THE CIRCLE OF LIFE (E)

Twelve new songs from Chris Bay (vocals, guitar) are featuring this fourth studio album by Freedom Call, the melodic rockers from Germany. The production for The Circle Of Life was done by Sascha Paeth, so that any insider will know what kind of music can be expected, what kind of arrangements can be heard and, of course, that the production is impeccable. The music contains nice melodies, catchy choruses and good musicianship, but you have to be a fan of Chris Bay's vocals and you have to be fond of melodic metal that, in a way, sounds very familiar. I'm afraid that's one of the disadvantages of having Sascha Paeth as a producer: you'll easily get the 'déjà vu' feeling. The music is a sort of cross-over between Europe and Stratovarius. A track like Hunting High And Low for instance, sounds a lot like Stratovarius. It even has the same song-title! Bay's voice is neither extremely powerful nor impressive as far as the reach is concerned. However, in spite of this critical remark, the vocals are very pleasant to listen to: no high screaming, no grunts, just normal singing. Furthermore, compared to the previous album Eternity (2002), Freedom Call have a new band member, namely keyboardist Nils Neumann. His intro to Starlight is pure delight!. In spite of the two guitarist Bay and Cédric Dupont, the music is predominantly song-orientated. You'll hear no more than just a few solos and certainly not the kind of solos you would expect to hear from a melodic metal act. A lot of attention has been given to the compositions, the variety, the orchestrations and the subtle changes in rhythms. All of the songs are very easy to sing along and there are multiple spots that you feel that the band will ask the audience to sing out loud once they are performed live. The Circle Of Life lacks originality, but surely is a very nice offering.