Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Brother Firetribe
Label: Spinefarm Records
Release: 2017
Length: 46:39
Rating: 3.5/5
The music world has quite a few bands whose style ties them straight back to the old school, or to the generation of their heroes. Whether they’re revivalists or a band that’s a really good parody. Or both at once. From Pero Defformero to Steel Panther (and everything in between). Lately we can even add Edguy to that list. Joking aside, though in Edguy’s case the joke nearly got carried away by the devil himself (let’s wait and see what the new album brings). Much like Night Flight Orchestra a while back, a band made up of members of Audrey Horne and Amon Amarth, there are also (still) Brother Firetribe, who started out as a side project of Nightwish guitarist Emppu Vuorinen. And like it or not, »Sunbound« is already their fourth album.
Never mind that many people don’t even see Brother Firetribe as a band that ever had a real reason to exist, because you honestly can’t tell whether it’s a parody or the guys are dead serious, these Finns still know how to repackage the old-timer tricks typical of the way west coast / AOR music was written in the eighties, and do it effectively. »Sunbound« is no exception, and it keeps up the quality set down on this band’s previous three albums with remarkable virtue. So fans of Brother Firetribe will once again be fully satisfied with the new record.
The production guarantees bombast. The quintet’s feel for the musical shaping of the songs is outstanding, and the compositions deliver constant, high melodic catchiness that hits you right from the first listen. The sound is stereotypically Finnish. That means very polished. More polished than you’d expect from melodic rock albums being put together these days. More than what the Swedes, the Americans and, above all, the Germans come up with, who always liked to slip noticeably crunchier guitars into their hard rock. With Brother Firetribe, the keyboards (synth washes) are in places so lavishly and pompously pushed that they even dominate the guitar phrases.
Vocalist Pekka Ansio Heino keeps up an excellent, that is, distinctively penetrating, vocal performance, and his tone of voice occasionally, but only occasionally, likes to drift toward Robin Zander (Cheap Trick). With their activity, Brother Firetribe are also a real balm for everyone who misses Heino’s main band Leverage on the scene.
These days you really can’t get anywhere with this kind of imitation. There’s a pile of revivalist bands on the scene, and plenty of them are truly excellent, yet they just can’t break through and carve out any recognition on the international melodic rock scene. Hand on heart, Brother Firetribe would be among them too, if Nightwish’s guitarist didn’t play in the band. A name is a name. And that name guarantees that the band can be completely relaxed when making music under the Brother Firetribe banner, can enjoy the studio full-bloodedly, and so deliver to themselves and the music public the best they know how and can. »Sunbound« is thus a seriously decent album that brings nothing new and nothing you haven’t already heard. It definitely won’t come anywhere near satisfying AOR purists, who will stick to listening to the giants of the eighties west coast / AOR scene, but for everyone else, less hung up on easygoing, hard-charging melodic rock, it can nicely liven up an hour or so of the daily grind.
Brother Firetribe – Taste Of A Champion (official audio):
Lineup
Pekka Ansio Heino – vocals
Emppu Vuorinen – guitar
Tomppa Nikulainen – keyboards
Jason Flinck – bass guitar
Hannes Pirila – drums
Production
Brother Firetribe
Track list
1. Sunbound (01:34)
2. Help Is On The Way (03:55)
3. Indelible Heroes (03:51)
4. Taste Of A Champion (03:36)
5. Last Forever (03:53)
6. Give Me Tonight (03:44)
7. Shock (04:06)
8. Strangled (04:06)
9. Heart Of The Matter (03:58)
10. Restless Heart (04:33)
11. Big City Dream (04:13)
12. Phantasmagoria (05:07)
