midtro) |
| 7. Kings And Queens |
| 8. Hero Nation |
| 9. High Enough |
| 10. Starchild |
| 11. The Eternal Flame |
| 12. The Circle Of Life |
: 51.03
| Buy other Freedom Call albums |
