FREEDOM CALL

German happy metal pioneers FREEDOM CALL have unveiled their brand-new single and video, ‘Heavy Metal Happycore‘, offering a joyful and high-energy statement that feels like both a celebration and a manifesto.
Adding extra firepower to the track is a guest appearance by Petri Lindroos of Ensiferum, whose unmistakable voice brings an additional edge to Freedom Call’s trademark sound.
With ‘Heavy Metal Happycore‘, the band takes its long-established ‘Happy Metal‘ identity and pushes it to a new extreme.
The song was conceived as a kind of superlative – a way of sharpening and redefining the style Freedom Call have stood for since their beginnings:
extremely melodic, instantly catchy metal paired with uplifting, life-affirming lyrics.
The result is a track that feels familiar yet freshly energized, designed to grab the listener from the very first seconds.
Frontman Chris Bay describes the idea behind the song as a conscious step forward for the band.
Inspired by the overwhelming energy and enthusiasm of their audience, Freedom Call set out to write a piece that distills all the essential elements of their musical DNA into one concise statement.
Big hooks, soaring melodies and an unshakeable sense of positivity come together in a song that not only reflects the band’s past, but also points toward what Bay calls a new era of Happy Metal – Happycore.
Musically, ‘Heavy Metal Happycore‘ is pure Freedom Call:
driving riffs, triumphant choruses and an atmosphere that radiates optimism without losing its metallic punch.
The collaboration with Petri Lindroos adds a powerful contrast, bridging Freedom Call’s euphoric style with a rougher, more aggressive vocal tone, and underlining the song’s ‘heavy‘ side without compromising its uplifting spirit.
With this release, Freedom Call once again underline their unique position within the metal scene.
‘Heavy Metal Happycore‘ is not just a new single – it’s a bold declaration of intent, celebrating joy, unity and the enduring power of melodic metal.

track-list:
Silver Romance
Symphony Of Avalon
Supernova
Infinity
Out Of Space
Distant Horizon
In Quest Of Love
Blue Giant
Meteorite
Big Bang Universe
New Haven
High Above
Metal Generation

Freedom Call are:
Chris Bay – vocals, guitar
Lars Rettkowitz – guitar
Francesco Ferraro – bass
Ramy Ali – drums

An album title that fits perfectly in two respects:
‘Silver Romance’ is the name of the latest release by southern German melodic power metal act Freedom Call.
The moniker not only stands for the band’s 25th anniversary – referred to by singer/guitarist and band founder Chris Bay tongue-in-cheek as ‘our silver wedding anniversary‘ – but also applies to the content of the recording:
“Qualities such as clarity, freedom and lightness are attributed to silver as a precious metal,”
explains Bay, adding:
“Silver is also said to strengthen your self-confidence and imagination. These are all features that also suit Freedom Call and that we’ve incorporated into our new material, both musically and lyrically.”
‘Silver Romance’ will be available on CD, double LP, box set and for digital download on Steamhammer/SPV from 10 May 2024, and Bay and Co. are set to start their 2024 concert activities only a few days later.
To ease the wait until then, four lead singles will be out ahead of the album release, starting from 21 February with the title track ‘Silver Romance’, including a making-of video, followed by ‘In Quest Of Love’ and ‘High Above’ on 20 March and 10 April, both of them complete with lyric clips.
Two days before the album’s arrival, 8 May 2024 will see ‘Supernova’, supported by a superb video, round off the quartet of singles.
Chris Bay and bandmates Lars Rettkowitz (guitar), Francesco Ferraro (bass) and Ramy Ali (drums), the latter having returned from a private hiatus, have recorded more than a dozen new tracks for ‘Silver Romance’.
Without giving too much away:
The result is the most diverse and colourful album in the band’s history to date.
And there are very good reasons for this, as Bay points out:
“This time, our lead guitarist Lars was involved in a number of ways, having written five of the 13 new songs, namely ‘Infinity’, ‘Distant Horizon’, ‘Blue Giant’, ‘Meteorite’ and ‘New Haven’, and he also mixed the album at his own studio. After our four previous albums had been mixed by the same sound engineer, we wanted a different sound this time. Lars is a few years younger, so he didn’t grow up with acts like Pink Floyd, Genesis or Marillion. We deliberately gave him all the freedom he needed to come up with a more straightforward, slightly less playful approach.”
The remaining eight tracks on Freedom Call’s new offering were penned by Chris Bay and include the openers ‘Silver Romance’ and ‘Symphony Of Avalon’ (easily the two fastest songs), the poppier numbers ‘Out Of Space’ and ‘High Above’, as well as the ballad ‘In Quest Of Love’, co-created by Ramy Ali, which ties in with the content of the 2014 album ‘BEYOND‘.
Probably the most unusual track is Rettkowitz’s composition ‘Blue Giant’ with its melancholic, almost gothic atmosphere.
Bay:
“A track like this is a first for Freedom Call and the vocals proved quite a challenge for me.”
The silver referred to in the album title and its spiritual connection with the moon and the tides, as well as its influence on the human mind, defines ‘Silver Romance’ as a comprehensive concept, not only in terms of its lyrics but also of the cover artwork courtesy of Ingo Spörl (Powerwolf, Feuerschwanz, among others), which takes Freedom Call back to the popular fantasy world of ‘BEYOND‘.
The same applies to the images, which Bay smilingly calls the
“silver elf press photos. This outfit will also be part of our upcoming stage show,”
he promises and already looks forward to the impressive design elements of the upcoming tour.