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Review: Freedom Call - Legend of the Shadowking
Freedom Call
www.freedom-call.net
Legend of the Shadowking

Label: SPV
Year released: 2010
Duration: 56:44
Tracks: 14
Genre: Power Metal

Rating:
3.5/5


Review online: July 16, 2010
Reviewed by: Christopher Foley
Readers' Rating
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Rated 3.6/5 (72%) (20 Votes)
Review

Freedom Call were once a mighty band, their brand of happy enjoyable power metal always went down a treat but I somewhat lost track of the band after Eternity. It's no secret a lot of bad words have been spoken about the albums between Eternity and their current opus Legend of the Shadowking. Now I can't comment on their last two albums, but what I can say is that fans of Eternity-era Freedom Call will find some enjoyment here.

Legend of the Shadowking is equal parts brilliant and bad. The album starts really strong, with the first five tracks displaying Freedom Call at their best, with fast power metal numbers such as "Out of the Ruins" and "Resurrection Day", and massive anthems like "Tears of Babylon" – these tracks are pure power metal bliss. Then we come along to the first weak spot of the album with "Under the Spell of the Moon" with an almost moody gothic feel to it, the track doesn't wash with me, nor does "Dark Obsession".

After a quick utilization of the ever so handy skip button we come to "The Darkness" which again is something quite different for Freedom Call, sounding a lot darker than their usual fare (well duh) but works surprisingly well and stands as one of the more enjoyable cuts. "Remember!" is just about the best Freedom Call tracks I've heard, standing as one of my favorite power metal cuts of the year. Boasting relentless double kicking, soaring guitar harmonies and a massive chorus this is without doubt the highpoint of the album.

In the final stretch of the album, "The Shadowking" stands as quite an enjoyable track, with some nice vocal work but not quite as up to scratch as the earlier tracks. The last track noteworthy track would be "Kingdom of Madness" with a classic rock feel to it, not to mention a great chorus to boot. So while the strong tracks are well enjoyable there's a lot of filler that clogs up the album. Had they cut this down to around 10 tracks we could have had something a lot more special. Overall though this is a nice power metal album which fans of the genre should at least hear, especially if they were interested in this band's glory days.

More about Freedom Call...
Review: Crystal Empire (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: Dimensions (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: Eternity (reviewed by Larry Griffin)
Review: Land of the Crimson Dawn (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: Legend of the Shadowking (reviewed by Lior "Steinmetal" Stein)
Review: Live in Hellvetia (reviewed by Bruce Dragonchaser)
Review: M.E.T.A.L. (reviewed by Bruno Medeiros)
Review: Master of Light (reviewed by MetalMike)
Review: Stairway To Fairyland (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
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