Firewind: Allegiance

Allegience is Firewind's fourth album and their best effort to date. We have reaped the rewards of guitarist Gus G's decision to concentrate on this band and withdraw from his other project, Dream Evil. As a result of the lineup changes, the band is now 3/5 Greek, anchored on the partnership with keyboardist Bob Katsionist. And they have a new singer, Apollo Papathanasio, power metal vocalist for hirer (Evil Masquerade, Majestic, Time Requiem) and he's really good. There's real character in his voice - along the lines of Jorn Lande, Mats Leven or Stephen Fredrick of Kenziner.

"Allegiance" is an Yngwie-like number that could hve been an outake from Facing the Animal. "Insanity" is full of crunch and speed and a a nice section where Bob and Gus were literally duplicating their solos. "Falling to Pieces" is the single, a pounding mid-midpaced track with Stratovarious-like keyboards - crank this one up. "Ready to Strike" is 2/3 Whitesnake and 1/3 Dio - and guitarwork that's Schenkeresque in virtuosity. "Breaking the Silence" is another heavy synthesizer track, a duet with a Swedish singer named Tara, with cool Thai-style keyboards and a short blistering solo. "Deliverance" is slower paced and heavy with a lot of acoustic touches and subdued drumming (from Mark Cross), and crescendoes into another Schenker-styled solo. It is easily one of the best tracks. "Till the End of Time" has speed in spades and some more great dueling between Bob and Gus, and a heavy intensity abounds in "Dreamchaser". "Before the Storm" is a Gary Moore-styled instrumental track, a moment to catch your breath. The album closes out with the anthem, "The Essence" (with an over-layered refrain), and "Where Do We Go from Here", with its Scorpions like double-takes.

I've heard this album three times now and I've just fallen in love with it. Yes, it's got that 1980s melodic metal / power metal sound, but the songwriting, musicianship (and out of this world soloing) are so good that it's the freshest and classiest album of its type that I've heard in quite a while.

Track Listing
1. Allegiance
2. Insanity
3. Falling to Pieces
4. Ready to Strike
5. Breaking the Silence
6. Deliverance
7. Till the End of Time
8. Dreamchaser
9. Before the Storm
10. The Essence
11. Where Do We Go From Here?

Added: January 8th 2007
Reviewer: John Larocque
Score:
Related Link: Firewind Website
Hits: 3760
Language: english

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