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In the overexploited industry of music, Freedom Call is still practically unknown to many. They should no longer need any kind of introduction as the power metal band from Germany. If you're familiar with the pioneers of power metal in Germany, you'd know that ex-drummer, Dan Zimmermann had joined Freedom Call (1998-2010) soon after he became a member of Gamma Ray in 1997 (in which, he also isn't a part of anymore), this was considered to be his side band. They've been around for more than a decade, 15 years to be exact. And to celebrate their victory of making it this far in the metal Universe, they've compiled 18 songs from all of their existing releases dating from 1998 – up-to-date.

If one is exploring their music for the first time, it would seem that starting out with the compilation isn't such a bad idea. As a whole, I think it captures the essence of that Freedom Call sound. It's best to advice the new listeners of course to start off with the first disc, as the second disc of ”Ages of Light” is not only a collection of old songs but is also filled with new re-invented versions of 6 songs on the 1st disc. So yes, there are surprises here. The second disc contains: ”Rockin' Radio” which is turned into what sounds like a rockabilly-Presley-style of the 50's, ”Metal Invasion” which to me sounds like some American folk-rock band (the intro with acoustic parts also reminds me of the opening theme for an old anime show, Doraemon. It's about a robotic cat from the future who owns a time-machine and can amazingly store gigantic items in his little tiny front pocket, how are you going to argue with that?!), ”Mr. Evil” which sounds like a track from a Bob Marley album with the very typical, yet fun reggae tunes, ”Hero on Video” which is transformed to some speedy ska music, I believe (don't know much about ska as you can see, although I've lived in Hawaii where it has been very popular. Ask me about Reggae instead.), ”Age of the Phoenix” which paints a picture of a well-dressed couple dancing to slow swing music with the double bass being the predominant element, and ”Freedom Call” is simply an acoustic version of the original.

In all vanity, I'd say it's as if this compilation was put together by a person who has the same set of ears for music as me. Although it's still difficult for me to get used to the 2 previous albums - Legend of the Shadowking (2010) and Land of the Crimson Dawn (2012) - but it seems they've carefully picked out the best songs in those era, and the rest, well, I've enjoyed listening to them in the past and again as I've listened to this best of. I highly recommend it.

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