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vuur in this moment we are free download uploaded Vuur – In This Moment We Are Free – Cities Review. I’m about as far from a nationalist as you can get, but for metal I make an exception. In the Netherlands, for a country 17 million strong, the amount of metal icons is remarkably low, with Ayreon probably the most famous example from our little patch of Earth. But we did produce some big names among female vocalists, and none more so than the insanely productive Anneke van Giersbergen, whose angelic voice featured on a wide array of guest performances, three Ayreon albums, numerous Devin Townsend collaborations, The Gentle Storm and of course quirky doom goth icons The Gathering , where her upward trajectory began. Seeking more focus in her musical escapades, she decided to relegate her more quiet acoustic side to her solo name (formerly Agua De Annique ) and concentrate her progressive metal tendencies in new project Vuur (Dutch for ‘fire’). The debut sees her reflecting upon the myriad of cities she has visited in her musical career, and the duality in feeling each metropolis has left her with. Can Cities measure up to her storied back cataloge? The album opens with “My Champion – Berlin,” which sets the tone of grandeur with a booming modern riff, sprinkling a light dusting of djent on the guitars much in the vein of Voyager . This is darker music than the Aussies, however. Anneke’s voice is measured and morose, yet infused with the stretched syllables and grandiose notes of gospel. The darkness increases further with “Time – Rotterdam,” which decreases the pace further and finds the lyrics mourning better days long past. Light breaks through the clouds by the time “Freedom – Rio” rolls around, as gentle acoustics mingle with soaring choruses and excellent solos courtesy of Jord Otto ( ReVamp ) and Ferry Duijsens ( Agua De Annique ). When the music takes off so triumphantly, Anneke reveals the influence Devin Townsend had; more than once I felt the presence of Epicloud and Transcendence , like the majestic “The Martyr and the Saint – Beirut” or the dynamic “Days Go By – London.” The drums are equally versatile, provided by the ever reliable and multidimensional Ed Warby ( Ayreon , Gorefest , Hail of Bullets ) who punctuates the quiet and slow moments expertly and pushes the speed and technicality to the limit when the high velocity material kicks in. But of course, the center stage is for Anneke, and her voice only gets stronger with age. She seems to be able to sing any style; soulful quasi- opera, gentle lilts and powerful belting all come to pass, demonstrated in order of magnitude in the slow build of closer “Reunite! – Paris.” One fear of mine before listening: bands centered around one person carry the threat of that person becoming the sole interesting feature. This is where Vuur sets itself apart, as the songwriting is excellent, balancing catchy melody with grandiose harmonies and versatile song structures. The only aspect I did not take to right away is the pacing, which drags a tad on the first couple of tracks. While it supports the initial darker sound and majestic gait, it feels a little low on energy. But once I sat down with the album on a quiet, unrushed day, this clicked as well, and I could appreciate the way the album opens up slowly but surely. That is dedicated albumcraft, rather than a playlist of songs. The production is not quite as remarkable as the songwriting and the performances. Devin is another inspiration here: the sound is bright and clear, but the attempt at a wall of sound during the episodes of triumphant grandeur limit the dynamics. Furthermore, while the bass is audible, it is definitely underrepresented, diminishing the low-end. The drums, on the other hand, have a higher presence than usual, befitting the status of their man on the skins, but occasionally distracting from the virtuoso performances on the guitars. Of course, Anneke is mixed highest, but this is neither a surprise nor truly unwelcome given the quality of her voice. Overall, I’d call the production modern and adequate (adequate de Anique?) but not quite up to the level of excellence exhibited by the rest of the album. Because make no mistake, In This Moment We Are Free – Cities is truly excellent. Compared to her back cataloge, it has the melancholy from The Gathering with the emotional engagement from The Gentle Storm and the triumphant heaviness from Devin Though it’s as clean as ever, it may well be the heaviest music she has put out to date. All those previous outings have long since demonstrated Anneke’s voice, but it’s the