Ring of Fire - Battle of Leningrad (2014)



Artist: Ring of Fire
Title Of Album: Battle of Leningrad
Year Of Release: 2014
Label: Frontiers Records/FR CD 632
Genre: Progressive/Power Metal
Quality: FLAC (image+.cue,scans)
Bitrate: Lossless
Total Time: 00:52:25
Total Size: 415 mb
WebSite: amazon

Tracklist:

1.Mother Russia
2.They're Calling Your Name
3.Empire
4.Land of Frozen Tears
5.Firewind
6.Where Angels Play
7.Battle of Leningrad
8.No Way Out
9.Our World
10.Rain

Mark Boals - Vocals
Tony MacAlpine - Guitars
Vitalij Kuprij - Keyboards
Timo Tolkki - Bass
Jami Huovinen - Drums

After a 9 year hiatus RING OF FIRE has returned, with a powerful Symphonic
Metal sound similar to that of SYMPHONY X but featuring a more Power
Metal influenced sound, featuring lots of pianos and synths. This is a
powerful album that should serve to remind people just what the band is
capable of, with incredible musicianship and great melodies.
Opening up with "Mother Russia"’s dramatic piano playing, the band sets things
into motion with what can only be described as epic guitar playing
strengthened by virtuosic keyboards and a strong rhythm section. Mark
Boals' vocals are powerful and has a great range, from soaring power
metal highs to throatier midrange moments.
The band has so much technicality on offer it really boggles the mind, but they pull it off
so well it feels completely natural in its execution. The songs "They’re
Calling Your Name" and "Firewind" show this really well, the latter
being a really nice dynamic song providing lots of variety and a nice
song length to do it with too.
The band has some more mid tempo moments too that show off their slightly more grooving side, with songs
like "Empire" and title track "Battle of Leningrad" taking their time
and telling great dramatic stories that should keep the listener hooked
to the imaginative and challenging melodies.
The album closes with "Rain" with an awesome emotive vocal performance and some all-round
great playing; this one closes off the album very nicely with another
piano section after a great technical and fast song.
The production is great; everything is nice and clear and doesn’t overpower anything
else. The vocals and keyboards stand out overall with great quality and
clarity and the guitars are nice and heavy too. The drums provide a nice
solid backing to the album’s sound, with the bass supporting this very
nicely and not overplaying too much.
Overall, this is a great album for ring of fire, the band play superbly well together, especially when
you consider they have been on such a long hiatus.