Finland has always been a good source for acceptable metal- and rock-acts. And Deuteronomium, Immortal Souls, HB, Mehida and Sotahuuto just got help from Fivestar Prophet in internationally making name for Finland for as rock-nation. Their ‘Enemy’ is a release they can be proud of. And it’s totally understandable that Youngside Records decided to bring that release to the US.
Fivestar Prophet’s story goes back to 2001, when frontman Olli Helenius started the band L-60° with the intention to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the world. In 2008, L-60° seemed tired and frustrated. The ever changing course of the music industry wore the band out, but also brought many disappointments. At the same time, there was a growing desire to update both music and lyrics. At the end of 2009, Olli put his thoughts on paper about the new bandvision, with a new sound and a new bandname. His bandmates unamimously agreed in the new approach, so L-60° was history and Fivestar Prophet was born. Guitarist Janne Karhunen, who played with Tommi and Markus in HB, was asked to join the band to expend the sound.
The desire to be more open about Jesus is heavily clear in the first track. His name is repeatedly screamed as both a prayer (Save Us!) and a proclamation. There is no mistake what this band is up to. Musically the band has the intensity of an oldschool powermetal-act, but it is more modern. Olli has a strong rock-voice, the melodies are catchy and the individual songs differ enough to prevent us from getting bored. The blasting programmering and powerful guitarriffs give the sound the same energy we know from HB and Blessed By A Broken Heart.
And I think that will be the main strength for Fivestar Prophet. The band has enough modern power in it’s body to attract the younger rock-generation, that has Pillar, RED, HB, Skillet, Flyleaf and Fireflight on their ear-plugs, but still is ‘metal’ enough to please fans of Mehida, Narnia and Rob Rock too.
If you ask me, Olli and his guys succeeded in their desire to come up with something that is musically fresh and lyrically clear as a blue sky. It is an act that has it’s focus on the future and with past visits to Germany (Christmas Rock Night) and the Czech Republic (Uniter Worship Festival) already on the schedule, I assume this is another Finnish act that we’ll be seeing again, pleasing the international crowds.
Rating: 8/10
(written by Hans van Vuuren, October 2011)
Tracklist:
1 Save Us (From Ourselves)
2 Dying To Be Free
3 Stay True
4 Surrounded
5 As Long As I Live
6 On Fire
7 I’m Able
8 Enemy
9 Love Kills Fear
10 Sacrifice
11 Praying For Revival
Bandmembers:
Olli Helenius – Vocals
Ville Salminen – Guitars / Background Vocals on 5
Janne Karhunen – Guitars
Tommi Huuskonen – Bass
Markus Malin – Drums, Programming
Label: FinnGospel-Naxos Finland / Youngside Records / 2010