Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Born Of Fire, conceived in the harsh surroundings of war, we pick the battles that have sired us and been part of our surrounding, we kick out at the flame but then we add to it with our own special fury, the gasoline on the naked sparks that warms the soul to the point of providing its own continuous blaze; such is the respect when the fire rages beyond what people may have thought was originally possible that to be born in the searing heat offers a chance for the greatest shadows to be witnessed and explored as they dance on the walls for all to see.
Having written himself into music history as a founding member of The Dictators and the masterpieces to which Manowar produced between 1982 and 1988, it is no wonder that Ross “The Boss” Friedman could be considered to be a legend in certain circles, and to those that don’t recognise the quality, the sheer Armageddon of power, well, not everybody recognises the decency of immortality that runs through his veins, and it is, in the end, their loss.
That loss is heightened by the urgency to be found in Born Of Fire, a series of cannonballs forged in the heaviest metal tradition and projected across the bay of indifference with deadly aim and ready to ravage the ears of those willing to take note of the latest release from one of the genre’s finest.
Across such siren sounding tracks as I Am The Sword, Shotgun Evolution, Maiden of Shadows, Demon Holiday and the all-encompassing finale of The Blackest Heart, Ross The Boss loads all weapons with care and fires upon the coast of the listener’s heart and finds that surrender is not only guaranteed, but that it is a willing ceding of will; for in the harshness of musical war, only the brave, the true and the alive can join forces against the tedium offered in plentiful supply by others less well intentioned.
The fire of devastation can reveal growth underneath and is those that are Born Of Fire that capture the image of positive offerings without ever renouncing their worth. Utterly charming, brutally enchanting, Ross Friedman still should be regarded as a general in the field who can command armies with a simple, forceful tune.
Ross The Boss release Born Of Fire on March 6th via AFM Records.
Ian D. Hall