Does the summer have you down? Maybe that pretty girl at the beach shut you down hard in front of all of her friends. Or maybe she was the sixth one this week to laugh in your sad, dumbfounded face. Or maybe you’ve just been stuck spending the entire season working like some sort of peasant. Sure, the weather is nice and spending time outside is fun and all, but it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, is it?
Well, fortunately for you, FREEDOM CALL‘s “M.E.T.A.L.” (which, from this point on, I will type out as METAL, because all the periods are a pain in the ass) is all that and a bag of sparkly rainbows. No matter your emotional ailment, FREEDOM CALL are here to soothe, remove, and replace that negativity with an upbeat drive to believe in yourself.
However, despite all its happiness, it isn’t without a musical flaw or two. My only real issue is with the lack of variety on the album. Songs like “111”, “One Step into Wonderland”, and “Fly With Us” are pretty forgettable among the consistent atmosphere of the album, and most of the tracks just sound like power metal versions of contemporary worship songs. The songs aren’t necessarily bad (except for “The Ace of the Unicorn”, which sounds like a shitty anime opening), but with so many similar aspects shared between so many songs, it’s tough to pick out anything special among them.
That being said, there are a couple things that do stick out. I have two favourite tracks: “Days of Glory” and “Sole Survivor”. “Days of Glory” has a cool synth intro and has some more weight to it compared to other songs, and “Sole Survivor” is an adventurous, piratey tune. On top of that, the guitar solos are all really good. Actually, strangely enough, my favourite solos are in my least favourite songs, so there’s a bit of a balance there, I guess.
When all is considered, FREEDOM CALL excels in exactly what it intends to in METAL. It’s feel good, poppy, happy metal, and regarding that, it’s really as good as it can be. Despite a bit of monotony, this is still a very fun album. Maybe it’ll help you get over those beautiful, bikini-clad beach broads rejecting you or, who knows? Maybe it’ll give you the confidence to finally get one for yourself.
Originally written for PowerThorn.com.
