Firewind – Immortals Album Review

After five years of silence, Greece based power metal rockers, Firewind, are coming back with a vengeance!

In conjunction with Century Media Records and AFM Records, on January 20, 2017, Firewind will release, “Immortals”, their eighth studio album and for Firewind and power metal fans, the more you listen, the more you will love.

To be brutally honest, my first run through of this album, brought very mixed feelings and me being a longtime fan of power and speed metal, it sort of stopped me in my tracks, because my original thought was, “What am I supposed to do with this?” So, I gave it another run through and then another and another and over that time, my thoughts expanded and my love grew. No, it wasn’t a slam me up against the wall kind of love, that many power and speed metals musicians are capable of; it was a gradual and deepening affair, the kind that cements itself inside you and grows stronger over time, which makes sense…

In the words of founder and lead guitarist, Gus G., “The songs were written in a much slower pace this time, as it’s the longest break we ever took between albums. So we took our time writing this and concentrated on keeping ideas that were really strong.”

LISTEN TO A SAMPLE OF IMMORTALS

During their time of five year silence, Firewind’s bandmates have been anything but idle. “Mr. G.”, himself, released two solo albums and toured in promotion of his solo work as well as hitting the road with Ozzy Osbourne and yet they have come back together to produce and release this amazing album directed at ancient Greek history as explained by Gus G., “This is our first concept album and it has to do with ancient Greek history and more specifically the Battles of Thermopylae and Salamis in 480 BC during the second Persian invasion of Greece. In Thermopylae, the vastly outnumbered Greeks held off the Persians for seven days (including three of battle) before the rear-guard was annihilated in one of history’s most famous last stands.”

Gus G.’s, phenomenal speed metal skills are up front and center throughout the album and if that is not enough to keep drawing you in, Gus, brings in front man, Henning Basse, as the lead vocalist. Henning, a longtime collaborator with the band, nails the required hauntingly deep, powerful resounding voice of power metal on each track whether it be the aggressive and forceful, “Ode to Leonidas”, or the lovely power ballad, “Lady of a 1000 Sorrows” and personally, I hope they keep him onboard for number nine!

My final analysis of this album is that it is not only a keeper but is destined to become a classic…on repeat! You can pre-order this powerhouse of a music collection, along with finding their headlining 2017 tour schedule on Firewind’s website or on AMAZON and keep up with them on social media.

Firewind – Immortals is: