Customer Reviews

Crystal Empire

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I can pretty much say that I've been searching for a CD like this for years now. Being a huge fan of power metal, I need catchy choruses, thundering double bass, and beautiful guitar work. This album packs a load of that and more. The great thing about this CD is that it might be just about the happiest metal I've ever heard. Farewell makes me want to join hands with my friends and like run over a grassy hill or something. Yeah, that good. And the band's title anthem is just unbelievably catchy. Try as I might, as a metal album, I cannot find a single thing wrong with The Crystal Empire. Buy it, end of story.

If I were to make a list of my favorite Epic Power Metal Bands, I would be remiss if I didn't include Freedom Call. For power metaliers, Freedom Call have one of the classiest sounds around. I can barely listen to their music after all these years, without getting chills. There are presently four Freedom Call studio albums and all are solid efforts but for some reason, Crystal Empire strikes a higher chord in my aural senses. I chose to write about this album because, in my humble opinion, it beats out the others by a hair.

Freedom Call is one of those rare bands, where all the band members sing and join in the harmony, like Asia or Styx. Their music is what is regarded as Epic or Heroic Power Metal, which usually translates into a story about some bigger than life fantasy character or event. Crystal Empire is such an album, chronicling a mighty quest by Ramzezh, king of the sun people to save his people from the evil prince Thorgan of Phantagor.

Freedom Call's music is standard epic power metal fare, with symphonic accompaniment and somewhat high pitched multiple vocals harmonizing in the background. The music is particularly melodic, the musicianship, especially guitars, is magnificent. What I like in particular about Freedom Call's songs is that they don't turn their drummer loose, like Rhapsody and many others. Another thing I like about Freedom Call is, like Rhapsody, they vary the tempo of the music. However, unlike Rhapsody, Freedom Call's fastest speed seems to be less frenetic than many other power metal bands. This is a important issue with me. It is one of the reasons I never quite got into Rhapsody. Their fastest speed is almost machine gun like. I find it very disconcerting and it really keeps me from absorbing the music. It's just moving too fast to take in. Anyway, if you're a power metal fan, this is a must!

Highlight Songs

All the songs are excellent, with special emphasis on tracks 2, 4 and 8. "Freedom Call", "Farewell" and "The Quest". All songs are similar but the exceptional melodies and varying tempos elevate these three songs above the others.

"Freedom Call" is a 5:35 minute, medium fast tempo piece with strong orchestral elements. It also features a strong guitar solo in the bridge.

"Farewell" is a 4:06 minute, medium paced, somewhat anthem sounding song again with extensive orchestral accompaniment.

At 7:35 minutes "The Quest" longest song on the album. It is also the `piece de resistance`, a song that I consider in the top echelons of my favorites. For me it is truly inspiring, starting out with a subtle piano intro and then the sound explodes around you. It has somewhat of a chugging beat.

f I were to make a list of my favorite Epic Power Metal Bands, I would be remiss if I didn't include Freedom Call. For power metaliers, Freedom Call have one of the classiest sounds around. I can barely listen to their music after all these years, without getting chills. There are presently four Freedom Call studio albums and all are solid efforts but for some reason, Crystal Empire strikes a higher chord in my aural senses. I chose to write about this album because, in my humble opinion, it beats out the others by a hair.

Freedom Call is one of those rare bands, where all the band members sing and join in the harmony, like Asia or Styx. Their music is what is regarded as Epic or Heroic Power Metal, which usually translates into a story about some bigger than life fantasy character or event. Crystal Empire is such an album, chronicling a mighty quest by Ramzezh, king of the sun people to save his people from the evil prince Thorgan of Phantagor.

Freedom Call's music is standard epic power metal fare, with symphonic accompaniment and somewhat high pitched multiple vocals harmonizing in the background. The music is particularly melodic, the musicianship, especially guitars, is magnificent. What I like in particular about Freedom Call's songs is that they don't turn their drummer loose, like Rhapsody and many others. Another thing I like about Freedom Call is, like Rhapsody, they vary the tempo of the music. However, unlike Rhapsody, Freedom Call's fastest speed seems to be less frenetic than many other power metal bands. This is a important issue with me. It is one of the reasons I never quite got into Rhapsody. Their fastest speed is almost machine gun like. I find it very disconcerting and it really keeps me from absorbing the music. It's just moving too fast to take in. Anyway, if you're a power metal fan, this is a must!

Highlight Songs

All the songs are excellent, with special emphasis on tracks 2, 4 and 8. "Freedom Call", "Farewell" and "The Quest". All songs are similar but the exceptional melodies and varying tempos elevate these three songs above the others.

"Freedom Call" is a 5:35 minute, medium fast tempo piece with strong orchestral elements. It also features a strong guitar solo in the bridge.

"Farewell" is a 4:06 minute, medium paced, somewhat anthem sounding song again with extensive orchestral accompaniment.

At 7:35 minutes "The Quest" longest song on the album. It is also the `piece de resistance`, a song that I consider in the top echelons of my favorites. For me it is truly inspiring, starting out with a subtle piano intro and then the sound explodes around you. It has somewhat of a chugging beat.

Taking most of their cues from the twin classic albums of Helloween, this group strive to continue the work laid down by their fellow countrymen, and make a pretty good job of it in the process. While there are some darker moments, much of the material relies on fabulously childlike, yet infectious melodies to put Happy Metal back on the map.

Rather than the typical, negative emotions expressed in the majority of Metal bands, Freedom Call use positive, uplifting choruses, which are often sung in a major key. Unfortunately they seem to prefer using the same key for all their songs throughout the album! Many of the vocal melodies are also based on a similar theme, which can become rather tiresome after a while, yet the vocals themselves are performed very well.

