Believer

Item: I'm Free
Author: Paul Q-Pek

I'm Free

(1987)

Reviewed by Paul Q-Pek

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Label independentHeaven's Metal #20July/August 1989

glam metal hard rock

First of all, this is not the thrash Believer from Pennsylvania who is on "East Coast Metal".

This Believer is from Castro Valley, California, and is of the spandex variety.

This custom project contains 8 rockin' tunes with sometimes cliched lyrics ("Jesus saves, Jesus saves/ We are Believer, we believe.") and sometimes creative ("I was alone in the pasture/ I was a slave to desire"). The music is not unlike Triumph with a few time changes and acoustic to electric tradeoffs.

Darren Savage is searing on guitar with his wild leads. However, Darren is also lead vocalist. His voice really works on two songs which are speedy and lend themselves to a talk/sing delivery ("Make Mind Up" and "I'm Free"). Holding the band together are Warren Points (bass) and Larry Lee DunBar (drums), but their prowess cannot be fully experienced due to the poor, thin mix and production.

These guys are on the right track and, with a new producer and a fourth member (vocals), they could make a wave or two from California across the globe.