FRONT ROW WARRIORS
Blissful celebration of catchiness
[ Logo: Front Row Warriors ]
Action: FRONT ROW WARRIORS • https://frontrowwarriors.com/
Title: Wheel Of Fortune
Base: Stuttgart • Germany
Style: Melodic Metal
Genre: Heavy Metal, Melodic Metal, Melodic Hard Rock, AOR
FFO: Heart, Warlock, Pretty Maids, Zed Yago
Type: Full-length
Format: CD + Vinyl
Label: ROAR • Rock Of Angels Records
Release: June 09, 2023
FRONT ROW WARRIORS are available for interviews via phone, Skype, Zoom & email
Bulletpoints:
🔘 Debut album of the highly gifted Germans
🔘 Fantastic songwriting, top playing culture
🔘 Highly catchy material, a true feast for many ears
https://www.metalmessage.de/PR_FRONT_ROW_WARRIORS_en.php
FRONT ROW WARRIORS, the South German top artists, launched their third single „Chasing Shadows“ with a lyric video worth seeing on September 15, 2023 – top-notch AOR/Melodic Metal, as you can enjoy it rather rarely from today’s acts in this fine form.
The catchy uptempo number, which is played in an equally brisk and rousing fluidity, is another excellent song from the enormously substantial debut album „Wheel Of Fortune“, which was released on June 09, 2023 as blue vinyl and CD digipak via ROAR Records – a work that is fantastic in many respects and which continues to receive excellent to completely enthusiastic reviews in the music press!
„Chasing Shadows“ tells the tragic love story of two young people who desperately try to escape their ecclesiastical conventions, but ultimately fall apart because of lies and slander, and ultimately both tragically lose their lives. The moving story is based on the Greek mythology „Hero and Leander“ by the poet Ovid. Jim Evgenidis of Iconfilmworx skillfully directed „Chasing Shadows“.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/gjGHqZQ58G0?si=m_LoV3Tl3gf_Poz9
[ Official Video „Chasing Shadows“ ]
Formed in 2019 in Stuttgart by Jay-G, drums (Shining, Sharon), Elkie Gee, vocals (Ampyre, Antares) and Sorin Badin, a well-known Romanian guitarist (Cardinal, Samsara, Crystal Maze) under the name FRONT ROW WARRIORS, they completed the formation in 2020 with Richie Seibel, keyboards, (Lanfear, Ivanhoe, Them) and Timo Michels, bass, (5th Season, Pump). In the summer of 2022, guitarist Stef Binnig-Gollub (Septagon) joined the multiple capable MELODIC METAL band.
[ Pic: Front Row Warriors ]
LINE-UP:
Elkie Gee • Vocals
Sorin Badin • Lead Guitar
Stef Binnig-Gollub • Guitar
Timo Michels • Bass
Richie Seibel • Keyboard
Jay-G • Drums
The band’s goal is to take the audience on a musical journey through the era of Hard Rock and Metal of the past 30 years, creating catchy hooks that immediately inspire you to sing along. The whole thing impresses with outstanding guitar and keyboard work as well as deeply exceptional, uplifting lead vocals. Each band member represents one of the many styles and influences that make up the music of FRONT ROW WARRIORS.
The results were impressive, and the band was voted Germany’s best Hard Rock band in 2021 by the German Rock and Pop Musicians Association.
The successful mixture of AOR and Hard Rock inspired by the 80s and 90s, up-tempo numbers – partly very close to classic Melodic Metal – and epic ballads can now be found on the highly anticipated debut album under the title „Wheel Of Fortune“, which was produced by Michael Bormann, co-produced and mixed by Achim Köhler.
The mastering was done by Patrick W. Engel. The renowned book and cover illustrator Uwe Jarling crowned this absolutely fantastic release with an awesome cover artwork. All well known names, which did each a great job for a great formation!
[ Artwork: Uwe Jarling ]
TRACKS:
- Intro 01:01
- Chasing Shadows 03:24
- Fantastic 04:13
- Love Is Not A Game 05:15
- Deadly Sins 03:54
- Damnation 00:47
- Hell Invaders 04:28
- Wheel Of Fortune 05:03
- Hell Awaits 04:15
- Dystopian Time (feat. Todd Michael Hall) 05:27
- The Hunter 03:49
- Wasted Life 06:37
total 48:13
As a special guest, US singer Todd Michael Hall (Jack Starr ́s Burning Starr, Riot V) shines in a duet. Vocalist Elkie was voted best Hard Rock singer 2022 by the German Rock and Pop Musicians Association with the song „Dystopian Time“.
