FREEDOM CALL - Crystal Empire
December 21, 2000, 24 years ago
(SPV)
Album number two from Gamma Ray drummer Dan Zimmerman's other band. Their debut, Stairway To Fairyland, showed Freedom Call to be an uber-bombastic speed machine, talented but utterly lacking in terms of originality; in other words, a bore. Crystal Empire shows promise from the outset, and although they do seem to be stuck on fast forward, Zimmerman and Co. have learned that they can slow things down and still be a credible metal act. As far as their bombasticity goes, they've pushed it up a notch, so high at times that they make Rhapsody sound like the Backstreet Boys. Everything comes together on a track called 'Quest', easily their best song. Fans of Gamma Ray, Fireworks-era Angra, Rhapsody, and possibly even Keeper-era Helloween have something to look forward to in Freedom Call, and I'm thinking that the gents in HammerFall should take note: a band can grow and not lose their vision...
