Arena Metal at one time ruled supreme. What the hell is Arena Metal you may be asking – it’s a term I coined (or at least take credit for in my mind) for acts that are so big, so expansive, their sound so huge – even when listening at home, you feel like you sitting in the back row of a huge auditorium feeling the floor shake beneath your feet. KISS does it, Priest does it, Metallica, TSO still does it – you get the idea. Good news for you all, I’ve found a new band for you that brings back that bygone era.
Spirits Of Fire is born of greatness – Longtime TSO and Savatage axeman Chris Caffery has joined forces with the one and only Tim “Ripper” Owens, Testament thunder God Steve DiGiorgio and Mark Zonder of Fates Warning fame on drums. This collection of extremely talented men have come together and with their self-titled debut album bring back that heavy, grinding, ear bleeding style of arena metal – and not a day too soon.
Their 11 track debut hits on Feb. 22nd from Frontiers Music and I am not
So, what makes it so damn good, you may be asking – I’ve got answers.
Both aggressive and melodic – Spirits Of Fire manages to find that sweet spot – a spot I haven’t seen exposed since the metal world lost Dio – of an almost operatic vocal track punctuated by driving riffs and searing guitar solos. This is how I like my metal served to me.
Owens’ voice is in top form and he seems to have found his happy place. There are not many left in the business that can sing in the style he does – again I return to my Dio reference – so many of today’s heavier bands seem to fall into the trap of basically unrecognizable screaming and grunting – Owens range is amazing and his vocal gymnastics are impressive at their worst and downright breathtaking at times. Coupled with Caffery’s deft ability to join catchy riffs with lightning fast solos – the end result will literally leave you in a state of awe. Then add in the rock-solid percussion and bass of Zonder and DiGiorgio – you’re talking metal perfection
I mentioned earlier that this debut effort contains 11 tracks – they are as follows:
- Light Speed Marching
- Temple Of The Soul
- All Comes Together
- Spirits Of Fire
- It’s Everywhere
- A Game
- Stand And Fight
- Meet Your End
- Never To Return
- The Path
- Alone In The Darkness
A little experimentation occurs throughout the collection – with songs ranging from balls-out rockers like Light Speed Marching and All Comes Together to tracks like It’s Everywhere and Never To Return that gives the band a little room to flex their musical talents and just run with things. All this leads to an always surprising and highly satisfying journey back to when metal was epic and those that performed
Not blowing smoke when I tell you – this is the most fun I’ve had listening to a metal album in quite a while – the hype is real, the talent is world class and the album damn well better find it’s way into your playlist.
Click here to get you hands on a copy as soon as it’s released.
