LEVERAGE – Blind Fire

With the release of Leverage Blind Fire just two short weeks ago, this album has already been receiving very high praise. Once again Finland has given birth to another fantastic group. With some of the scene’s most premiere Prog-type bands (i.e., Edguy, Helloween, and Sonata Artica) Leverage have a similar sound, but in no way gives up the integrity of being its own band. At the helm of this awesome group of musicians is vocalist Pekka Heino. A very powerful voice that gets the message across yet remains soothing and draws you in. This six-piece group is very tight, talented, and leaves you loving the album. With guitarists Tuomas and Torsti playing off of each other, the sound is rhythmic and melodic; Marko adds keyboards to give it that extra depth of sound, and Pekka Lampinen on bass matching Valtteri’s perfect beat on drums completes this sextuplet.

The album starts off with “Shadow In The Rain.” It starts off sounding a little bit like your typical Prog song, but don’t let that fool you. As soon as Pekka starts singing you know that this song is gonna be a rocker! With great lyrics, great guitars, you soon find yourself snapping your fingers, or head banging, or both! Definitely the right song to begin this album with; the guitar solo starts off with the fast fingering of the fretboard and then for a pleasant change of pace drops into a Rush sound. Good song to get the blood and heart pumping. “King Of The Night” begins very beautifully and melancholically; telling a wonderful story and has a catchy chorus to sing-a-long to.

“Stormchild,” the third song on this album, will make you sit up and hold on! It lures you in with a soft beginning, but then Pekka starts singing about a creature riding the wind and storm clouds, and you find yourself taking in the story of the Stormchild. Great time changes and wonderful keyboards totally make this song a perennial favorite. And let’s face it, the song just rocks!

“Sentenced” is just one of those songs that as soon as it begins you know you will love it. Pekka has a strong DC Cooper sound on this song and the music and lyrics follow suit as it sounds like Silent Force back on Infatuator and “Hear Me Calling.” It’s great to be able to say that a song sounds like one you’re familiar with, but still maintains that standard of being its own song. Skipping down to “Don’t Touch The Sun,” this is just an absolutely beautiful piece of work with the acoustic beginning and complimenting keyboards, with the soft vocals and great guitar riffs, you will find yourself listening to this song over and over.

Number eight of this ten-track album is “Run Down The Hill.” There’s a nice ghostly voicing effect used at the beginning of this song. If you love good, strong drums that tend to stand out just a little more than usual, this will be a song for you. The keyboards are given a chance to really shine on the solo portion as well. Just a well-rounded, rockin’ song; so don’t be afraid to raise that fist and pump it!

One of the endearing qualities of this album is the ability to put rockers in with the soft ballads and still have the music flow. “Heart Of Darkness” and “Learn To Live” finish out this album that will have you wanting more out of Leverage. Enjoy!