Label: AFM Records
Release date: May 29, 2015
Production: Piet Sielck
Album length: 84:39 min
Genre: Heavy Metal / Power Metal
Iron Savior are one of those bands you can count among the bunch of so-called “first-generation” German power metal acts. They formed relatively late, in 1996, in one of the great cradles of European power metal, the city of Hamburg, but their frontman, singer, guitarist, producer and main songwriter Piet Sielck belongs to the generation of musicians who gave us Helloween, Blind Guardian, Gamma Ray, etc…
Sielck has of course been great friends with all of these guys over the years and has teamed up with them musically in various line-ups. The swaps between the members of Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian and Iron Savior are well known, for example. Still, Iron Savior never had the luck to break through on the scene as strongly as the other two bands mentioned in the previous sentence. Maybe that’s partly because Sielck spent most of the career on production work, as well as running a label of their own, and didn’t put that much focus on getting the Iron Savior name firmly planted on the international, or at least European, stage.
Whatever. Among true power metal heads, Iron Savior are a well-known quality brand. By 2015 they had put out eight studio albums, three EPs and two singles, and the time had finally come for their first proper live document. There’s nothing better, when the chance to record a new album comes up, than getting to play a gig right in your hometown of Hamburg. That happened at the club Knust there, on January 10, 2015, at one of only five shows Iron Savior played this year.
The document runs a little under an hour and a half, and it spins a carousel of the most recognizable songs from Iron Savior’s career, with the exception of a total snub of everything from the album “Megatropolis (2007)”. And here it’s worth mentioning that Sielck surely has special plans for that album when it comes to live performance, since this year Iron Savior played that record and recorded it in the studio all over again, releasing it a second time because Sielck wasn’t happy with the production of the original. There’s absolutely nothing to complain about with this live document. The production has caught all of its liveliness and organic feel! It embodies the incredible club chemistry the band built up that night together with the devoted German crowd. The material is played brilliantly. Sielck sings with exceptional power. They have no trouble getting through every register with a piercing, hugely authoritative, at times manly and at the same time ferociously aggressive (cutting) voice, which brings an intensely passionate delivery of the melody all the way through. To close, the band somewhat surprisingly play the Judas Priest song Breaking the Law. A nice tribute to their heroes, but maybe a step too far, since true fans of the band would rather hear one more Iron Savior classic. Even so, with this move for the big finale the band fired the club up to the very end and blew the roof off the place.
At this show the band also presented their still-current studio album “Rise of the Hero” (2014), which gets a fair bit more attention in the live set. That’s totally justified, since it’s a great record the band can be especially proud of, and they play it live with exactly that attitude. Fully committed and with everything they’ve got! “Live at the Final Frontier” is an excellent live document that fans of this sadly often overlooked but terrific German power metal band will be thrilled with and then some. With this live document Iron Savior prove that, even though they rarely show up live, on stage they are a formidable fortress that is thirsty for blood and delivers its material fantastically in the flesh.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
rating: 9.0 / 10
Track list:
DVD
1. Ascendence (Intro)
2. Last Hero
3. Starlight
4. The Savior
5. Revenge Of The Bride
6. Break The Curse
7. Burning Heart
8. Mind Over Matter
9. Hall Of The Heroes
10. R U Ready
11. Condition Red
12. I’ve Been To Hell
13. Heavy Metal Never Dies
14. Coming Home
15. Iron Watcher (Medley)
16. Atlantis Falling
17. Breaking The Law (Judas Priest Cover)
+ (additional Backstage/concert footage)
CD 1
1. Ascendence (Intro)
2. Last Hero
3. Starlight
4. The Savior
5. Revenge Of The Bride
6. Break The Curse
7. Burning Heart
8. Mind Over Matter
CD 2
1. Hall Of The Heroes
2. R U Ready
3. Condition Red
4. I’ve Been To Hell
6. Coming Home
7. Iron Watcher (Medley)
8. Atlantis Falling
9. Breaking The Law (Judas Priest Cover)
Line-up:
Piet Sielck – vocals, guitar
Joachim “Piesel” Küstner – guitar, backing vocals
Jan-Sören Eckert – bass guitar, backing vocals
Thomas Nack – drums
