By: Anders

Posted: Jul 8, 2006

I found the last album from Freedom Call "Eternity" quite interesting, a good slab of traditional power metal, with a lot of other elements weaved into it and with some good musicianship involved as well. That album was released back in 2002, and about 3 years later the band is ready with their new output "The Circle Of Life". As soon as I saw the album I popped it in the player, with high expectations, due to their earlier effort, which I had enjoyed a lot, though I got a bit disappointed.

The album is as such not that far off "Eternity", power metal as we could expect it from an established band. The song writing is okay, the band knows which buttons to push to make effective and catchy songs, and they use that quite much. There are some good guitar play, good melodies and some good leads here and there. The rhythm section is tight and delivers blazing paces once in a while, without loosing the focus. The musicians are damn good, they all handle their instruments really well and make them sound good. Though I severely miss something that stands out, all I hear and can think of while listening to this album, is that I have heard it all before and that all elements appear when I expect them to. That is kind of sad when one knows and can hear how good the musicians in the band are, and they have proved themselves to be good song writers as well. Though it seems like this album is meant to be something all should be able to dig into and like, and that is a bit boring considered all the releases within the genre.

This is the typical power metal release with a good deal of melodies, a bit of progressiveness and even some speed metal parts weaved into it. Though I think it lacks something that makes it stand out, compared to what there are released today and what there have been released in the past. The music is good, the musicianship is good, and the lyrics are good as well, and I am intrigued by all the chorus-parts the band uses. If you're into the style do check the release out… you might end up digging it, if you can't get enough of traditional and generic power metal.

Rating: 5/10

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