After just 2 years, the consistently
prolific Freedom Call has returned with another record. Upon its unveiling, the
cover art of “Master of Light” definitely stood out amongst the rest of the
band’s artwork. At the end of the day, the focus should always be on the music,
and make no mistake: “Master of Light” is very consistent with Freedom Call’s
output to date. This album continues along the path set by “Beyond”; in other
words, it is more similar to the band’s earlier work than their mid-era
material (though the change in the band’s sound has always been severely
overstated, and some of their best work even came between 2005-2012).
The band chose the single from this album
wisely, as “Hammer of the Gods” is far and away the strongest track. It isn’t a
high-speed blazer, but instead a somewhat upbeat anthemic track, complete with
an easy to sing along to chorus. This song can stand up against anything else
in the band’s catalogue. Unfortunately, the same can’t quite be said for the
rest of the album. There are some unique standouts, like the almost-Celtic
approach of “A World Beyond”, the absurdly heavy “Ghost Ballet”, and the
classic excessively happy closing song “High Up”. Despite that, however, this
feels like a very standard Freedom Call album. Of course, the worst Freedom
Call record is better than most other band’s best work, but there aren’t even a
handful of songs on this album that I would regularly revisit. The melodies are
predictable, but the real problem is that they just aren’t overly memorable.
That doesn’t mean fans will be
disappointed. If you need a dose of overly cheesy power metal, driven by Chris
Bay’s fantastical vocals and mystic themes, “Master of Light” gets the job
done. The song that kicks off the record, “Metal Is For Everyone”, is a perfect
summation of the band’s attitude and general sound. Freedom Call is among the
most accessible of metal bands due to their positive attitudes and fun,
light-hearted music. And that’s really why you can’t even be disappointed with
this: the band gave it a really good effort and the outcome is true to their
sound. It just isn’t as enjoyable as what they’ve done in the past. Nevertheless,
this album is an essential purchase for fans, and I eagerly await my
pre-ordered copy in the mail despite it not living up to its predecessor!
Highlights
"Hammer of The Gods"
"A World Beyond"
"Master of Light"
Final Rating
3.8/5 or 76%.
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