FLAMES OF FIRE – Flames Of Fire (2022)
FLAMES OF FIRE is the new band of Christian Liljgren (Narnia, The Waymaker, Audiovision), a veteran from the Swedish metal / hard rock scene, which is releasing their self-titled debut album “Flames Of Fire” on the relatively new Melodic Passion Records label.
The label’s name give a pretty good idea of Flames Of Fire’s style & sound; this is very melodic classic stuff written and executed with passion for good old-school hard n’ heavy rock n’ roll.
One of the advantages of the close-knit and co-operative Scandinavian scene is that all work together and band members come and go. In this case Flames Of Fire really is a super-group of sorts with past and present members of Narnia, Audiovision, House Of Shakira, Royal Hunt and more.
That is one hell of a pedigree. Liljgren is the founder and his familiar and powerful voice is very welcomed as lead singer.
Musically this debut album is a terrific slab of true Scandi melodic metal with ’80s hard rock and ’90s style power metal touches into the mix. After the epic intro ‘New Dawn’, there’s the powerful tune called ‘Gloria’ and you have to hear the opening scream. Liljgren’s unmistakable delivery is 100% fully intact on display for all to enjoy.
For the most part this is an uptempo, 4-munute song rocking album with only the more epic sounding cut, ‘Solution’, which comes in at just under 10-minutes long, which explores different textures. It has strings, orchestration and tempo changes and an impassioned vocal performance.
Elsewhere, swashes of keyboards add hints of atmosphere but for the most part it is the twin-guitar attack that is relentless.
I can’t help but get the feeling that many of these bands Swedish bands keep swapping members and reinventing themselves but staying true to the core style of classic melodic metal / hard rock. The assembly of world-class talent have produced an extremely strong and highly enjoyable collection of songs here.
The album cover art is a little dull but this is a minor consideration as all songs very good, musicianship impeccable and production is crystal clear and powerful.
Highly Recommended
01 – New Dawn
02 – Gloria
03 – Flames of Fire
04 – Madness
05 – I Am
06 – Time to Live
07 – Solution
08 – Soldiers of the King
09 – Ending Theme
Christian Liljegren – Vocals (Narnia, The Waymaker, Audiovision)
Mats-Ake Andersson – Guitar(Zaragon)
Jani Stefanovic – Guitar, keyboards, drums (The Waymaker, Solution .45)
Per Schelander – Bass (House of Shakira, ex- Royal Hunt)
Stephen Carlson – Guitar (Peter Carlsohn’s The Rise, Tales, Viva)
BUY
www.grooves-inc.com/flames-fire-flames-fire-sound-pollution-cd-pZZa1-2100443986.html