The band employ the use of keyboards to further enhance their sound, although the fake trumpets do sound somewhat ridiculous when compared to the real thing. Here again the songs tend to suffer from a lack of diversity when very similar keyboard sequences are used on individual tracks. This is not to say that the music would benefit from their absence, as they do form an integral part of each composition.

Where the band do score however, is with the variation of rhythms and tempos. Another welcome innovation is the abolition of soppy ballads, replaced simply by songs with a slower beat and happier, singalong choruses. Some of this can get a bit much, but fortunately there is plenty of heavier material to counter this lighter side to the album.

Standout tracks include "Rise up", "Pharao" and the epic "Quest", while the likes of "Farewell" and "Wanderer" are more likely to induce bouts of uncontrolable cringing upon first encounter! Nevertheless, the music does tend to grow in appeal with repeated plays, and the listening experience eventually becomes an enjoyable one. Well worth checking out for fans of melodic Metal.

This is my first Freedom Call album. After hearing about how great this band is and how they sound so similar to Helloween (Michael Kiske/Kai Hansen days), i just had to hear for myself and find out whether all the hype was true.

After hearing the album, i thought that the band is not near the musical talent of Helloween and actually sound more like Gamma Ray! Freedom Call do however showcase very good melodies & a hard rock style throught the Crystal Empire. The epic, "Quest", I feel is the strongest song on the album and offers all the strengths of the band. Other standouts include: "Heart Of The Rainbow", "Rise Up", "Palace Of Fantasy" & the catchy "Freedom Call".

I've heard that their best album is Stairway To Fairyland, so maybe new listeners to Freedom Call should try that one rather than this album.

As a fan of power metal bands such as Helloween, HammerFall, Stratovarius, Gamma Ray, Rhapsody, Lab˙rinth, Mesmerize, etc. I must say that this band does not disappoint and will satisfy power metal fans!

For starters, there are presently three Freedom Call albums and all three would hit five stars on my star chart. I chose to write about this album because, in my humble opinion, it beats out the other two by a hair.

If your going to rate an album five stars it better be something special. Well this album meets that criteria hands down. there is not a bad song on it and there are six songs I think are 9 or better. Another plus is that this is a feel good album. It's not dark or dreary but an uplifting feel good story. It is essentially a fantasy concept album, the story of which is available on the Freedom Call website:

I believe Crystal Empire is slightly better than their other albums Eternity and Stairway to Fairyland. In fact it's better than all Heroic Power Metal albums I have heard except Hastings 1066 by Thy Majestie and Gates of Oblivion by Dark Moor and I'm not sure of the latter. The music is pretty much standard epic power metal fare with symphonic background rather high pitched multiple vocals in harmony. the music is quite melodic the musicianship, especially guitars, is magnificent. What I especially like about Freedom Call's songs is that they don't use speed drumming like Rhapsody. Like Rhapsody, Freedom Call varies the tempo of the music, however Freemdom Call's fastest speed seems to be about seven eighths of many of the others. This is a big issue with me and it is one of the reasons I could never really get into Rhapsody. Their fastest speed is very disconcerting and really keeps me from absorbing the music. It's just moving too fast to absorb. I find the technically perfect Dragonforce likes the machine gun type drums too, so I don't listen to them either. Anyway, if you're a power metal fan this is a must! Below are the track list with my richter scale ratings:
01 The king of the Crystal Empire (Intro)
02 Freedom Call (10*)
03 Rise up (9*)
04 Farewell (8*)
05 Pharaoh (8*)
06 Call of fame (8*)
07 Heart of the rainbow (9*)
08 The Quest (10*)
09 Ocean (9*)
10 Palace of Fantasy (8*)
11 The Wanderer (9*)

As I said before, all the songs are excellent, with special emphasis on the 5:35 minute Freedom Call and the 7:35 minute The Quest. All songs are similar but the exceptional melodies and varying tempos elevate these two songs above the others.

I've been a fan of power metal for close to a decade, and this album by Freedom Call has been a staple to my music collection since the early days. I recommend it to every power metal fan I know, and rarely fail to put it on a mix.

2001's Crystal Empire is the second album from German melodic power metal band Freedom Call. The band, formed by former Gamma Ray drummer Dan Zimmermann, takes the basic Helloween power metal formula, doubles down on melody and adds lots of keyboards. It's metal, but shiny, happy, sing-along metal.

Crystal Empire picks up right where 1999's Stairway To Fairyland left off. The band was obviously happy with their formula, so they didn't change much, and it's hard to argue with the results. Galloping leads, catchy melodies, ridiculously harmonized sing-song choruses - power metal the Freedom Call way. I can't knock it though, because it's so darned infectious. I love the first three Freedom Call albums, and it's due to songs like "Freedom Call," "Heart of the Rainbow," "Rise Up" and "The Quest."

Freedom Call is undoubtedly going to be too upbeat and cheesy for some metal fans, but they should appeal to fans of the German power metal sound as well as bands like Lost Horizon, Hammerfall and even Dragonforce. Stairway to Fairyland is probably the best place to start if you're unfamiliar with the band, but all of the band's first three albums are worth checking out.

For their second album, Freedom Call decided to let the choir drive most of their songs. I found this disappointing given the raw power of their first album, "Stairway to Fairyland". This does, however, put more focus on the guitar playing, which is epic power metal at its finest. Still a very solid offering from FC and typical of their style of heroic sounding metal; just don't expect it to continue in the same vein as their first album.

You can find my full review of the album here: [...]

Whenever I listen to this music I imagine an army of warriors singing preparing for war, or celebrating after a battle that has been won. This has to be the happiest, uplifting, optimistic metal I've ever heard. This is not my favorite group, but it's among my top list. Best songs: RISE UP, FAREWELL, OCEAN and PALACE OF FANTASY.