Born From Fire is the return of Swedish hard rock veterans The Quill, and features the classic line-up of vocalist Magnus Ekwall (Ayreon), Jolle Atlagic (Hanoi Rocks, Electric Boys, Firebird), guitarist Christian Carlsson, and bassist Roger Nilsson (Spiritual Beggars, Firebird). It's the first time this line-up have recorded an album together since 2003, and it's being released on Metalville Records on CD and double vinyl formats. Right from the outset, Born From Fire rocks quite hard, a mix of bluesy 70s styled hard rock and stoner metal, as tunes like "Stone Believer", "Snake Charmer Woman", and the muscular roar of "Ghosthorse" knock you upside the head and get you ready for the aggression to come. "Keep it Together" blends moody atmospherics with Volume 4 era Black Sabbath, while "The Spirit and the Spark" is pure whisky fueled stoner & doom, the riffs huge, the bass massive, and the drums pounding. Ekwall soars on the riff monster "Skull & Bones", and tunes such as "Electrical Sons" and "Unchain Yourself" contain so much power, so much swagger, and so much emotion, you'd swear these guys stepped back into a time machine and revisited their Silver Haze/Voodoo Caravan days before recording this album. Also noteworthy is the groove laden stomp of "Revelation", another track featuring some killer guitar work courtesy of Carlsson and more of Ekwall's fantastic vocals.
I almost hate to keep saying this over and over, but there's definitely something in the water over there in Sweden, and The Quill have once again tapped into it. Born From Fire is one of the strongest reunion albums released this year...you've read about it, now go and dive in to some truly heavy and groovy sounds.
Track Listing
01. Stone Believer
02. Snake Charmer Woman
03. Ghosthorse
04. Keep It Together
05. The Spirit and The Spark
06. Skull & Bones
07. Set Free Black Crow
08. Electrical Sons
09. Hollow of Your Hand
10. Unchain Yourself
11. Revelation
12. Metamorphosis