{"id":39820,"date":"2014-04-21T11:50:21","date_gmt":"2014-04-21T16:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=39820"},"modified":"2014-04-22T16:22:01","modified_gmt":"2014-04-22T21:22:01","slug":"brainstorm-firesoul-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/brainstorm-firesoul-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Brainstorm | Firesoul<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"BrainstormFor the so-called European power metal, the motherland traditionally was nowhere else but Germany \u2013 think Helloween, Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian and other \u201cpioneer fathers\u201d of the genre (influenced by Scorpions and Accept, needless to say). In spite of the representatives of many other countries taking the leadership over in recent years (Scandinavia, for example), it seems the epic battle for German honor still continues and Brainstorm still remains one of the finest divisions of power metal warriors. Fronted by talented singer Andy B. Franck, the Swabian metalheads attack again, their weapon being their newest album Firesoul<\/em> \u2013 tenth in their discography.<\/p>\n

Brainstorm\u2019s Firesoul is a clear proof that after almost 20 years on stage the German group still lives and breathes power metal. Let\u2019s start from the clich\u00e9d cover artwork \u2013 the band\u2019s staunch listeners should have already recognized the voluptuous bat-winged and big-breasted creature, since they saw her before on the cover of Brainstorm\u2019s 2003 Soul Temptation<\/em> album. Every heavy-power-band needs a mascot, so why not a female, threatening but well-endowed, instead of creepy Eddie The Head or the strange Murray \u2026? And as for the music content itself, Firesoul<\/em> is comprised of 10 tracks, each of them standing for a dictionary definition of \u2018power metal.\u2019 <\/p>\n

You want a sheer ferocity of guitar laden gallop \u2013 here\u2019s \u201cErased By The Dark.\u201d A need for listening to some heavy, furious riffs? Try \u201cDescendants Of The Fire,\u201d \u201cShadowseeker\u201d or \u201cWhat Growls Inside.\u201d You feel like experiencing a short trip to the Medieval period? The intro to \u201cRecall The Real\u201d with its choral, quasi-Gregorian effect should do. And if you treasure more melodic tracks the most, you\u2019re gonna be amazed at the \u201880s metal-infused \u201c\u2026And I Wonder,\u201d the groovy \u201cFeed Me Lies\u201d (with some outstanding vocal harmonies) or the anthem-like \u201cEntering Solitude\u201d. One song after another, Firesoul<\/em> is all about powerful tracks driven by fierce and feisty riffs, high-pitched vocals, dynamic rhythm section, majestic melodies and massive choruses. <\/p>\n

Consequently, there\u2019s no doubt about neither Brainstorm\u2019s musicianship, nor Firesoul<\/em> being another very solid release in their catalog. Track after track, they re-introduce their listeners to the gutsy, fast-paced but melodic metal that is their trademark and they do their job very well. However, Brainstorm\u2019s weak point is that of the whole genre \u2013 the \u201cproblem\u201d with power metal, so to speak \u2014 is the imminence of it getting repetitive and predictable. One power metal act after another, it follows the very same patterns of combining speed metal riffs with clean but powerful vocals into majestic, anthem-like songs with clich\u00e9d lyrics \u2026 stuck in a rut? It certainly seems so. But if you\u2019re into guitar laden power metal anthems and, at the same time, not really into breaking new ground music-wise, you\u2019ll certainly appreciate Brainstorm\u2019s new release. Recommended. <\/p>\n

Genre: Power Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nAndy B. Franck – vocals
\nTorsten Ihlenfeld – guitars
\nMilan Loncaric – guitars
\nAntonio Ieva – bass
\nDieter Bernert – drums<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1. Erased By The Dark
\n2. Firesoul
\n3. Descendants Of The Fire
\n4. Entering Solitude
\n5. Recall The Real
\n6. Shadowseeker
\n7. Feed Me Lies
\n8. What Grows Inside
\n9. The Chosen
\n10. \u2026 And I Wonder<\/p>\n

Label: AFM Records<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.brainstorm-web.net\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Columnist — For the so-called European power metal, the motherland traditionally was nowhere else but Germany \u2013 think Helloween, Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian and other \u201cpioneer fathers\u201d of the genre (influenced […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":39829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[8645,9178,2317,9179,1097],"class_list":{"0":"post-39820","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-afm-records","9":"tag-brainstorm","10":"tag-cd-review","11":"tag-firesoul","12":"tag-power-metal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39820","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=39820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}