The band was signed by ROAR Records, the debut has been released in June 2023 as CD-Digipak and vinyl, also in download format.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0xsgg8Jtk3oJqOKzuGIG2d?si=QQWKCmxKTaei2Oz3r3sbMg
MEDIA FEEDBACK:
10 / 10
➤ „Take six good musicians and awesome tunes … the result is FRONT ROW WARRIORS. For a debut album really strong. You have to be grateful when there is still good, horny music on the plate … the Swabians give everything. You shouldn’t just see them as newcomers … they will fight their way into the front row very soon.“
(Hellfire)
10 / 10
➤ „… Heavy Metal as it can not sound more classic … I feel I’m transported back to the glory days of Warlock, because with Elkie we also have here a singer with a Rock throat, but for me because of her style still sounds much more interesting than the ‚Queen of Metal‘.“
(MetalZone – Support The Underground)
10 / 10
➤ „… Heavy Metal as it can not sound more classic … I feel I’m transported back to the glory days of Warlock, because with Elkie we also have here a singer with a Rock throat, but for me because of her style still sounds much more interesting than the ‚Queen of Metal‘.“
(Metalheads DE)
10 / 10
➤ „… dedicated to melodic, but harder Hard Rock, which occasionally flirts a bit with AOR, but above all rather seeks the proximity to Heavy Rock. The voice of Elkie Gee also not infrequently reminds of the singers of the great U.S. female (fronted) bands like Heart, Vixen, Phantom Blue and inspires with its power. And also the English pronunciation is impeccable. But also the musical realization belongs for me to some of the best I have heard from the German Hard Rock scene in the last years … the songwriting is first class.“
(Ivy Wolfisberg Blog)
95 / 100
➤ „… Elkie elevates each track to a really high level … an impressive debut … twelve brilliant songs … power and melody conspire and every single one of them knows to convince … Front Row Warriors definitely knows how to play their way into the front ranks of the Hard Rock / Heavy Metal landscape already with this debut …“
(Musika BE)
9,5 / 10
➤ „… function like a unit that has grown over many years … I failed to detect even one off-key note after repeated listens … one song features Riot vocalist Todd Michael Hall as backup …“
(Bleeding4Metal)
9,1 / 10
➤ „Much of the power of this band lies in Elkie’s voice, one of the best female voices out there, and even the simplest song is made to shine … there really is no weak point on this album. They couldn’t have had a better debut … the quality of the songs here closes mouths … and opens others …“
(Metallerium)
9 / 10
➤ „… a singer who, á la Heart, is effortlessly at home in all registers … hammer-strong debut … amazing hit density …“
(Hardline)
9 / 10
➤ „… reveal an incredible amount of inspiration, creativity and great talent on their album debut … all of this, coupled with their years of experience and the savvy of the entire production team, makes ‚Wheel Of Fortune‘ one of the strongest debuts in recent years and a great hope for the future … phenomenal …“
(Undercover Rock And Metal)
9 / 10
➤ „… the band really puts their foot down, the musicians play on a technically high level, the interplay works perfectly … kick-ass music … Elkie’s voice has an enormous power, determines the sound of the band significantly …“
(Rocknews CH)
8,5 / 10
➤ „From the guitars you can hear different bands like the Scorpions, Jaded Heart and a few more … the keys are more restrained than Axel Rudi Pell, the drums remind me of Mike Terrana or Bobby Rondenelli in the way they were played with a lot of power … very catchy and harmoniously produced … convinced me completely.“
(Rock Garage DE)
8,5 / 10
➤ „… high-class album in the intersection of catchy Hard/Heavy Rock … masterpiece of a German band that skillfully recommends itself with fat hooklines, slamming guitars, catchy melodies and magical vocals all along the line …“
(Saitenkult)
8 / 10
➤ „… a great album, and all Metal fans should give this appealing work a listen …“
(Metal Factory)
8 / 10
➤ „… powerful, crisp and at times traditional Hard Rock with a proper 80s broadside … with a wealth of great songs …“
(Rock It!)
8 / 10
➤ „… crisp, partly atmospheric Melodic Heavy Metal, which can be pigeonholed quite well with bands like later Pretty Maids, Bonfire, Eclipse, Crystal Ball or Jaded Heart … singer Elkie Gee does her thing really well! Fans of classic, rocking Melodic Metal should definitely get this one!“
(Crossfire Webzine)
7 / 10
➤ „… front woman with a strong voice … twelve tracks with a lot of feeling … successful debut …“
(Rock Hard DE)
➤ „… without exception experienced musicians, that succeeded in this excellently … powerfully produced and also exemplary mixed, the 10 songs and 2 intros bang out of the speakers and keep the promise. Because even if most of the songs start quite metallic, they almost always get the curve to Hard Rock and yet remain independent and modern enough to scare off neither the one nor the other faction. A great balancing act …“
(Metalglory)
➤ „… simply a great record, which convinces with music without a lot of fuss and should bring FRONT ROW WARRIORS into the focus of many Melodic Metal fans …“
(Metal Inside)
➤ „… sounds super professional for a debut album and thrills from front to back on the first listen. It’s been a while since a debut album blew me away right away … above all, the fantastic vocals with through the bank catchy hooks and strong choruses … a really skillful balancing act between catchy Hard Rock and sophisticated as well as Melodic Heavy Metal … there are almost too many highlights to list them all … inspires more and more from run to run …“
(Tracks Magazin)
➤ „… FRONT ROW WARRIORS have delivered a very strong album that can strike fear into other female-fronted bands, because singer Elkie puts the crown on the songs with her charismatic voice. But also the other musicians deliver a performance on the highest level. Listen to the songs and you will be as excited as I am!“
(Nightshade)
➤ „Characteristic of the band’s sound are the distinctive, raspy voice of Elkie Gee, whose clean vocals are somewhat reminiscent of the legendary Doro Pesh, and the keyboards, which feature a tasteful selection of synths that are deliberately typical of these years … an honest and genuine album …“
(Metalshock IT)
➤ „… interesting one … took me by surprise … you get a lot of diversity … quiet impressive … really, really great voice … solid songwriting … melodic, catchy tunes … great riffs … memorable album … I enjoyed it very much … there’s a lot to love here …“
(Power Metal Ranger)
➤ „In many ways I found it hard to believe at first that this is a debut album, because it seems very accomplished – good old melodic Heavy Metal – with a lot of life, nerve and not least melody … they have their own sound – not least because of the vocals of Elkie Gee – here the band has hit the nail on the head … 12 strong tracks – tracks that each deserve to be highlighted …“
(Rancor Metalzine)
➤ „… gripping choruses … good melody arcs … power ballads … fast riffs … epic … comes fat out of the boxes … knows how to inspire … who likes melodic metal, can access here without hesitation …“
(Breakout)
➤ „Excellent studio debut effort by the female-fronted Stuttgart sextet!“
(Unique High Fidelity)
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