FREEDOMS REIGN — Freedoms Reign (review)

FREEDOMS REIGN — Freedoms Reign album cover

Album · 2013 · Heavy Metal

3.5/5 · 2013-05-08
adg211288

Freedoms Reign (2013) is the self-titled debut album by US heavy metal act Freedoms Reign. While you may not have heard of the band yet you may have heard of the name Victor Arduini, who was one of the co-founders of the progressive metal act Fates Warning, playing with them until 1985. Fates Warning has gone on to achieve a really high regard in the metal world but Victor himself seemed to pretty much drop off the metal map after the group’s second album, The Spectre Within (1985). Now a whopping twenty-eight years later he’s back with a new metal band and a new album, but now performing as a frontman rather than just a guitarist.

If you were expecting a full-on progressive metal album because of that Fates Warning connection though, you’ll have to take a step back and think again. Freedoms Reign has a few progressive touches, but you’ll mostly hear a much more straight forward traditional heavy metal affair here. There’s also some cross over with hard rock and in some ways the album sounds quite old school, in that it’s pretty easy to draw parallels with the sort of sound that was played by bands like Black Sabbath when they first started (albeit without the doom elements). Victor Arduini’s vocals actually remind me of Ozzy Osbourne’s style as well. Yet the album also sounds quite modern and powerful as well, mostly due to the production which has resulted in quite the crisp and clear sound.

Musically the end result is quite solid. It’s nothing revolutionary but then an album that sounds like a deliberate throwback to early metal shouldn’t really be expected to be, but there are enough twists and turns coming out of those progressive touches I mentioned to keep the album interesting from start to finish, although the musicianship itself shouldn’t be understated.

Victor Arduini carries the album well enough with his voice but I think ultimately if there is a weak link to be found it’s his vocals. He’s not a bad singer but things come round to that Ozzy comparison again, and how much better Black Sabbath were vocally with Dio at the helm. Victor is a very praiseworthy guitarist but I think as a whole Freedoms Reign would benefit from a more commanding presence behind the microphone, as Black Sabbath did before them.

It has its issues, but the end result is enjoyable with the best track being Shadows of a Doubt. I’m sure it will have a particular appeal to Fates Warning’s fans who have wondered what happened to Victor all those years ago. This may actually be where the majority of its appeal lies, but personally speaking, I’ve not (yet) really given Fates Warning themselves a fair go, so the connection didn’t really mean a lot to me, and I’m still happy to give Freedoms Reign a great album tier rating.

77/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org/freedoms-reign-freedoms-reign-t2906.html))