CRUZ DEL SUR MUSIC is pleased and extremely proud to have signed a deal with FATES WARNING's original guitarist and founding member Victor Arduini for the release of Arduini's new band FREEDOM'S REIGN. FREEDOM'S REIGN marks Arduini's comeback to the Metal world since he left FATES WARNING after the release of The Spectre Within in 1985. Keeping his original, charismatic and unmistakable guitar-style untouched, Arduini returns under the spotlights with fresh enthusiasm and dedication, producing a notable effort of true American-styled heavy metal with a classic Ozzy/Sabbath's flavor. FREEDOM'S REIGN was introduced to Cruz Del Sur by long-time friend and "occasional A&R" Tom Phillips (While Heaven Wept) who said about F.R.'s music: "I think Freedom's Reign would be a welcome addition for anyone into classic heavy rock, early Fates fans, those into both the recent proto-metal movement, and the wave of classic metal bands that evolved on the outer fringes of the doom scene!" With the release of their debut effort, the self titled “Freedoms Reign,” brings forth a stoner/traditional metal sound with an extra bite. Arduini’s vocals fit perfectly with Freedoms Reign’s sound. The guitar riffs give the tracks a gritty edge and the sparse lead sections always seem to fit perfectly in place. There are some nice melodic breakdowns in many of the songs as well. Believe is the song that most people familar with Freedoms Reign have heard already. That is a nice song with a well done verse structure. Other standouts are Shadows of a Doubt with its nice breakdown and vocal melody. The opener, Ritual, sets a nice tone for the album to let the listener know what is coming. The standout though is Up From Down. Its Black Sabbath tones make it a nice listen. Overall, Freedoms Reign is a nice release for fans of stoner metal, not that the band is strictly in that genre, but fans of bands like Kyuss will truly enjoy this release. They also have a nice Black Sabbath feel to them with the riffwork. FREEDOM'S REIGN consists of Victor Arduini (Vocals/Guitar) Tommy Vumback (Guitars), Michael Jones (Bass) and Chris Judge (Drums). As a Die-Hard Fates Warning fan the last 30 years I began to wonder whatever became of Victor Arduni. While his peers in his former band Fates Warning have remained very active within the industry,Arduni seemed to have remained silent until now. When I received this from Clawhammer I was a little floored not being aware Victor Arduni have assembled Freedoms Reign. Even his contemporary and former Fates Warning bandmates and vocalist John Arch has ended his silence since he left Fates Warning after Awaken The Guardian. I must say Victor Arduni picked up right where he left off after his exit from Fates Warning after The Spectre Within in 1985. Fast forward 28 years to 2013 and there is absolutely no write, record, produce rust whatsoever. Victor Arduni along with TommyVumback-Guitars, Michael Jones-Bass and Chris Judge-Drums collectively making up Freedoms Reign are back with a serious vengeance of serious Progressive/Doom Metal prowess. Freedoms Reign's self-titled debut set for a April/30/2013 release on Cruz Del Sur Music . It is also no wonder that their self-titled debut has a very modern and relevant quality in it. The album was produced by Nick Belmore who has produced Toxic Holocost and Hatebreed in recent years. Freedoms Reign's self titled debut is a straight up progressive/doom metal frenzy from the first track, 'Ritual' to the last track 'Looking Around' . Now a brief but comprehensive track by track breakdown of Freedoms Reign's self titled debut 'Freedoms Reign' . Ritual Ritual begins where songs like Orphan Gypsy and Kyierie Elision from The Spectre Within, left off. It definitely serves for a reintroduction of Victor Arduni to the music world after 28 years. A straight away double edged attack on the twin guitars on the progressive metal end that has been a signature sound for Fates Warning from the beginning. On the doomy end of the spectrum in the rhythm section of the bass and drum exchange 'Ritual' produces a very modern and relevant sound. Arduni's vocals remind me very much of earlier Corrosion Of Conformity with a Sabbath like energy. It ends with a killer 4/4 passage that rips right into a killer outro dual triple layered solo with Arduni's vocals entering the fray once again. Shadows Of A Doubt Shadows Of A Doubt opens up with a blistering progressive passage blended with a early Sabbath/Paranoid vibe on the bottom rhythmic portion. This track is relentless from the first note. The solo is a solid killer. Chris Judge- 'drums' is truely the backbone carry this blistering frenzy. Then the song takes a serious doom trodden detuned approach that leaves you with the impression of two tracks