A big thank you to everyone who has purchased the Purple Vinyl, CD, or downloaded it. If you haven’t grabbed your copy yet, now’s the time before they run out. We’ve included the link here for your convenience.
We’d also like to express our gratitude to Metal Rules and Reviewer JP for giving us a 4 out of 5 for our new album!!!
Here are the link to Metal Rules and the review below for you:
Many people in the Metal community use the term ‘all-star project’ or supergroup, probably more than they should. I’ve been guilty of it myself on occasion. There are a lot of musicians out there and it is inevitable that like-minded creative people will congregate and work together. While the working musicians in Alchemy Fire may not formally qualify as a supergroup there is enough history and pedigree to make this new band really interesting.
Founded by Paul Wright of a little known very late-era NWOBHM band called Exocet, it is clear he has a long and abiding love for classic and progressive Metal because he has gathered some very decent talent. Vocalist David Watson was formerly of Kill Ritual who you may recall was basically the ex-guys of Imagika. He brings a strong, clear powerful voice to the album. The excellent keyboard work is provided by Neil Taylor who had worked with Civilization One some years back.
What Alchemy Fire have put together is a nice, compact, nine-track, 43-minute debut album on the relatively new, indie label Qumran Records. This UK/US collaborative effort are fast out of the gate with a strong debut, helped in part with excellent cover art.
Alchemy Fire sits firmly in the progressive Power Metal arena with some very slight modern touches, more in the production values. It is a good sounding record, clear and loud. The album has a good sense of pace, quick but not reliant on double-kick drums the whole time for speed. The track, ‘Dust from Bones’ is a really god example of this. Drummer Tom Schofield (ex- Death Metal band Oppressor) really brings that drive to these songs. His background is a bit heavier than the rest of the guys but that is an added advantage. Keyboards feature quite prominently in some places and they are off-set by some really good crunchy riffs. I had a hard time comparing to another band but if you think of bands like Evergrey and heavier Royal Hunt you might be in right ballpark. The individual performances are strong and the songs while conventional in execution are memorable and enjoyable.
This is still a bit of an underground gem. As of time of writing this review, a few days after the album was released (in late May, 2023) the band isn’t even listed on the big Metal databases, so I’m pleased to support this promising new act and help give them the exposure they deserve.
Track Listing:
1. Alchemy
2. Modern Hero
3. Dust From Bone
4. SDR (Sacred Deep Reflection)
5. I Am Your Sorrow
6. Native Son
7. What Vou Say?
8. The Warrior
9. Iconoclast
Line Up:
Paul Wright – Lead / Rhythm Guitar
Tom Schofield – Drums
David Reed Watson – Vocals
Felipe Kopke – Bass
Neil Taylor- Keyboards
www.alchemyfireofficial.com/site/
