Ring of Fire - Battle of Leningrad (2014) FLAC

After a 9 year hiatus RING OF FIRE has returned, with a powerful Symphonic Metal sound similar to that of SYMPHONY X but featuring a more Power Metal influenced sound, featuring lots of pianos and synths. This is a powerful album that should serve to remind people just what the band is capable of, with incredible musicianship and great melodies.
Opening up with "Mother Russia"’s dramatic piano playing, the band sets things into motion with what can only be described as epic guitar playing strengthened by virtuosic keyboards and a strong rhythm section. Mark Boals' vocals are powerful and has a great range, from soaring power metal highs to throatier midrange moments.
The band has so much technicality on offer it really boggles the mind, but they pull it off so well it feels completely natural in its execution. The songs "They’re Calling Your Name" and "Firewind" show this really well, the latter being a really nice dynamic song providing lots of variety and a nice song length to do it with too.
The band has some more mid tempo moments too that show off their slightly more grooving side, with songs like "Empire" and title track "Battle of Leningrad" taking their time and telling great dramatic stories that should keep the listener hooked to the imaginative and challenging melodies.
The album closes with "Rain" with an awesome emotive vocal performance and some all-round great playing; this one closes off the album very nicely with another piano section after a great technical and fast song.
The production is great; everything is nice and clear and doesn’t overpower anything else. The vocals and keyboards stand out overall with great quality and clarity and the guitars are nice and heavy too. The drums provide a nice solid backing to the album’s sound, with the bass supporting this very nicely and not overplaying too much.
Overall, this is a great album for ring of fire, the band play superbly well together, especially when you consider they have been on such a long hiatus.