aaamusic | On 22, Oct 2010

Freedom Call are to head out on a UK November Tour following the new ‘Legend Of The Shadow King’ Studio Album on SPV.

“With Songs like ‘Remember’, ‘Tears Of Babylon’, ‘Thunder God’, and the so-happy-you-want-to-cry ‘Merlin – The Legend Of The Past’, and you just can’t go wrong with what Freedom Call are offering. And if you’ve been mourning the death of power metal in its purest form, this is the heady elixir to bring back your faith. Superb. 8/10’ (Powerplay Magazine album review by Bruce Turnbull, April 2010 issue.)

Following rave reviews of their sixth studio album, ‘Legend Of The Shadow King’, released in the Spring on Steamhammer / SPV, Freedom Call, one of Germany’s best loved and most successful melodic Power Metal bands, have lined up a five date UK tour. Dates are:-

November 4th – BOURNEMOUTH Champions (01202 75700 / ticketweb.com)
November 5th – LONDON Purple Turtle (020 7383 4976 / 7734 8932 / stargreen.com)
November 6th – MANCHESTER Satan’s Hollow (08444 771000 / ticketweb.com)
November 7th – WAKEFIELD Snooty Fox (01924 374455 / snootyfoxlive.com)
November 8th – GLASGOW Classic Grand (08444 771000 / ticketweb.com)

‘Legend Of The Shadow King’, Freedom Call’s sixth studio album, is packed with the band’s trademark soaring, melodic hard rocking compositions, spiraling guitar runs and huge vocal harmonies. ‘Legend Of The Shadow King’, produced by Tommy Newton (Helloween, UFO, Victory), contains 14 songs, all inspired by the story of 19th Century King Ludwig II,   who was King of Bavaria, a large regional kingdom of Germany, until he was forced to cede power to the First German Empire when it was founded in 1871.When Bavaria lost its centuries-old independence, he famously stated ‘I don’t want to be a shadow king without power’. Ludwig was an eccentric whose legacy is intertwined with the history of art and architecture, as he subsequently commissioned the construction of several extravagant fantasy castles and was a devoted patron of the composer Richard Wagner.

Freedom Call were formed in 1998 around the nucleus of old friends Chris Bray (vocals and guitars) and drummer Daniel Zimmerman, who was [and still is] also a member of Gamma Ray, with whom Freedom Call are touring Europe with throughout February and March 2010. Guitarist Lars Rettkowitz and bassist Samy Saemann complete the Freedom Call line-up. Freedom Call’s debut album, ‘Stairway to Fairyland’, released in 1999, sold over 35,000 copies and firmly established the band at the forefront of the emerging power metal scene. Tours with the likes of Saxon and Angra saw the band developing a huge live following, boosted by numerous slots on major European festivals such as Wacken Open Air in Germany, where they continue appear higher up the bill every time they release an album. Following the release of ‘Crystal Empire’, Freedom Call’s second album, in 2001, the band set off on a 63 date European tour with Hammerfall and Virgin Steele. After the release of ‘Eternity’, their 3rd album, Freedom Call toured with Blind Guardian, during which they recorded their ‘Live Invasion’ album, before starring on the Wacken Road Show 2004. ‘The Circle of Life’, released in 2005, saw the integration of more contemporary and unusual arrangements into the band’s sound, extending the musicians sonic range, further developed on ‘Dimensions’, released in 2007. Powerplay’s Adam Harrold awarded ‘Dimensions’ 8/10 in July 2007’s issue, enthusing “It’s thrashier, more melodic and more topical than any of their efforts thus far…It’s a brilliant fusing of all the things that detractors would say is wrong with power metal. Which, of course, means it rocks.”

www.freedom-call.net www.spv.de