FB1964 - 2023 - Ventus Metallum

(66:56; Bornkamp Records)

Track list:
1. Free as the Wind 5:55
2. Holy War 5:33
3. Angel of Mercy 6:24
4. Lost in Hollywood 4:56
5. Guardian 7:48
6. Don´t Talk to Strangers 5:18
7. Book of the Dead 3:48
8. Samarithan 6:12
9. Veteran of the Psychic Wars 6:02
10. The Fire I Long For 5:12
11. Sleeping in the Fire 4:52
12. Die Young 4:56

Line-up:
Hanno Kerstan - drums
Frank Badenhop - guitars
Mirko Gätje - bass
Becky Garber - vocals
Dethy Borchardt - guitars
Torsten Sauerbrey - guitars
with:
Jimmy Waldo - keyboards
Ally Storch - violin
Steve Welsh - vocals
Raphael Mendes - vocals
Liv Jagrell - vocals
Paul Eyssette - vocals
Mike Livas - vocals
Doro Pesch - vocals
Ira Green - vocals
Arthur Pessoa - vocals
Laura Guldemond - vocals
Lluvia Dominguez - vocals
Tim Owens - vocals
Charlie Parra - guitars
Iago Pedroso - guitars
Giulla Marta Vallar - guitars
Andrew Roz - guitars
Yiannis Papadopoulos - guitars
Brian Maillard - guitars
Eric Wirsing - guitars
Eric Maldonado - guitars
Alex Rost - guitars
Juliana Wilson - guitars
Ivan Mihaljevic - guitars
Juan M. Varona - guitars
Michele Dr. Viossy - guitars
Tamas Petro - guitars
Julia Kosterova - guitars


German project FB1964 has been an ongoing venture for a decade and a bit, with composer and guitarist Frank Badenhop as the main man surrounded by a cast of fellow musicians with some participating on most of the tracks while others are guest contributors. The orientation of the albums tends to be different from one album to the next, where the stable element is that all of them are charity albums where the proceeds go towards the organization regenwald.org, who works for the preservation of the rain forests. The latest addition to this series of albums is called "Ventus Metallum", and was released in the summer of 2023.

This time around Badenhop and his collaborators have opted to do a cover album, selecting to do their specific versions of more or less well known songs from the annals of hard rock and heavy metal history. Cover albums are obviously productions that come with their own sets of strengths and weaknesses: If you replicate a song some will wonder what the need for the cover was in the first place, but of you deviate too much from the original others may question why you have chosen to change something that was good in the first place. On the other hand, many people are intrigued by cover albums in general too, and find it generally interesting to hear what other musicians may achieve when exploring songs that are precious to them as fans.

While I can't say that I know all the songs on this album as well as I probably should have, my impression is that we have songs that stay fairly close to the originals here but also some interpretations that do deviate quite a bit from the original in some manner or other. Dio's 'Don't Talk to Strangers' does get a different feel with Doro Pesch as the lead vocalist for instance, while the take on Candlemass' evergreen 'Samarithan' takes its main part of creative liberties in the guitar solo section from what I can hear. Rainbow's 'Lost in Hollywood' is perhaps a bit tighter and more vibrant than the original, while the Wasp song 'Sleeping in the Fire' is another song that gets a different feel by the use of a female lead vocalist. The most impressive song here for me is the take on Thin Lizzy's 'The Holy War', which in this version sounds like a song written and performed by Iron Maiden, while the ones that for some reason or other failed to impress me were the versions of the classic Blue Oyster Cult song 'Veteran of the Psychic Wars' and the cover of Black Sabbath's 'Die Young'.

I have yet to come across as cover album that I would describe as an essential purchase, and this isn't the album that will be the exception to that rule. This is an accomplished production though, with quality musicianship and with a good quality mix and production too. If classic hard rock and (mainly) 80's heavy metal is a field that interest you, and you find cover albums exploring this field of music to be generally interesting, this is a good album of this kind with a solid quality level throughout. Or in other words: A safe purchase if you are into cover albums of this kind.

Olav M. Björnsen, September 2023

Links:
https://fb1964.bandcamp.com/