Freddy Krumins is a heavy metal vocalist, writer, and composer from the USA, releasing his new solo album ‘The Future’s Past’ in 2022.
Best known to me, and probably many of you too, as the lead singer for the heavy metal band FireWölfe, Freddy is also a talented multi-instrumentalist, accomplished on guitar, bass, keyboards, and the drums. He is the former vocalist for Howard Leese (guitarist from the multi-platinum rock groups Heart, Paul Rodgers, Bad Company), and James Byrd’s Atlantis Rising. Freddy has acted as producer/engineer for many Seattle area recording artists for over ten years at his studio Brainstorm Recording. He has written, recorded, and produced ten CDs of his own original music, toured much of America, and performed in other countries such as Canada, Mexico, and Thailand. And over the last six years, Freddy has recorded vocals on over three hundred songs worldwide as a session vocalist through file-sharing. He is currently the lead singer for the metal band FireWölfe, who recently released their third album ‘Conquer All Fear’, and has just released his new solo album ‘The Future’s Past’…
…featuring twelve songs over a one-hour runtime, with all vocals, guitars, drums, and bass performed by Freddy – who also composed, produced, recorded, and mixed the album. So to call this release a solo effort, is probably the truest thing you could ever say!
And if you’re expecting a mighty FireWölfe style gallop of heavy come power metal, then you need to alter your expectations. For Freddy delivers an eclectic mix of traditional metal and rock with a few surprises along the way – the album beginning with its title song ‘The Future’s Past’. And to be fair, ‘The Future’s Past’ (the song) is a fast-paced gallop of the old school “foot on the monitor” styled heavy metal. It’s always good to start an album with a barnstormer to grab the attention of the listener, and ‘The Future’s Past’ (the song) certainly does that. And hitting the ground with an almighty foot stomp, ‘Evil Eye Watching’ is a loud and proud slab of anthemic metal – the hammering guitars savagely tearing flesh from bones…
…after all, we’re only made of flesh and bone – states the savagery of ‘Made Of Flesh And Bone’, Freddy picking up the intensity and pace, powering on with an intent not heard during either of the two previous songs. ‘Made Of Flesh And Bone’ is rampant, neck-breaking, and a moshers favorite kind o’ tune. Hitting the brakes hard, ‘The Rise And Fall’ brings a Black Sabbath doom-heavy style to the album. Not to mention a darker and more menacing feel. The variation of the album so far has been aimed fairly at the metal community, Freddy broadening his horizons with ‘Chaos Disorder’ to incorporate a little blues rock, a little Southern rock, and a little of the swing from the sixties! No seriously, as a child of the seventies, all I was subjected to by my parents (God bless them both) was the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, Dusty Springfield, Lulu, and Cilla Black! So listen closely and (hopefully) you’ll hear what I hear. If not, then maybe the dark side of my mind is playing tricks on me!
Bringing back the doom style of earlier, ‘Dark Corner Of Your Mind’ is a fear-laden stomp of menacing darkness – with a pop-metal style chorus that, insanely reminds of a classic Robbie Williams (Take That) song! Oh, I think the dark corners of my mind have something to answer for, remembering sounds from my childhood and other musical genres.
I guess the mind never forgets eh! Moving in a melodic metal direction, ‘Flame Still Burns’ returns the album to a heavy metal footing, with Freddy doing best, what I know him for. Solo albums are great for band members to experiment by releasing music that doesn’t fit into their band’s remit – but it’s also nice for a few musical familiarities to remind us just who we’re listening to. Freddy swings back heavily in the direction of the legendary ‘Sabbath once again, for the menacing ‘All We Took For Granted’ – displaying a little of the eerie and haunting style of early Paradise Lost. And without any warning, we’re off rocking and rolling with ‘Roll The Dice’ – visions of sawdust-covered dance floors springing to mind. Think seventies Aerosmith and you’ll get some idea of where I’m coming from – and where Freddy is going!
And as we head into the album’s final quarter, a more progressive and expressive feel comes to the fore with ‘A Deeper Message’ slowly strutting its stuff. Keeping to a much slower tempo than any other song on offer, ‘A Deeper Message’ is a far cry from the album’s blazing opening double – Freddy letting his musical visions run wild. Clocking in at over eight minutes in length ‘As The Raven Flies By’ is by far and away from the longest song on offer, and maintains the previous songs’ slower tempo, but also adds menace and darkness, reeling in inspiration from many other different styles of music too. The final song continues Freddy‘s “outside metal” outlook to music – ‘One Extreme Or The Other’ featuring an almost alternative spin on everything that’s gone before. The last two songs, are featured as bonus tracks and are definitely two of the more intriguing and “gotta listen to again” songs to fully understand them. Now, where’s the replay button!
Overall, a mostly heavy metal album featuring some surprise twists from Freddy‘s wide-reaching visionary mind.
TRACKLIST
The Future’s Past
Evil Eye Watching
Made Of Flesh And Bone
The Rise And Fall
Chaos Disorder
Dark Corner Of Your Mind
Flame Still Burns
All We Took For Granted
Roll The Dice
A Deeper Message
As The Raven Flies (bonus)
One Extreme Or The Other (bonus)
Freddy Krumins: N/A
Release Year: 2022
Label: self-released
Category: Album
Country: USA
Reviewed by Iron Mathew for Frenzy Fire, Metal Gods TV, and Metal-Roos.
