SAFFIRE — From Ashes to Fire (review)

SAFFIRE — From Ashes to Fire album cover Album · 2013 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Kev Rowland
Formed in Gothenburg in 2006 by guitarist Victor Olsson and keyboard player Dino Zuzic, these guys went through the normal line-up changes of any new band but released some EP’s that gained a lot of local interest before they went into the studio to record this their debut album. The line-up is completed by singer Tobias Jansson, drummer Anton Roos and bassist Magnus Carlsson, and together they have created something that straddles traditional metal with power metal, melodic AOR and prog metal, which makes for an interesting ride. They managed to get some top producers on board in the shape of Fredrik Nordström & Henrik Udd, while it was mastered by Jens Bogrenso. There is a real polish to the sound, without ever losing the impact that only comes from a metal act.

Although their sound is definitely fresh and current, Dino uses a Hammon (or at least a sampled version) which gives the band a quite different sound at times, and he isn’t adverse to throwing in keyboard sounds that definitely sound as if they belong in the Seventies or early Eighties and when this is combined with the melodic hard rock riffs of Victor then it definitely creates something of real interest. There is definitely a real move through different sounds and styles from everyone involved and there is a real sense of professionalism and there is no way that this ever comes across as a debut from an unknown group of musicians.

It is an album that grows on the listener the more that it is played, but is also incredibly powerful and enthralling from the very first listen. If you enjoy your metal but also like it to be melodic with some progressive overtones that shifts and changes with some great vocals and hooks then this is worthy of further investigation. www.saffire.se
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