Poor Power Metal
They can take the drummer out of Gamma Ray and put him into Freedom Call but sadly they can't take Gamma Ray with them no matter how hard they try. You've probably guessed by now that this is Gamma Ray skins man Dan Zimmerman's other band formed with Chris Bay in 1998. Nine years later and a handy collection of albums and mini albums to boot we arrive at 'Dimensions,' eleven brand new tracks and two new members Lars Rettkowitz and Armin Donderer. It doesn't take very long however to realise the eleven new tracks are sub-standard in their quality and devoid of anything that could be considered original.
After encountering the pitiful artwork (consisting of a dragonboat full of skulls whilst a wizard points menacingly amidst a shower of bargain basement tarot cards) you have to suffer the dire narration of album introduction 'Demons Dance'. What follows, in the guise of 'Innocent Alliance,' is some sort of Gamma Ray hand me down. The comparison is eerie and I would go as far as saying a blueprint copy, even down to Chris Bay's vocals and choir/gang style multi harmony choruses. Dan Zimmerman is a talented drummer and natty songwriter, his work with Gamma Ray has been excellent but I suspect Kai Hansen can get the best out of his drummer whereas Freedom Call have to live with what's left over.
Another track that makes it into my top 10 worst songs of all time is 'Mr Evil'. After numerous listens I still get the impression it was written after listening to Helloween's 'Mrs God'. I may be wrong but its too close Helloween's track in quirkiness and style, but irrespective of that it's truly truly dire of its own right. The acoustically driven 'Words of Endeavour' is an alternative to counting sheep and 'Dimensions' shows they are running out of ideas when they get the keyboards out to play the main riff. 'Magic Moments' shows the album has really suffered from too much filler and last track 'Far Away' is a disgrace pure and simple.
I've painted a pretty bleak picture of this album so far but it's not all bad news. 'Dimensions' maybe as original as bee-hive hair doos and sound too much like it's contemporaries, but when the band get it right it they sound quite respectable. 'Queen of my world' is a dramatic piece of power metal which may have be benefited with some louder guitars, 'Light up the sky' is an acceptable piece of speed, 'Blackened Sun' is surprisingly catchy and gets better on repeated listens and 'My Dying Paradise' stands tall above the pitiful tracks that surround it.
What we have in 'Dimensions' is a handful of likeable power metal tunes smothered and strangled by everything that is poor about the whole genre. The performances aren't anything special, the production is crisp but lacking any kind of drive and their knack of sounding like Gamma Ray is scary. Why any artist would want to be in two bands that sound almost exactly the same is beyond me, surely a second band would be chance to satisfy a need within an artist that isn't fulfilled in their main band. The whole fifty minute experience sounds tired and it quickly irritates by its lack of general inspiration. If you want my advice stick with the power metal leaders and let the Freedom Call fans enjoy this run of the mill music.