Band:	Leverage
Album:	Blind Fire
Style:	Progressive heavy metal, Symphonic power metal
Release date:	January 2008

01. Shadow In The Rain
02. King Of The Night
03. Stormchild
04. Sentenced
05. Hellhorn
06. Mr. Universe
07. Don't Touch The Sun
08. Run Down
09. Heart Of Darkness
10. Learn To Live
11. Yesterdays [Japanese bonus]
12. Rockethead [Japanese bonus]

The second album of Leverage picked up where the first one left off, tuned a couple of things to perfection and left us eagerly waiting for the latest one.

Their basic principle, which applies to Blind Fire as well as the other two albums, is to make music which is song-oriented and not album-oriented. There are no concepts, and songs could be placed in any order you want them to be - every one of them could easily be a single. Being able to write such strong songs certainly comes from a good band chemistry, and indeed, all band members are interesting individuals with lots of stories to tell. It's only normal that this mirrors itself in their music. Their style here is labeled as power metal, but the band prefers, though the Finns hate genres and everything that has to do with them, to be understood as a band who plays heavy rock with varied melodic and progressive influences. Songs are based on mostly guitar driven melodies and emotional harmonies that are considered "out of style" these days. Though most bands are trying to be "different" and "alternative," Leverage wants to communicate with our hearts and not just our heads and ears, and they're doing that through simple songs.

Now that we've mentioned that the biggest strength of this band is the ability to make very catchy and hit songs, we must also point out that they're doing it without any compromise with what is considered mainstream. There are no lame lyrics - they have a Finnish way of dealing with darker sides of ordinary life and sometimes can tell touching stories. The vocalist Heino gets those lyrics across with lots of power and emotion. Their approach isn't anything "new," because you can't really be new when it comes to playing melodic rock/metal, but nothing sounds like it's been done a million times over. They're a retro band, and this is a retro album but not in that they want the 70's or 80's to be back by any means. It has the old fashioned approach, but not the nostalgia.

If you're just getting into Leverage, this is a good place to start. All three albums have a special place in the hearts of their fans, but this one can stick to you most quickly.

Highlights: "Shadow In The Rain," "Sentenced," "Mr. Universe," "Don't Touch The Sun"... oh hell... every song!