By John Sturm
So imagine if Tony Iommi had a child with Steve Harris and this kid was raised by James Hetfield who spent most of its time kneeling at the altar of Ozzy Osbourne whilst ingesting a steady diet of classic metal and rock. That pretty much sums up Freedoms Reign. And that is not a criticism by any stretch of imagination. Oh no Sir.
Freedoms Reign is the brainchild of original Fates Warning guitarist Victor Arduini who left in 1986, so for fans of the first two FW albums, the sound and styles will come as no surprise. But the genius (yes, genius) of Freedoms Reign is that there are so many styles of metal/rock going on throughout the album that it should sound like some terrible Kerrang mash-up CD. But it doesn't. It sounds like everything you love(d) about all your favourite bands.
Whilst we're talking styles, let's get it out of the way early that Arduini does indeed bear a passing vocal resemblance to Ozzy. Prime Ozzy that is. Initially that proved quite distracting but over the course of the nine tracks, it becomes just another facet of a bloody great album. We have hints of Iron Maiden guitar harmonies and gallopy riffing, we have the heavy dirge of Sabbath and there's also some modern referencing of Alice In Chains (the track 'To Be' could easily have been on landmark Alice In Chains album 'Dirt'). I must also mention that the main riff on track 'No Excuses' evokes the spirit of Diamond Head's landmark 'Am I Evil?', which earns this album yet more metal points and devils horns.
So can a band so happy to reference their influences so only actually have a sound that is their own? But of course! Lest we forget that Arduini was there in the 80s when the major godfathers of the genre were putting out their classic (best?) work, so it is only natural to be influenced by your peers. But make no mistake, this is an album that easily stands on its own. It stomps out of your speakers and places it boot firmly on the wedge monitor and bangs it head until you are helpless to resist and join in with it. There are progressive elements but this is no Dream Theater rip off. This is heavy fucking metal. It even gets the thumbs up from one of (((o)))'s resident death metal gurus, Ryan Stephenson, who summed it up thusly:
“The production on it is just right and the tunes are just rocking”
Which sums up my review in a nutshell really. That word-economical bastard.
