Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Motorfire
Label: Metal Tank
Release: 2014
Length: 42:10
Rating: 4/5
Motorfire are, or let’s just say were, a band that blended elements of the classic heavy metal school with hard rock too. Revivalists, in other words. In a career that lasted a good three years, the band managed to write 10 songs (11 if you count the intro) that landed on the studio debut »Rising Fire«. It came out in the middle of April this year. The album reached our editorial office barely a month after the band officially announced it was calling it quits, and it’s a document that clearly and unapologetically shows the huge potential of a talented heavy metal / heavy rock quintet from Kobjeglava, with big promise for the future. But? Never say never. Maybe they’ll be back. They wouldn’t be the first or the last to call off their (surely premature) musical retirement.
Motorfire are devoted to the legacy of the eighties. In the arrangements and song structures, in the stylistic choice of lead motifs and lead melodies. The vocals stick to traditional melodic pragmatism, and the choruses are suitably pompous. The band shreds out guitar phrases straight from the traditional NWOBHM playbook. And they hide neither their boldness nor their talent. »Rising Fire« is listenable from head to toe, and the songs stand tall already because of the sheer heart the band put into creating it.
Overall, this very nice and solid studio debut carries a few flaws that would be worth ironing out in the future. The band needs to work on a better metrical placement of words in the verses, meaning more attention to simplifying them, and so squeezing even more melody out of the vocals. The other thing to improve is the more proper handling of the lines sung in English. The band is surely a fan of the production on the classic Def Leppard albums. You can feel it in the attempts at producing the backing vocals, as well as in the snare drum at times, which is especially “deep” and prominent in the punchy ballad Miss You. I’d argue Rising Fire sounds “too classic” metal and not classic hard rock or even AOR enough for this kind of production, even though the backing vocals in the chorus melodies work perfectly decently in principle. Still, the lead vocal, or rather its timbre, is weighed down through the vocal approach with a welcome touch of dark theatricality, which meets the demands of the genre Motorfire belong to. Sprinkling in vocal harmonies here and there is certainly nice, but there’s simply too much of it on the debut, or rather the band overdoes it. That said, we can’t overlook, let alone deny, the quintet’s tremendous heart, drive and hunger to prove themselves, which keeps tipping the scales toward a positive verdict whenever the debate turns to the debut. »Rising Fire« is a lovely debut, brimming with the boldness of skilled handling of instruments and songwriting, even if the note of beginner’s naivety is noticeable.
When it comes to vocals, there’s an interesting and, for the Slovenian scene, classic observation once again: the only song on the album sung in Slovenian (titled Demoni) grabs the attention more than the songs sung in English. It’s the darkest song on the album, where the vocals squeeze out the most aggression and menace. That’s yet another proof that using the Slovenian language can be the basis for a bigger payoff in original, homegrown character. There isn’t really a misstep on the album in terms of songwriting. These are tried and tested, carefully measured moves by the band’s main “songwriters”. In that respect, only the love power ballad Miss You falls short in quality compared to the rest of the album, with a smidge too many tearful outbursts in both lyrics and melodies, and you get the feeling while listening that the song doesn’t go anywhere in its chorus repetitions.
The element that really stands out on the album is the seductive riffs that hook you on first listen, and the very catchy guitar solos, or solos in duels between the two guitarists, including the frequent embellishment of guitar phrases with harmonies in thirds. The guitarists have an excellent feel for placing notes properly. They simply follow (when needed) the axiom “less is more” very effectively too. In this department Motorfire can be a real role model for their genre contemporaries in Slovenia, especially those hard rock and metal bands and guitarists who keep forgetting themselves and showing off their “approximation” of the Dragonforce guitarists in their solos, instead of focusing on maintaining the atmosphere dictated by the basic message of the song at hand. The guitar work and the sheer idea value of the guitar phrases and guitar arrangements are actually the greatest charm of the album »Rising Fire«. Production-wise too.
Fans of classic heavy metal earworms, ear-grabbers and anthems, welcome home. You absolutely have to check out the album »Rising Fire«. Even though the album carries some beginner’s naivety, which is perfectly acceptable, understandable and therefore pretty much par for the course on the Slovenian metal scene, Motorfire convincingly show boldness, commitment and a big debut-year rush. This is an album that doesn’t reinvent the wheel and doesn’t bring a musical revolution, but rather roams through bits of the past and shamelessly flirts with classic, even pioneering rock and metal bands. Motorfire are more comparable to the NWOBHM school than to anything else. The influence of Iron Maiden can’t be denied in the slightest, and the revival elements of classic metal are therefore present on the album in considerable excess. Still, the band showed consistency across the compositions, and there are no swings in quality between songs. That’s also proof that the band shaped a style right from the start that undeniably places it in the genre of classic heavy metal, or among the representatives of its revival.
Regardless of the fact that the band has officially stopped operating, I believe the guys will change their minds and revive the Motorfire story in the medium term. Or, on its ashes, build the foundations for continuing their career with a new band. Because »Rising Fire« embodies the thrilling musical boldness of five untamed stallions from the Slovenian Karst, who know the look and the craft of the classic heavy metal legacy inside out.
Lineup
Anej Marušič – vocals, backing vocals
Boštjan Pertinač – guitar, backing vocals
Arian Krašna – guitar, backing vocals
David “Dafko” Černic – bass
Miha “Polo” Polanc – drums, backing vocals
Production
Matevž “Murva” Murovec & Boštjan Pertinač
Tracklist
01. Rising Fire
02. Burnout (“Tire on Fire”)
03. Night Version
04. The Pride
05. Ghost Rider
06. Claws ‘n’ Fangs
07. Miss You
08. Metropolis of Dreams
09. Demoni
10. Motorfire
11. Free Your Burning Heart
