Freternia- Warchants And Fairytales

*=Staff's pick	Worst of Enemies* Ride with the Wind* War of the Crown* Mistress of the Deep Black Sea Guardians of the Night* Woods of the Elvenking Dragonsong Friends in Enemyland* The Flame

Genre	Melodic Power Metal	Pasi Humppi	Vocals
Tracks	9	Tomas Wäppling	Guitar
Runningtime	44 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Loud'n Proud Records	Peter Wiberg	Bass
Release	2000	Martin Tilander	Drums
Country	Sweden	Tommie Johansson	Keyboards
Similar artists	Gamma Ray, some Blind Guardian

Freternia is one of the most promising up- and comers on the Swedish metal scene and with their debut Warchants and Fairytales we're under a full melodic speed metal attack!
This is a truly great release and it doesn't at all follow the ordinary Swedish mainstream metal and I won't for a single second compare them with other bands from the same country. The band's also managed to be extremely melodic without ending up in the "happy metal" area but instead have a somewhat darker feel over it.

The vocalist Pasi Humppi has a very powerful voice and I'd go as far as saying that he's the trademark of the sound of the band. He sings in the mid range and he's also got a great sence of melody and simply radiates energy and power. The keyboards and some other arrangements don't take over at all but instead do what they should- provide and support the sound without overdoing it and just add that little extra spice. Then we have the very mighty choruses to consider. They are supported by great choirs and harmonies that give them a very epic and at the same time very catchy and sing-along-like feeling. And then at last the guitars.

There are some beginnings on this album that probably are among the best I've ever heard. And you don't get disappointed during the verses and the rest of the tracks either. The guitar orgy continues with unabated force from the first tone to the very last. Warchants and Fairytales is plain and simply an impressive display of very fast and melodic guitar based songs with an excellent vocal performance. If I would have to describe it in a few terms it would approximately be something like this: Very driving and melodic tracks that musically go in the veins of Gamma Ray and classic eighties metal with vocals that perhaps could be compared with a lighter Hansi Kürsch. All in all, simple and straightforward in many ways but very brilliant and original.

Taken together, this gives Freternia very intelligent tracks, a very unique sound and the only things that are on the downside with this album is that it's on a label that unfortunately has gone bankrupt so it might prove to be quite difficult to get hold of it. But if you do, you'll find a 44 minute full metal strike that's way more than just an ordinary listening experience.
Sweden's got a new word for top notch powermetal and it spelled F R E T E R N I A!

Production	Vocals	Compositions
7	8,5	8,5

Summary
8,5 chalices of 10 - Mat