well- considered buildup, smart songwriting, and excellent cast of fellow musicians where Vuur goes above and beyond mere expected quality. This is one album where I can grin and say: “Yes, that band is from my country, and they are fucking awesome!” Vuur – In This Moment We Are Free – Cities (2017) Band – Vuur Album – In This Moment We Are Free – Cities Year – 2017 Genre – Progressive Metal Country – Netherlands Web – Facebook Quality – MP3 CBR 320 KBPS Tracklist: 01. My Champion – Berlin 02. Time – Rotterdam 03. The Martyr And The Saint – Beirut 04. The Fire – San Francisco 05. Freedom – Rio 06. Days Go By – London 07. Sail Away – Santiago 08. Valley Of Diamonds – Mexico City 09. Your Glorious Light Will Shine – Helsinki 10. Save Me – Istanbul 11. Reunite! – Paris. Line-up: Anneke Van Giersbergen (ex-THE GATHERING) – Vocals Ed Warby (HAIL OF BULLETS, AYREON, ex-GOREFEST) – Drums Jord Otto (MY PROPANE, ex-REVAMP) – Guitar Ferry Duijsens – Guitar Johan Van Stratum (STREAM OF PASSION) – Bass. The album was produced by Joost van den Broek, who was also involved in the writing process. Other co-writing partners are Mark Holcomb (Periphery), Esa Holopainen (Amorphis), Daniel Cardoso (Anathema), and both of VUUR’s guitar players. In This Moment We Are Free - Cities. Anneke Van Giersbergen is without a doubt one of the most appreciated figures in all the prog scene with over twenty years of activity in multiple projects that have built up a successful music career. Although most famous for her work in The Gathering, there is quite a number of bands that she has created or been a part of and Vuur is the latest one of them. I've known about Anneke for years but it's been only recently that I've actually heard some of her music. I actually first heard her voice on Ayreon and I'm only now getting familiar with a small portion of her extensive work. Vuur's "In This Moment We Are Free – Cities" is a very special album, although it may not appear so at first glimpse. There's no denying that there is a lot of value in the creativity of this record. It has some very satisfying song-writing, balancing very well the progressive, the heavy, the melodic and the catchy. There's a consistent use of moody time-signatures that wake up the prog nerd in you but it is far from being focused on complexity, being still very enjoyable and easy to listen to, even when hearing it the first time. Ayreon's drummer Ed Warby does a fantastic job merging his groovy and progressive skills with more basic double kick and headbang inducing patterns, displaying a lot of ease in alternating from one to another or even doing both at the same time. Also the overall guitar and bass material works very well as a whole. The riffs are heavy, energetic and many times pretty complex but never taking the spotlight too much as they are almost always combined with lead guitar melodies to give the main tune of the songs. Pretty much every instrument is given some moments to shine but never overpowering everything else. There are also many clean guitar sections where the bass comes forward a little more and many times they may run into engaging and energizing buildups that go back into the heavy side. The guitar solos are also very well written, being enjoyable and very melodic while still bringing to the table a surprising amount of shred, sweeps, tapping and all the speedy goodies. There's even more sense of unity and naturally cohesive music when you take the vocal parts into consideration. Apart from the fact that Anneke's voice is and absolute gem, here all her parts are very well put into the music to grab the energy from the instrumental and enhance it (see the bridge in "My Champion – Berlin" for a great example) or to give it a certain meaning and direction (beginning of "Freedom - Rio"). I actually can't tell if it's the vocal delivery or the way the vocal parts are written that makes them so powerful but I think it's actually a mix of both. And this is also where the lyrics come in. I feel like there's always a very strong connection between the lyrics and the music. The heavier songs with a slightly darker tone like "Time - Rotterdam" or "Days Go By – London" have darker and more negative lyrics focused on some sort of fears or regrets while the more melodic and engaging ones ("Your Glorious Light Will Shine – Helsinki" is the best example) have more uplifting or even enlightening lyrics. I feel like it's really the connection between all the different elements coming together that makes this album work so well and carry out it's energy and it's message so clearly. You can hear that it was thought out as a whole from the beginning.