in one. Brother Brother opens with a blistering almost thrash like sensibility. It contains heavy dual guitar fast driven passages along with a crushing bottom ended rhythmic exchange between bass and drums. Adruni's vocals are delivered on point with authority. The solo is a beautiful melodic and shred fest with a few great time signature breaks in the composition. Brother is a afterburner from the first to the last note. Believe Believe starts out with a crushing passage directly built around the drums of Chris Judge. It is as if the calvary has been unleashed. The listener is first and foremost bombarded by the drums and then the melodic frontline of the dual guitar accompanied by the bass give this track almost a feel of Iron Maiden's 'The Trooper'. The band employs a heavy galloping vibe with Believe. The vocals are becoming more power in range on this one. With killer dual twin shredding solos to reinforce the charge straight away. About the 2:36 mark the band uses some killer breaks as a perfect accent to the solo. Up From Down Up From Down dives right into a lush bottom ended and detuned bass intro that is almost melancholic in nature. Soon scratching low distorted guitar accompanied by a blistering shred guitar with the bass leading the way enters the fray. The vocals are very Sabbathesque in nature and lyrical content almost a cross between Children Of The Grave meets Symphony Of The Universe. This is a very doom metal laden ed trip back to Metal's true roots with its dark and bleak under nature. To Be To Be rips into a killer distorted intro with part crunchy rhymhic guitar with a melodically and perfectly executed lush high end guitar coming into its own inside the track. The rest of the track is straight up melodic doom meets power metal. It is kind of like the perfect blend of power/doom that legendary Trouble has employed much over the years. No Excuses No Excuses rips it right open with a technically proficient passage much in the vein of the current crop of progressive jazz/fusion metal before returning to a more traditional yet blistering wall of rhythmic distorted riffs. The drums once again bleed through to the front of the stage on this one coming into their own as the backbone of the track. Then it is off to the races again with Maiden style galloping riffs with the vocals once again in the vein of early Corossion of Conformity. No Excuses certainly has a very modern metal vibe that can rival any modern metal or hard rock act going today. The bass carries the solo with furiocity along with slamming and crushing double bass blast beats on the percussive end of the drums with a delicately and perfectly balanced cymbal section. Long Way Long Way tears into it with heavy and brutal distorted passages of rhythm guitar with a screeching melodic guitar coming in when appropriate to accentuate the composition. Long Way's vocal content both melodically and lyrically is about at its utter darkest. Long Way speaks of the void we have before our death. The instrumental composition perfectly reflects this sounding like a true march to the grave devoid of our own mortality. Looking Around Looking Around begins with a very eerie haunting vibe with great subtle percussive blasts. The stringed section really sends a loathing atmosphere of sheer spooky fright. Vocally the track is of sheer fear and loathing. This track sums up the entire project perfectly carrying a little of every element of the previous 8 tracks thus placing a balanced punctuation. The band really allows the solo and vocally free. At only 7:14 in length it gives the audience a sense of a epic track between the 10-15 minute mark. Very nice brooding atmospheric solos combine with dreadful rhythms make this the perfectly arranged track in which to end the track with. Freedoms Reign have certainly arrived in their own with the finish of this track. Victor Arduni along with Chris Judge, Mike Jones and Tommy Vumback has certainly made a strong comeback with a strong line up. This self titled debut also had elements of early Fates Warning without leaning on early Fates material as crutch. Victor Arduni has finally separated himself from his old band mates and now has embarked on his own journey with Freedoms Reign. His silence was well worth the wait. I will give this a 5/5 for a 'New Beginning' while maintaining the roots of traditional Metal . Freedom's Reign play a version of classic heavy metal influenced by bands of the NWOBHM era but I'm certainly hearing elements of stoner doom and classic rock, backed with clean vocals that sound pleasing enough to the ear. The production on the album is also pretty strong, I'm able to discern the instruments well and it seems to match the nature of the recording. I believe that one of the major