Customer Reviews

Between Heaven and Hell

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had seen some ads for this album but the first time I heard this band was when one of my best friends in Canada received a copy from his buddy in Greece. I must say his cover is way nicer looking then the US release but the cover will be the least of your worries when this music addresses your ears. This serving of super finely done speed / power metal fires off with a song that is also the album title and once you hear about four seconds you will be hooked. The entire album rocks as a whole and never relents or lets the true metal head down. On first listen lots of the songs sounded the same but upon further listens they are indeed individuals each to themselves. The guitarist may be young but man can this guy shred. The album is unique in that it was put together in so many different areas of the world too, with this added here and that added there.I would surely include this offering on my favorite album to listen to list. I am most certain that any metal head needs this one, cause if you don't have it and your friends do you will look uninformed., not to mention be without your daily requirement of important metal in your diet! I can hardly wait for the next one but this one will be hard to beat.The "Firewind" has blown alot of us away and lit the fire for more stuff like this one. Buy or cry!

A while back a friend of mine came to my house praising this album as if it was a god and saying how the guitarist (Gus G) was the best new guitarist out there. Being a fan of Stephen Fredrick's other band Kenziner I had my bud shut up so I could hear the album and I then understood his excitement.

This is some blistering metal. Just when I think that I've heard all the great bands out there another one comes out to punch me in the face and Firewind did just that. Gus G may be the next Malmsteen only without so much of the guitar wanking. And Stephen is in top form here, belting out every song as if it was his last.

So if you want some scorching TRUE metal check out Firewind. You won't be dissapointed.

Though mostly known for their latest achievement "Allegiance", this very first Firewind album competes closely with the previously mentioned release in terms of quality. "Between Heaven and Hell" is an impeccable album yet very different from Allegiance. This early line- up is put together by Greek metalheads Gus G. (guitars) and Constantine (bass) who join forces with American power metalers Stephen Frederick (vocals) and Brian Harris (Drums).
The composing chemistry of Gus and Stephen is solid and colorful, coming up with inspired riffs, melodic solos and incredibly catchy choruses. In terms of technique things do not get much better than this: Heavy guitar riffs, perfectly phrased solos, precise use of double bass beat drums, without overdoing it, and the unforgettable voice of Frederick separate this album from the bulk of power/epic metal albums of 2002. Finally the production of this work is scholastic and very well balanced.

A fact that will very likely amuse or surprise you is that this line up never met or played live together. Vocals and Drums were recorded in Atlanta USA, while guitars and bass in Greece.

Firewind's new album Allegiance and its seminal singles are charting considerably throughout Europe. When "Between Heaven and Hell" was released the vast majority ignored Firewind's existence; in some European countries it sold less than 100 copies.

The following is from my review of Burning Wind, however, I talk about Heaven & Hell quite a bit, so I just pasted that review here:

When I first heard Between Heaven & Hell I was blown away. Here was an album worth listening to again, and again, and again. I got to the end of the first song and said, this is awesome! And I just HAD to listen to that song over again.
I thought the same would happen for burning earth. I was wrong.

It's a good album, but nothing really blew me away. There was only one song, #5, where I thought after, that I wanted to relisten to it again right away.

However, on Heaven & Hell, I had that feeling, that desire, on songs 1,2,3,5,6,7,9,10,11 & 12. (4 and 8 I thought were basically the same song...) It took me days just to get through the entire cd just because I kept replaying the same songs over and over again. They were THAT damn good.

Heaven & Hell songs had awesome hooks. The rhythms just infect you and before you know it, you're foot is tapping, your head is nodding...

Only one time, during the first minute of song #5, I got that silly grin on my face, my head started nodding, I sat forward in my chair, here it was I thought! FINALLY! After 4 so-so songs, a song that had my attention. But that was pretty much it. Just like "Oceans" on Between Heavan & Hell, song #5 on Burning earth was just way too short, almost an incomplete idea. It's like they were playing, and somebody just started the fade out even though the song wasn't done. Maybe it was an accident, I don't know. The second (and only other) instrumental song on Between Heaven & Hell wasn't like that at all! A complete song.

So, bottom line, if you're a fan of this genre, you'll enjoy Burning wind. It's good for a spin here and there. But I'd say I was pretty disapointed compared to Heaven & Hell.

