Firewind – “Forged by Fire”
I really like this album. Firewind plays traditional, hard-hitting, energy-laden, shredding, thundering heavy metal. Raging guitars, metal-god vocals, and plenty of guitar solos!! The man doing the shredding is Gus G., who also plays in Nightrage and Dream Evil, but the difference here is that he is the head honcho, so what you hear is all of his songs that he writes with singer, the man, Chity Somapala. A couple of explanations: this is not happy power metal; the guitars are pretty thrashy and heavy; Chity sings high, but has a strong, earthly voice that sounds cool, not happy and cheesy. Oh, what topics do the lyrics cover, you ask? Well, what do you think song titles like “Kill to Live,” “Beware the Beast,” “Tyranny” and “Perished in Flames” talk about? Oh, yes, they also have one called “Burn in Hell.” Are the lyrics stupid? I find that the lyrics fit the music, that the rhythm matches the words. They could talk about their “feelings” or their parents. No, thank you, fire and death are fine by me. Alrighty then, now you know: Firewind is shredding, catchy, headbanging, fists-in-the-air, hair-flowing, double-bass, screaming, singing, rocking metal music. Did I mention that the songs are memorable and good?! What else would you like to know? That Gus G. wears red leather pants and eyeliner? That his guitar strap has “666” written on it? What do you think Gus is trying to tell us with that number? That he loves algebra? That he likes expensive cable with that many channels.