Fireforce – March On (2011)

Keeping the Heavy Metal flame alive, today we have newcomers Fireforce and their debut album “March On”. With the old-school vibe oozing from this album since the first riff, the band will surely take you down memory lane with a very fitting soundtrack.

For 12 tracks, Fireforce will take you on a cliché ridden Heavy Metal trip that will surely please fans of this genre that never have adjusted to more modern sounding bands. The band does a great job in creating that traditional Heavy Metal vibe, but does nothing to add something of substance to the genre.

In the opening track “Coastal Battery” we have a very UDO-like performance from the band’s vocalist Flype. The riffing is solid, but very unimaginative and sounds like countless other bands we have heard before. Don’t get us wrong and think this is bad; it’s just a bit dull after a few songs in our opinion.

We have to admit that are some tracks that are easily standouts like the impressive “Moonlight Lady”. The beginning of this song made us think we have actually listening to a more modern Power Metal release. The solos are impressive and the chorus section is pretty solid. The solos on tracks like “Mona Lisa” and “Fly Arrow Fly” make up for the riff-cycling in these songs, and makes them a bit better than the rest.

The album production also has the simplicity of older releases but the crystal clear production values of 2011. This in some moments sounds a bit hollow in our opinion and the band should have done something more dynamic with their production instead of having the guitars blasting all the time and nothing else.

The song that is the epitome of clichés has to be the anthem “Born to Play Metal”. Yeah we get it that the band is very Heavy Metal, but is there really any need to have a song saying this for 5 minutes? While we don’t condone being cliché, there are some things that are just too much.

Overall, we have to say that “March On” really feels like a debut full-length. There are many things the band needs to learn before being able to release something truly epic. While the album is not terrible, it just feels like we’ve heard this one before. The band members sure have skills, but they need to focus them on making more diverse songs.

Release: March 25th, 2011

Country: Belgium