Freedom Call

Freedom Call is a German power metal group from Nürnberg, formed in 1998 and active since then. The band is centred on lead vocalist and songwriter Chris Bay, the only original member in the current line-up. Its sound is described as power metal, and the group uses the term “Happy Metal” for the style it set out to create at the start of its career.

Formation and early line-up

Freedom Call begins with Chris Bay and Daniel Zimmermann, who form the band in 1998 during a break from Zimmermann’s main group, Gamma Ray. The first line-up is completed by Ilker Ersin on bass and Sascha Gerstner on guitar. The band records a six-song demo with producer Charlie Bauerfeind before the line-up is finalised.

Bay brings experience from earlier bands before Freedom Call. He moves to Hamburg in 1990, joins Zed Yago, and from 1993 to 1996 plays with Hermann Frank’s Moon Doc, recording the albums Moon Doc and Get Mooned. His musical background also includes early guitar and piano study, with family influences from an opera singer grandfather and a chorus singer mother.

Albums and development

Freedom Call releases its debut album, Stairway to Fairyland, through NTS Records, and it sells over 35,000 copies in its first year. The band makes its live debut in France while supporting Angra and Edguy. Later in 1999 it records the mini LP Taragon, which includes a cover of Ultravox’s “Dancing With Tears in My Eyes” and a re-recorded version of “Tears of Taragon” featuring Biff Byford.

The second album, Crystal Empire, follows in 2001. Around the same time, Sascha Gerstner leaves and is replaced by Cédric “Cede” Dupont from Symphorce. In 2002 the band records Eternity, produced by Bay and Zimmermann, with Charlie Bauerfeind handling drum recordings and mixing. Steamhammer releases the album, and Freedom Call tours with Blind Guardian that year.

The live album Live Invasion appears in 2004, and keyboardist Nils Neumann joins permanently. The band records The Circle of Life later that year and releases it in 2005. After that, Dupont and Ersin leave and are replaced by Lars Rettkowitz on guitar and Armin Donderer on bass.

Dimensions follows in 2007, and songs from it, including “The Wanderer” and “Dimensions”, are used in the online rhythm game Flash Flash Revolution. In 2009 Donderer departs and Samy Saemann takes over on bass. Legend of the Shadowking arrives in 2010, and around this period Daniel Zimmermann leaves the band and is replaced on drums by Klaus Sperling.

The band’s first live DVD, Live in Hellvetia, is recorded in Switzerland and released in 2011. Land of the Crimson Dawn follows in 2012, and in 2013 the compilation Ages of Light (1998–2013) is issued. For Beyond in 2014, Ilker Ersin returns on bass and Ramy Ali joins on drums. The album is produced by Chris Bay and Stephan Ernst, and a video for “Union of the Strong” is filmed in 2013.

In 2015 the reissued set 666 Weeks Beyond Eternity appears, based on Eternity and adding remastered tracks, live recordings, acoustic material and a new song. The ninth studio album, Master of Light, is released in 2016, with “Hammer of the Gods” as lead single and a promotional video for “Metal is for Everyone”.

Freedom Call tours Latin America for the Master of Light cycle and later performs internationally, including at 70,000 Tons of Metal, Metalfest Open Air and Leyendas Del Rock. The band’s later studio albums include M.E.T.A.L. and Silver Romance, which is released by Steamhammer in 2024. In total, the group releases fourteen albums, including eleven studio albums.

Chris Bay’s solo work

Alongside Freedom Call, Chris Bay releases a solo album, Chasing The Sun, in 2018. Its singles include “Radio Starlight” and “Hollywood Dancer”. Bay says the material consists of songs written over a number of years that do not fit Freedom Call’s style.