I have to admit I categorized this band in the has-been (don't get me wrong I liked most albums just fine but they very often got forgotten after a week or two) in the past few years. Which made that wrestler sized slap I took in the face even more of a surprise while listening to their last album, Land of the Crimson Dawn. Freedom Call are back to absolute top form, and deliver here, simply put, their best album since Eternity. It seems fans all over the world agree with me since numbers don't lie either and the album entered the charts in many countries and is their best since Eternity. Boy does it feel good to sing aloud in the middle of nowhere at any time for no other reason than to satisfy a mental hitch to blurt out a Freedom Call vocal melody stuck in your mind...

The band looses no time to put the listener into familiar territory, the opener, Age of the Phoenix is your typical Freedom Call hymn fans will instantly recognize and love, with a little twist (some Celtic pipe melodies thrown in for good measure and a touch of magic !). The second track, Rockstars, is easily one of Freedom Call's best song ever, both guitar melodies and over the top, catchy-as-hell bombastic chorus sends wave after wave of orgasmic sensation to my brain. I can't get enough of this song, every time I listen to it I sing along, headbang, and just want to start jumping all over the place uncontrollably. In one word : a masterpiece ! The vocal melodies in this album are amongst the best the band ever delivered and I must admit I'm stuck on a listening loop for more than two weeks now, unable to put any other album... It may be 2012, but it feels like 2002 all over again. The song writing is also to be mentioned as the band delivers some of the best breaks they ever created, the songs are varied, they have twists and sound fresh while keeping totally true to their roots and what made them the band we all love. This 14 song album is relentless, non-stop roller coaster of pure unadulterated metal majesty ! It is not as furiously fast as Eternity, but the hymns are back, the power and melody, the strong choirs, the raise your fist attitude, the cheese (though completely under control, with just the right amount IMHO !), everything is balanced perfectly. The more I listen to it the better it gets, which is quite insane ! I will not do a a song by song review to avoid the 1000+ words review :), but will instead only mention some of my favorite songs, though it's difficult to isolate one from anotther, the album being fantastic from beginning to end ! I haven't been to a concert since 2008 Wacken, but I already look forward to see them live. Unfortunately a quick look at their website puts my hopes down though, as they passed in Switzerland last week, one day before an exam I had last week, so I will console myself since I could never have seen them on the 8th :(... anyway, I guess I'll have to see if I can catch them elsewhere, as many of the fans know, they are simply GLORIOUS live ! And if they pass in a town near you : I would urge you to see them touring for this fantastic album. On the songs that drive me insane, there is 66 Warriors, with a chorus that will be forever imprinted in the listeners memories, or Rockin' Radio, a pure joy Rock'N'Roll song, which reminds me of Axxis' Flashback Radio but with more juice (and the usual FC choirs and some FM elements) ! Back Into The Land of Light is maybe the most predictable song, very typical hymn, still a great song, but probably the easiest track on the album (still I find it majestic, but the most cheese infused song for a good dose of nostalgia). Sun in the Dark is also on the highlight list, with some experimentation in the verse and again, an amazing chorus. Hero on Video is simply put : infectious, while Valley of the Kingdom is speedy and Terra Liberty is definitely heavy and so very epic. Eternity is, simply put : powerfully beautiful. Space Legends is also one of my favorite songs with a magical bridge leading to a bombastic chorus and majestic guitar melodies play yoyo around my destabilized neuronal network. Who would think that reaching track 13 the album wouldn't lose some steam, but all the way to the end the album doesn't stop its ride, and you can let it restart over and over again. The album concludes with Power & Glory, the perfect finishing track with cheese and raise your fist and shout tempo, and a chorus that is perfect for live performance and public interaction. A song I bet the band will use after a call-back, to end a show as majestically as this album. Lyrically, the album tackles with video games (of all subjects :) ), be it online or otherwise, references to Warcraft, GTA and others are made clear in the lyrics throughout the album and it's a pleasant surprise AFAIK (but then I'm an avid console gamer !).

All good things must come to an end, and, after more than an hour, this album concludes. But it doesn't have to really... Just press replay, over, and over, and over, and over again until your CD player (or iThingy :) ) stops working or you fall asleep, whichever comes first. So is it better than Eternity ? No it's not, I for one don't think you can write this album twice :), Danny scored it spot on at 98 / 100 though it definitely would deserve a move into the Classics category today ! Nevertheless it's definitely a different kind of beast alltogether, less cheese, an heavier edge where speed used to dominate, with songs not all constructed around the same mold and bigger diversity, more subtleties (the album is full of them) and definitely modern. But there is no doubt that it's their best album since Eternity ! If I should draw a parallel with another of my beloved Teutonic Power Metal band Eternity was like Vain Glory Opera, and Land of the Crimson Dawn would be more like Hellfire Club in this particular parallel , at least in terms of song writing, VGO was relentless but repetitive and on the same "level", just as Eternity was, Hellfire Club brought some amazing variety, and so does Land of the Crimson Dawn. An amazing surprise, a "comeback" of epic proportion for Freedom Call and definitely my current favorite album of 2012 (and it will be on my list come next January, I would bet vital parts of my anatomy on that). This album reminds me of another time, a time when it was okay to say Buy or Die :) ! A True Power Metal epic like we haven't heard in years, a guilty pleasure, a perfect balance between majestic melodies, epic choirs, bombastic choruses and a side of perfectly contained cheese is what makes Land of the Crimson Dawn an amazing album that no power metal fan should miss !" The time has come for Power and Gloooory, ohohoh, for a happy metal party !". Enough said !