Search - Brother Firetribe :: False Metal

The 80's are back!

wizey | Margate, Tasmania, Australia | 01/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't believe that no-one else has reviewed this album! For me this is one of the best albums of 2006. Had it not been for Iron Maiden's album A Matter Of Life And Death, Brother Firetribe's False Metal would have been THE album of 2006 in my opinion (in fact this is the album I play more than any other and it will be for many years to come). However, don't think that this album sounds anything like Iron Maiden, in fact it is far from it.



Having gone through high school and college in the 80's listening to the classic hard rock, NWOBHM and hair metal of that era this album was a breath of fresh air to me. No-one plays this kind of music any more, but thankfully Brother Firetribe has successfully produced an album of ten top quality songs that any band of the 80's would have been proud to have written.



To give you an idea what this album sounds like, think 80's American arena rock - Van Halen from the 1984, 5150, OU812 era, with a touch of Kiss, Bon Jovi and even a hint of Foreigner. This album reeks energy, good time rock and roll, and lots of fun. The keyboards are right at the forefront of the songs (in fact they dominate), but the guitar playing is also top notch. The vocals are excellent and easily heard and understood, with hooks and harmonies it is easy to sing along with. In fact, I guarantee you will not be able to help yourself, you WILL sing along with it!



The whole album has an uplifting feel good vibe to it, and every song is just so catchy! Radio will probably ignore this album as it does not fit in with current popular trends, however it is extremely radio friendly and would have dominated the airwaves had it been released in 1986.



Even though I've stated that the music has 80's sound all over it, don't let this 80's talk make you think "cheese" because it's an album of class and remarkable freshness.



False Metal is the perfect summertime album, for playing in the car, at parties or b-b-q's, or just cranking out at top volume any where, anytime. There is no doubt this album will be appeal to may people, which is why it is quite surprising to me that there are no other reviews of it.



It's hard to believe that these guys are from Finland because the music just sounds so American. Emppu Vuorinen does a great job blending his guitar with the keyboards and adding solo's here and there. This music sounds nothing at all like his regular band Nightwish.

Pekka Ansio Heino is fantastic on vocals. He has a clarity that is refreshing, and whilst he does seem to be pushing to the extremes of his ability in a couple of parts on the album, I think it's a credit to him that he is willing to do this and the songs do not suffer at all from it.

(I also recommend the album Tides by the Band Leverage for which he is also the vocalist.)



I don't know much about Tomppa Nikulainen (keyboards) or Jason Flinck (bass) but they also must get some credit for this great album, with the keyboards in particular sounding brilliant.



Strangely there is no credit for drums on this album or any mention of drum programming. However Kalle "Hi-Hatter" Torniainen is given credit as "additional musician" so it seems that he was probably the drummer, but there is no photo of him (or is it her? I don't know about Finnish names!!).



I love the whole album so it's hard to pick out the best songs, but here goes:

Breakout, Valerie, I'm On Fire, Love Goes Down, Midnite Queen, One Single Breath, Lover Tonite. (Well that's 7/10, what can I say?)



There is nothing bad or negative about this album at all, it's all good.

I wish there was more music around like this now. I have not purchased an album that I have enjoyed this much in many, many years, and I hope these guys make another.









"

Instant classic

king wolf | Jotunheim | 05/31/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is amazing. Brother Firetribe, a new band which consists of a studio drummer who isn't even in the band, three no-names and a guitarist from Nightwish, has come completely out of nowhere and released what might be the greatest AOR album of all time.



I'm not saying they're better than Ten or Journey or the rest. I'm just saying, this album is in the argument. It's that good.



The sound: early eighies keyboards up front, with modern light-metal guitars and production adding some meat to the recipe. A singer that is a little lower in the register than the usual AOR fare (thank god).



The songs: amazingly catchy hooks and astoundingly good vocal melodies in each and every segment of each and every one of them. The songs have different moods, but the general tone is always the "two parts happy, one part sad" of the best pop; they have that "overcoming obstacles and going forward" feel.



The scary thing is, I see a lot of room for improvement in this band. They are young and they are still only playing. If they get serious, and if they somehow can keep coming up with melodies and hooks of this quality, they are going to blow everything else in their genre out of the water in very short order."

Oh brother, where do I begin?

Paul Lawrence | Australia | 07/22/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Perfectly written, perfectly executed AOR for thosewho lover their rock upbeat and with lots of lush melodics. This album almost defies review because it does so many things wrong but still turns out great. How? I have no idea...



Let me put it this way. The lush arrangements leaning heavily on the keyboards should be laughed out of town but they sound great. The cheesy cliches should have you laughing out loud. How bad does it get? Try this on for size from the final cut Kill City Kid;



I was born in the back street

middle of a death scene

raised by the devil himself

talk about wrong place at the wrong time

story of my life babe, is all I can tell

Kill City Kid



And it sounds ridiculously catchy and works a treat as a chorus and instead of chuckling you mindlessly tap your foot along to it.



And I guess that sums up this album in a nutshell. It's so obviously a labour of love and is attacked with such passion and will to conquer your forced to submit to the good time vibe. Extreme metal it ain't but if your hankering for a good time then this album will provide it by the trailer load.



All up I'm not going to discuss the musicianship/production etc beyond saying they're great. This isn't the kind of release requiring a poker faced review based on such things. It's a hard rockin' album in the vein of an updated and still hungry Journey/Foreigner/Styx style and can be best summed up in it's own words from the song Lover Tonite;



Taking no prisoners baby/I got my eye on you/like a storm front rising/I'm burning I'm burning I'm burning for you.



And how is a reviewer supposed to follow that? All I can say is you hopefully know what to expect now - your either on board or your not."