  
7Hard/Cargo
With an archetypal power metal cover by Eric Philippe FIREFORCE debut. The Belgian unit was formed in 2008, released the EP “Moonlight Lady” in 2009, and has played with the likes of AVENGER, CLOVEN HOOF and JAGUAR. From this I gather that they will be more than a nod to the Old School… But production should be something else, as it was done by R.D. Liapakis. I wonder what this will sound like.
Opener “Coastal Battery” is reminiscent of RUNNING WILD, HAMMERFALL (early) etc. The biting guitar riffs by Messrs Erwin Suetens and Steve Deleu are heavy and a fine match to Flype´s vocals. Sure the refrain has hockey arena written all over it, what else? The raunchy “Firestorm” follows suit, but leans towards ACCEPT. I wonder what Flype would sound like if they did a cover of “Balls to the Wall”. Egypt worked for both DIO and IRON MAIDEN, so “Horus (Bringer of Order)”, which is more in the vein of “Powerslave” than “Egypt (The Chains Are On)”, rocks and has a solid refrain. For good measure they have several tracks about battles and war, “1302 – Battle for Freedom” would have suited Rock´n´Rolf; even though FIREFORCE have slightly less sing-along friendly tunes. In “Born to Play Metal” they aim for stadium friendly rock/metal. ACCEPT-like refrain and IRON MAIDEN in the other parts might work, but it is not the best track on offer. Fancy guitar player CONSTANTINE (MYSTIC PROPHECY, solo) guests on some solos. I believe he has been given a lot of space in the closing instrumental track “Metal Rages On”. FIREFORCE have released an explosive heavy metal album, squeezed in between “Powerslave”, “Objection Overruled” and “Timeriders”. Apart from two poorer tracks I believe this lot to be Belgium´s new hope in the world of metal.
Track List
Coastal Battery
The Only Way
Firestorm
Horus (Bringer of Order)
1302 - Battle for Freedom
Moonlight Lady
Annihilation
Fly Arrow Fly (Crécy 1346)
Mona Lisa
Hold Your Ground
Born to Play Metal
Metal Rages On
www.7hard.com www.myspace.com/fireforcemetal
|
