Artist: Seventh Key
Label: Inside Out Records
Release: 2004
Rating: 4/5
This is Seventh Key’s second studio album. The 2001 debut got rave reviews, which puts its successor in a slightly awkward spot. Will it be worthy of the legacy, will it be better, or will it just be a plain rerun of the debut? First things first: Greer has put together a proper band, and Seventh Key has grown from a modest project into a real hard-hitting rock quartet. You can feel it in the incredible tightness of the songs, the product of first-rate chemistry and the fact that it’s more than obvious Billy and company have landed on the same wavelength in how they feel music and what they’re chasing. To be Seventh Key, to play Seventh Key music! It’s incredible where these guys keep getting all these impressively fresh ideas that win you over so completely.
“The Raging Fire” is a seriously fitting title for the album. Seventh Key are fired up and laid bare, charging through the record from start to finish in a first-class stampede. They quickly make the case that “The Raging Fire” deserves every superlative the debut collected and stands proudly next to it, because the band doesn’t buckle on a single point when you compare the two albums. The album is everything the debut was when it comes to polished, finished songwriting.
The production is maybe a hair more sophisticated than on the debut in places. The guitar sits slightly further back in the mix, and the “back” vocal harmonies with Billy’s “lead” vocal come through even more in the sound picture, working first-class “hard rock” wonders on the record. So Slamer’s sound is a shade more precise on “The Raging Fire”, and compared to the debut it flirts with AOR leanings to a greater degree. Right in the opening song you can feel that Rainbow approach, with organ and guitar riff attacking together! The first peak is You Cross The Line. A long, atmospheric intro, the band weaves it all together slowly, slowly, and then comes the explosion. First-class, ballsy hard rock with a big melody. An Ocean Away carries some fitting Kansas references. The chorus is an epically grandiose creation, and you can actually feel a touch of “progressive” tendency in it. The title track confirms the band’s “sophistication” compared to the debut. And lo and behold, the chorus is progressively broken up, with a big melody laid over it, and once again Kansas crosses my mind. The point is that it’s all played with such passion and joy that it sucks the listener in right away, leaving no time to think about comparisons.
Anyway, the album firmly summons the spirit of eighties radio, and there are quite a few songs on this record that could have been potential hits (say, Always From The Heart) if the right time had been on our side. To say it again, “The Raging Fire” is on par with the debut “Seventh Key”. It carries a light breeze of extra flirting with AOR tricks and is happy to sound “proggy” in places. In that respect it’s a hair more varied and dynamic than the debut. The melodies stay expressively big, the atmosphere is grandiose, and the goosebumps down the spine are relentless this time too! The riffs and big melodies speak for themselves and point to the plain fact that “The Raging Fire” is another bullseye.
Lineup
Billy Greer – vocals, bass guitar
Mike Slamer – guitar, keyboards
Terry Brock – backing vocals
Jamie Thompson – drums
Production
Mike Slamer
Track List
1. The Sun Will Rise
2. Always From The Heart
3. You Cross The Line
4. An Ocean Away
5. The Raging Fire
6. Sin City
7. It Should Have Been You
8. Run
9. Pyramid Princess
10. Winds Of War
Album length: 53:36