When I got Heaven & Hell, I thought to myself, from this point forward, FIREWIND is my new favorite band. Heaven & Hell remains, and will remain, one of my favorite all time cd's, but as far as FIREWIND is concerned, they're no longer at the top of my list. The last band that fell off the top of my list was on their 10th album before they crapped out, so, this is like a world record for the rise and fall, in my humble opinion...

When I had my first glance at the name "Firewind" and its album title "Between Heaven And Hell" , I was convinced that such band would not offer me anything of new or interesting... Fortunately my thoughts were wrong and Firewind amazed me and certainly will amaze all listeners of well done heavy metal.
If this album has a winning glow, a huge contributor for that is the singer Stephen Fredrick, a true magician of the voice. He gives this band heaviness with talent and melody with passion. Firewind is also crowned for having 21 years old guitarrist Gus who is not playing with great creativity, but is not stealing notes from other bands and even shows a wonderful technique allied with thirst for good music.
Bass lines are the ones that a power metal group needs and drums
go higher than expectancy. Tunes such as "Warrior" and the fast
"Destination Forever" confirm why this record is so fun to be listened. A true ace that provides us hours and hours of great metal without getting boring... Do not underrate this band, you might feel a certain sorrow later... Firewind is truly raging!

I read a very good review of this Firewind album and thought I would check them out. I am very glad I did as this album rocks. Firewind play a very heavy style of power metal which is one reason I like this album so much. A thick muscular guitar tone is in the forefront and drives the songs powerfully. Not a very original album but Firewind uses the basic metal melodies and riffs and just seem to do it better than most other power metal bands. They also aviod the "power metal cheese" which is another big plus. The songwriting is great and captures you from first listen. The singer is also one of the best I have ever heard. Not one of those high pitched girly singers many power metal bands have but rather a very bassy powerful voice with excellent range. His voice is unbeleivable, actually sounds like a barbarian, such raw power. Like he injected his vocal chords with steriods. The guitar leads are simply mindblowing by a 21 year old fenom named Gus G. However they are not that original either just your basic Malmsteen type shredding all over the place. Very taleted, lightning fast and accurate but not much creativity. A lot better than having no leads though and they are fun to listen to. Overall this album has serious balls and is one of this years top ten for me.

Somebody please help me!! I've had the chorus for "warrior" stuck inside my head now for 2 days and I can't get rid of it.

I guess that's the price one has to pay for listening to a cd that is so damn appetizing. From start to finish it was like a rollercoaster ride that you thought was never going to end and were momentarily depressed when it did end but quickly realized that you can ride it all over again.

With this release Firewind have raised the metal bar to a new level that many peers in the genre will find difficult to rise to. After listening to Between heaven and hell all other metal bastions seem small and irrelevant. The majority of metal seems to run on two tracks - the track of melody and the track of brutality. Most bands seem to compromise one in order to achieve the other. Very rarely does a band successfully fuse them both together but Firewind has done just that and also manages to add creativity to the songwriting that makes each song stand on it's own rather than just recording one song ten times and disguising it as a full length album. You get the impression that these guys are sticklers when it comes to quality and don't just release whatever they record. There's probably alot of material that ended up on the cutting room floor. In other words they go through painstaking efforts to sift through all the rock to collect the gemstones and discard everything else.

OK that's it now. If you like blistering, headstrong power metal with a a heavy dose of POWER your collection won't be complete without this CD. I rarely give albums a perfect score but I think this one for certain deserves it.

This album is one of the best power metal album i have ever heard. THere are full of really amazing solos that i have missed so much from the nowadays albums. It reminds me Helloween and Dream Theater. If you like power metal dont even think not having this album. They rock. Buy this album immediately if not sooner

while this isn't my favorite Firewind CD it's a nice listen, not as deep as later CDs by any means, and there's nothing seperating this one from any other power metal bands, but it's an enjoyable listen. as it's a rerelease you get some of the demo songs they submited, and this really give you the feel of a band starting out.

firewind is absolutely the best band that no one has heard of...

in a word - this is the best power metal album i have heard - or should i say it along with Testaments The Gathering are tied for first place..

this is blistering power metal at its best - talent without equal on every instrument...

great album highly recommended