SYMPHORCE „Godspeed”

Music: Power Metal
Website: http://www.symphorce.net/
Country: Germany

SYMPHORCE has shown an impressive aptitude for their chosen instruments, with Andy Franck's vocals sounding nothing short of amazing against the band's backdrop of pure metal. Which makes for a particularly memorable collection of songs.

With their debut “Truth To Promises” (1999 – Noise Records) Andy and his band delivered a strong piece of work which immediately gained the band a lot of attention and fantastic reviews. After a tour supporting MERCYFUL FATE, a change in the line-up turned out to be a fluke: enter guitarist Cédric “Cede” Dupont (ex-FREEDOM CALL) and bassist Dennis Wohlbold, who to this day conform a real power metal songwriting machine along with Andy. A year later “Sinctuary” (2000 – Noise Rec.) was released to enthusiastic reactions by press and fans alike. At the same time, Andy became the singer in one of Germany's main metal exports, BRAINSTORM, giving him a double responsibility which he has easily mastered.

After the release of “Truth To Promises” and “Sinctuary”, the puzzle was completed by Sascha Sauer on drums and
second guitarist Markus Pohl. “Finally!” comments Andy. “From our very first rehearsal we could feel that this
band works! No one had expected this amount of energy! It's Incredible!”

Now working with Metal Blade as their new partner, SYMPHORCE recorded their following two albums, “phorcefulAhead” (2002) and “Twice Second” (2004) at the House of Music Studios with Achim Köhler (PRIMAL FEAR, BRAINSTORM, etc.) producing. “Energetic”, “modern”, “with real bite” are just some of the descriptions that the worldwide press gave the band. Through tours supporting the likes of KAMELOT and GRAVE DIGGER, as well as several festival shows (Wacken Open Air, Summer Breeze, Sweden Rock, among others), SYMPHORCE has established themselves as a first-class international live act.

Despite the difficulty of following up the press' and fans' favorite “Twice Second”, SYMPHORCE has delivered once again! Whether you're a true “phorcehead” or one of the last few skeptics, everybody will have to agree that “GodSpeed” is the band's strongest work to date and may elevate the band to a higher level in the metal world. This time working with producer Dennis Ward (ANGRA, PINK CREAM 69) at the House of Music Studios, the band has created a modern yet timeless album, which will appeal to every fan of heavy music, far beyond the confines of so called power metal.

This band always keeps developing their sound and doesn't shy away from experimentation. The diversity on their albums is one of their strongest assets. Once again on “Godspeed” they have evolved from “Twice second” and avoided repeating themselves musically. The album contains strong melodies, exquisite solo work, catchy riffing yet it is wonderfully quite heavy at times. Andy's high quality vocals are another big plus and he comes up with some excellent vocal lines which tend to actually float over the guitar riffing instead on blindly following them which simply adds to the overall aesthetics of each song!

Tracklist

01 – Forsight
02 – Everlasting Life
03 – No Shelter
04 – Nowhere
05 – Haunting
06 – Black Water
07 – Wounds Will Last Within
08 – Your Cold Embrace
09 – Without A Trace
10 – The Mirrored Room
11 – Crawling Walls For You

Line-up

Andy B. Franck – vocals
Cedric Cede Dupont – guitars
Markus Pohl – guitars
Dennis Wohlbold – bass
Sascha Sauer – drums

Additional keys by Alain Schwaller
Drumloops by Dennis Wohlbold