{"id":37406,"date":"2014-02-13T20:34:32","date_gmt":"2014-02-14T01:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=37406"},"modified":"2014-02-13T20:34:32","modified_gmt":"2014-02-14T01:34:32","slug":"freedom-call-beyond-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/freedom-call-beyond-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Freedom Call | Beyond<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist\/News Editor —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"FreedomFreedom Call \u2013 a.k.a. the happiest power metal band in the universe \u2013 are back with a new studio offering, their eighth overall, titled Beyond<\/em>. The long-running German band took a risk with their last album \u2013 2012\u2019s Land of the Crimson Dawn \u2013 where they mixed in quirky, Edguy-style rock songs with their usual shiny, happy, power metal. It wasn\u2019t terribly well received, so the band is back on (very) familiar territory with Beyond<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If you have at least one older Freedom Call album, you probably know what to expect from Beyond. The band basically takes the Helloween formula and makes it even faster and more melodic. Between Chris Bay\u2019s melodic guitar work and his high-pitched vocals, it\u2019s hard to sit still when a Freedom Call album is playing. Beyond takes the band back to the familiar lyrical territory of warriors, enchanted lands and unity in metal. Yes, it\u2019s cheesy and yes, it\u2019s a little weird to hear battle hymns sung in such a high octave, but it\u2019s so damned hard to resist when these guys get going. Only \u201cCome on Home\u201d and \u201cIn the Rhythm of Light\u201d bear a resemblance to the quirkier songs from the previous album. The rest \u2013 especially \u201cUnion of the Strong,\u201d \u201cKnights of Taragon\u201d and \u201cJourney Into Wonderland\u201d \u2013 are back to basics Freedom Call anthems.<\/p>\n

Freedom Call may not be breaking any new ground here, but chances are if you\u2019ve stuck with the band this far that probably won\u2019t bother you too much. Beyond is a very solid, totally enjoyable addition to the Freedom Call discography, and will probably be a most welcome return to form for those fans that were turned off by Land of the Crimson Dawn. If you\u2019re new to the band or a casual fan it\u2019s really hard to beat those first three albums. Either way, if you\u2019re a fan of bands like Helloween, Gamma Ray and Gloryhammer, you need to have some Freedom Call in your collection. Go forth, Knights of Taragon!<\/p>\n

Edition Notes: There is a limited box set version of Beyond that features deluxe packaging, a poster and a second disc with live and unplugged tracks. It\u2019s a nice looking release, and a cool display piece for those who still buy physical media. <\/p>\n

Genre: Power Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nIlker Ersin (b)
\nChris Bay (v) (g)
\nLars Rettkowitz (g)
\nRamy Ali (d)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tUnion of the Strong
\n2.\tKnights of Taragon
\n3.\tHeart of a Warrior
\n4.\tCome on Home
\n5.\tBeyond
\n6.\tAmong the Shadows
\n7.\tEdge of the Ocean
\n8.\tJourney Into Wonderland
\n9.\tIn the Rhythm of Light
\n10.\tDance off the Devil
\n11.\tPaladin
\n12.\tFollow Your Heart
\n13.\tColours of Freedom
\n14.\tBeyond Eternity<\/p>\n

Label: SPV Records<\/p>\n

Website: www.freedom-call.net<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 7.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Senior Columnist\/News Editor — Freedom Call \u2013 a.k.a. the happiest power metal band in the universe \u2013 are back with a new studio offering, their eighth overall, titled Beyond. The long-running […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":37407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[8824,2317,8823,1097,1460],"class_list":{"0":"post-37406","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-beyond","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-freedom-call","11":"tag-power-metal","12":"tag-spv-records"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}