Freedom Call from Germany doesn’t need much of an introduction; this metal act has quickly worked its way up the melodic power metal ladder and that’s no miracle, I might add. Sure, they bring nothing new but the songs are just excellent and that’s pretty much the most important thing in a scene that’s saturated with bands without talent.

First of all I have to mention that Freedom Call has balls. This live release hasn’t been mixed to death, nor does it feature any overdubs. If you remember some recent live releases from SPV (Kreator and Saxon to be specific) then you know the flipside of the coin. No matter how good it might sound, it simply detracts from the live atmosphere and that’s exactly the only thing that’s really important on a live release. Fans are not waiting to hear how the band sounds in a studio; they know that already from listening to their regular releases.

Cede Dupont, the riff machine from Symphorce, has joined Freedom Call and delivers an impressive live performance.

Furthermore, vocalist Chris Bay does an awesome job, and apart from some slight problems with the very high parts he sounds truly great. In fact Freedom Call in general just sounds like a great live band. I have only one complaint: German narratives on an international release. I know that a majority of the fan base is from Germany but it somehow truly annoys me, even though I can perfectly understand it. There are however people who don’t.

Live Invasion features an extra CD with the never released Taragon EP and three cover songs (“Dancing With Tears In My Eyes”, “Hiroshima” and “Dr. Stein”) as a nice bonus; nothing really special however but definitely a nice addition for the diehard Freedom Call fan. All in all a pretty nice package for a pretty nice price.