highlights for me on this one was the opener, "Ritual 4:58" but the others seemed to have faded into the dust. These guys really incorporated one hell of a jam session on that one, the kind of prog-jam that can take you up in the sky with it's majesty. Hmm... That's odd. The next track on this one sounds like a completely different band. Yes, "Shadows Of A Doubt 4:43" sounds more like a power/thrash band but I will say that the chorus is very strong, quite catchy and there's some nice elements utilized in the song as well as an awesome guitar solo. That's two for two thus far. "Brother 3:57" continues along the same lines, but it's got some melody portions and a different riff structure that separates it from the latter track. "Believe 3:53" has the same sort of thrash (odd that they start with stoner/doom and now seem to playing some Brainstorm or Chinchilla style power/thrash.) These two are the only low points so far, however. But they're not really "that low." That's when "Up From Down 5:36" picks back up with the doom influences and I'm glad to hear them, because they come back with a real winner of a track. When I'm reminded of good Sabbath, something is being done right here. That chorus is done so well that I'm actually reminded of Ozzy and I've always loved his vocal work in Sabbath. "To Be 4:32" actually sounds like a little bit of grunge/hard rock but I like the vocal approach here. "No Excuses 5:49" comes in next, sounding like a hard rock meets thrash. But I like it. It's a strong track that's got a powerfully catchy chorus. "Long Way 6:10" is also a powerful track - a bit rocky, but damn. You'd be an idiot to deny that chorus. Yeah, this is one I could see myself playing quite a bit. Just one of those songs that really sticks with you. Finally, we've got "Looking Around 7:13" which is the longest track on the album and sounds a bit ominous. But again, I really like it. There's definitely the Sabbath touch here too, but it works. I think I could recommend this album to anyone who's into rock and metal really. Not much on the extreme, but they're not that kind of band and I'm more than happy with the package presented here. I know next to nothing about these guys, other than the fact that I really like them and wouldn't mind hearing more from them, so I hope that they can continue making great music. I urge fans of rock, power/thrash and doom to check these guys out, because they really have a lot to offer with this one. I could talk more about the disc, but I'd rather let your ears do the talking for me. "When a veteran of the early New England metal scene comes out with a new band, my ears perk up- such is the case with ex-Fates Warning guitarist Victor Arduini. Leaving after "The Spectre Within" release in 1985, he returns in 2011 with this Connecticut based four-piece Freedoms Reign, unleashing a debut 9 song album brought to the attention of Cruz Del Sur Music thanks to the label head's long-time friend Tom Phillips (While Heaven Wept)." "Victor tackles the vocals in addition to his exemplary axe duties, and he's joined by second guitarist Tommy Vumback, bassist Michael Jones, and drummer Chris Judge- delivering a sound that gravitated to the 70's proto-metal riffing with occasional nods to doom and classic heavy metal. A lot of the dual harmonies within "Shadow of a Doubt" for instance have appeal to Maiden/ Priest fans just as much as they will to people into Sabbath or Mercyful Fate. Victor's voice has that eeriness coupled with clarity that wouldn't be out of place during those early NWOBHM days. Drummer Chris Judge gets his gallop groove on for the follow up "Brother", unveiling some sweet fill rolls and superior cymbal to snare syncopation." "Freedoms Reign has that special knack for driving the right riff home- Michael Jones' bass work signals this crushing rhythm guitar hook for "Up From Down" that is one part early Rush (think a touch faster "Working Man") with a boatload of Trouble and Solitude Aeturnus in the mix, and a little later this spider-web, wah-wah filled circular riff for "No Excuses" transforms into another head splitter in line with "Symptom of the Universe"." "Expect a better than average production with equal emphasis for all instruments, and overall I think Freedoms Reign can really charge up a crowd with their classy framework and emphasis on the roots of hard rock and heavy metal. Those expecting Victor to re-create his early Fates Warning years will be a tad disappointed, but the proof in ability is in these tracks- and as such this is a blazing effort." The release of FREEDOM'S REIGN's self-titled debut is set for April 30th to celebrate the Walpurgis Night that originally influenced Fates Warning to release their Night on Bröcken debut exactly 29 years ago.