Five years after the release of its predecessor, "Diamond in the Firepit" is the title of the much awaited third studio album of BROTHER FIRETRIBE, it will finally be available in May on Spinefarm Records, after so much time waiting, because of the involvement of the members in other successful projects, and after the much anticipated first excerpts and the well-received first single "For Better or For Worse", the expectations were increasing exponentially. And one thing is sure their style hasn't drastically changed or hasn't being redefined, indeed it's pretty similar sound-wise to the band's previous material, definitely a familiar silver platter for the fans.

The project BROTHER FIRETRIBE is the delicious and convincing result of an prodigious alliance, born under the wisdom of the northern light, a musical union between two of the most prominent musicians of the ever growing, Finnish Metal scene: on my right the extraordinary singer Pekka Heino Ansio from LEVERAGE fame and on my left NIGHTWISH's guitar master Emppu Vuorinen .the band statement once again is clear, they want to prove that with "Diamond In The Firepit" by BROTHER FIRETRIBE, we are in the presence of one of the leader of the uninterrupted wave of amazing ultra-Melodic Metal coming from Scandinavia.

Without diving too early into the rhetoric side of the analysis, let me state that this album holds a strong AOR temperament with a well-balanced ratio between alternative sequence of Melodic sugar and Hard Rock fire, the eclectic themes and the harmonic vision is some of the most essential characteristics of this well-polished Diamond coming from the Nordic region: the land of lakes. The challenge for the AOR bands of today is to preserve the original nature of the style without sounding too generic, predictable or too cheesy, the synthetic texture of the previous album such as "Heart Full of Fire" in 2008 was a real obstacle to reach the contemporary audience and I think that "Diamond in the Firepit" will suffer from the same symptomatic syndrome, a true cleavage will occur in between the Mature Melodic Rock pilgrims (35 and up) and the young newbies attracted by H.E.A.T or ECLIPSE, because the genetic and the heritage is clearly old school oriented, with an obvious tag at the sophisticated Keyboards driven music.

if the creativity or the originality isn't the most upgraded element here, of course the melodic hooks are numerous and generously displayed in the fifty minutes of running time, the total AOR orthodoxy is respected with tons of 80's Pompous synthesizers / fluffy Artificial strings arrangements and an amazing amount of smooth backing vocals layers. Pekka cut his hair, but he's still singing with ease in his perfect crooning attitude, in a very laid back, relaxed mode and in a very self-confident behavior, he deliver a great performance, once more the AOR fanatics will adore this vocal work and on the flip side the more headbanging Melodic Metal freaks, will reject it mainly because of its too soft nature.

I'm myself mixed in my feelings, perplexed, like a victim of this duality (which is burning inside me constantly...) today particular exacerbated... My impartiality is tested here... So I will warmly recommend this at the starved AOR fans and to the Nostalgic crowd (even if L.R.S.'s "Down To The Core" is much better in this style) and it's probably not for you if you're looking for something really contemporary and improved, i will ask to the others Melodic Metal addicts: try to catch alternatively the new H.E.A.T or the upcoming NIGHT BY NIGHT for stronger sensation.