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German power metal act
FREEDOM CALL
will release album
‘Silver Romance’
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.
German power metal band
FREEDOM CALL
will release live album
‘The M.E.T.A.L. Fest’
track-list:
The M.E.T.A.L. Fest
Intro
Union Of The Strong
Tears Of Babylon
Spirit Of Daedalus
Sail Away
Metal Invasion
M.E.T.A.L
111 – The Number Of Angels
The Ace Of The Unicorn
Freedom Call
Power And Glory
Metal Is For Everyone
Warriors
Far Away
Land Of Light
Outro
Freedom Call are:
Chris Bay – vocals, guitars
Lars Rettkowitz – guitars, backing vocals
Francessco Ferraro – bass
Chris Widmann – drums on the ‘Metal Fest’ recordings
Kevin Kott – drums on the Regensburg recordings
Klaus Sperling – drums on the 70.000 Tons Of Metal recordings
If a survey was commissioned to find out at which shows audiences are at their most boisterous, Freedom Call would definitely be among the leading acts.
The southern German melodic power metal band surrounding frontman and founder Chris Bay regularly leaves euphoric audiences in the wake of its shows, carried away by the group’s catchy songs and inspiring stage performance.
Freedom Call have earned their large global fanbase through sweat and tears, so what could be more logical than to document one of their atmospheric concerts on CD and Blu-ray every now and again to preserve it for eternity?
Voilà, and here comes the latest version:
‘The M.E.T.A.L. Fest’ was recorded at two shows in Pilsen and Regensburg in summer/autumn 2022 and compiled into a diverse concert cut, available on Steamhammer/SPV from 14 July 2023 as a Digi-CD including Blu-ray disc and for digital download.
2 June 2023 will see the arrival of a brand-new studio song, namely the lead single ‘The Metal Fest’, which is also set to herald a hot festival summer.
“When we were invited to play the Metalfest in Pilsen in the Czech Republic, we heard on our way there that not only top-of-the-range recording equipment but also eight to ten professional cameras would be available at the festival, so we spontaneously decided to record the show. We then also recorded our show at Regensburg’s Eventhall Airport to get enough material for additional bonus material and interesting behind-the-scenes shots.”
The result is a versatile cross-section of both concerts, or, as Bay calls it,
“a patchwork in which authenticity was more important to us than some soulless, glossy high-end product”.
And indeed, ‘The M.E.T.A.L. Fest’ turns out to be anything but a sterile recording:
As Freedom Call fans have come to expect from their faves, the mélange of these two concert cuts presents a band working itself into a frenzy and, in addition to their most important classics ‘Warriors’, ‘Metal Is For Everyone’ and ‘Freedom Call’, as well as their festival staples ‘Power And Glory’ and ‘Land Of Light’, also holds a few entertaining surprises in store:
The bonus DVD features a road movie about the ‘70000 Tons Of Metal’ cruise, which took Bay & Co. to the Bahamas in late January/early February 2023.
The Blue-ray also includes a special treat:
a highly amusing metal version of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’.
And last but not least:
Exclusively and to kick off their latest live release, Freedom Call have included a new studio song, appropriately entitled ‘The M.E.T.A.L. Fest’, which also highlights the band’s very special qualities, namely their focus on catchy melodies and driving grooves – a tried and tested mix that has worked for Freedom Call since they started out back in 1999 and is guaranteed to win the band plenty of audiences during the upcoming festival summer of 2023.
As Chris Bay puts it so aptly:
“Freedom Call are celebrating their 25th band anniversary next year, we don’t have to prove anything to anyone anymore, so we can concentrate on what we and our fans really enjoy.”
Naturally, their fans are guaranteed to enjoy ‘The M.E.T.A.L. Fest’.