Artist: FREEDOM CALL
Album: "BEYOND VINYL (2LP+CD)"

Year: 2014
Media type: LP

You’d be hard put to find negative emotions or a depressive disposition in the Freedom Call camp. Among the greatest fortes of this German melodic metal act is their uncompromisingly positive attitude to life, which the musicians have incorporated in their fresh and catchy songs for more than 15 years. This positive frame of mind is the central theme of their latest studio album, Beyond, scheduled for release on 24 February 2014 (Germany: 21 February 2014; USA: 4 March 2014). Vocalist and guitarist Chris Bay explains the basic idea behind the current album: “The most important thing about everything you do is that you enjoy doing it. We always concentrate on the positive first, which reflects our character. Optimism is one of our most important philosophies, and that’s exactly what Beyond is about.”

Compositions which blend the band’s greatest strengths and sparkle with a lot of class, finesse and enthusiasm. Bay: “Stylistically, we have remained faithful to ourselves, in fact we’ve even returned to a slightly more traditional direction. I think that’s probably the result of recent tours, where we had lots of fun with the classic Freedom Call numbers, which not only a lot of our faithful fans from the band’s early days will appreciate.”

The album’s focal point is the eight-minute title track, which Bay & Co. wrote and recorded with a great love of detail: “Finding the right arrangement was an exciting challenge for us. Now that the song has been recorded, we’re really proud of it. To us, ‘Beyond’ is a kind of successor to ‘The Quest’ from our second album, Crystal Empire.” Along with ‘Beyond’, there are another 13 strong tracks, among them classic Freedom Call numbers such as ‘Union Of The Strong’ (the release of which will be supported by a video clip), ‘Knights Of Taragon’ and ‘Colours Of Freedom’. Chris Bay promises a perceptible musical development with lots of interesting accents and a number of surprises: “‘Dance Off The Devil’ – the ‘off’ is consciously spelled with a double ‘f’ – with its African rhythms and mystic grooves may sound slightly unusual, but it perfectly suits the album title, which is meant in a spiritual sense.”

Beyond was recorded by the current line-up featuring Chris Bay, Lars Rettkowitz (guitar), Ilker Ersin (bass) and Ramy Ali (drums). “The fact that Ilker is back on bass marks not only the return of one of the band’s founder members, but also that of a good friend. We are happy that he’s come back on a permanent basis, and our fans have also reacted with great enthusiasm. Ramy has replaced Klaus Sperling, who unfortunately wasn’t available due to previous engagements. I’ve known Ramy for many years and know that he’s not only an awesome drummer but also a great person who fits perfectly into the band and shares our philosophy. I dare say these two new additions have probably made the current line-up the strongest of all time. And we’re set to prove that Freedom Call are ‘The happiest Metal band of the world’.” The album was produced by Chris Bay and Stephan Ernst at the Separate Sound Studios in Nuremberg and at Freedom Call’s own studio.

The impressive cover artwork courtesy of Jens Reinhold (Running Wild, Virgin Steele, among others) suits the haunting theme to a T. Beyond will be available in three different formats: as a Digipak, on vinyl LP plus CD and – in a special fan edition – as a box including book, poster, Digipak and bonus CD. Bay: “The 40-page book presents the story of the album in words and pictures, everything is kept very personal.” The bonus CD which is included in the fan edition consists of 13 previously unreleased live tracks: six of them were recorded at the ‘Live In The Black Forest’ concert in June 2013, and seven more at the unique ‘Unplugged & Masqueraded’ live event at Nuremberg’s Rockfabrik in September 2013.

Freedom Call fans should not only mark the release date of Beyond in January 2014 in their diaries, but also the dates of ‘Light Over The Beyond’ tour, which will start in March and take the band through Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Finland, among others. Chris Bay is already promising an experience which will be spiritual in every respect!

Side A:
 
 1. Union of the Strong 5:02
 2. Knights of Taragon  4:44
 3. Heart of a Warrior  3:13
 4. Edge of the Ocean   3:37 
 5. Dance off the Devil 3:45 
 
Side B:
 
 5. Beyond                  7:49
 6. Among the Shadows       3:45
 7. Journey into Wonderland 3:59 
 8. Paladin                 4:09
 
Side C:
 
 9.  Come on Home         4:03
 10. Rhythm of Light      4:03
 11. Follow your Heart    3:51  
 12. Colours of Freedom   4:15
 13. Beyond Eternity      3:03
 
Side D (Bonus Tracks):
 
14.  Back into land of light -live   5:42
15.  Hero on video -live           3:58
16.  Freedom Call - unplugged  5:40
17.  Power & Glory - Unplugged 3:46 

LINE-UP:

Chris Bay   Vocals & Guitars
Lars Rettkowitz  Guitars, Backing Vocals
Ilker Ersin   Bass, Backing Vocals
Ramy Ali             Drums, Backing Vocals

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