Marching for Liberty is the third studio album by Hungarian heavy metal band Wisdom, released on 27 September 2013, through Noise Art Records. The album came out in Hungary one week later through Nail Records.
Background
Several international record labels became interested in Wisdom after Judas was released in Hungary. Serious negotiations got started with the Austrian Noise Art Records and the German AFM Records. After all in January 2012 Wisdom signed to Noise Art Records, which cooperated with one of the world's biggest concert organizer office called Rock The Nation. Results: Rock The Nation sent the band for a European tour which began in September 2012 and lasted for months. Zsolt Galambos, the guitarist couldn't take part in this tour so Mate Bodor was recruited as his replacement. His guitar playing can also be heard on the album titled Marching For Liberty. All of the songs on the album were composed from scratch, so not one previous idea or sketch was used or recycled. Most of the new songs were created by Gabor Kovacs in two weeks’ time. This was a remarkable improvement because previously he needed numerous weeks or months to finish only one song. Of course the arrangement of the album's further details took a lot of time as always. Originally the release of Marching for Liberty was April 2013, but due to logistic reasons it was postponed for six months. Finally the album came out worldwide on 27 September 2013 via Noise Art Records. One week later the album came out in Hungary on Nail Records. On their previous album, Judas, the band tried to play it safe because they had a brand new singer on board. During the recording of their new material, Marching For Liberty, they unleashed their experimental and creative side and tried several new techniques and methods that they have never used before. A good example of this that they recorded the chorus parts with choir of opera singers.
Album title and cover
Wiseman's story reached a turning point when he overcame the betrayal of Judas and felt that the time has come to start a journey with his disciples to liberate the people living under tyranny. The album's title refers to this situation. This is the fourth album cover which was created by Gyula Havancsak for the band. He won several awards with this cover the Hangsúly Metal Award for example, where the votes of journalists decide on the winning piece of art. The cover features Wiseman and his disciples as they are heading towards the city dominated by the evil power that emerges from distant parts of the valley next to the river. On the edge of the cliff a raven had just flown onto Wiseman's arm. It is wearing a medal of the Wisdom logo around its neck. In Hungarian mythology and history the raven is the carrier of good news and hope. The back side of the cover captures the moment when the raven flies away from Wiseman's arm. The following quotation which holds the essence of the album's message is from the song titled "World of the Free".
Songs
World Of The Free
"World Of The Free" reminds an a capella oriented symphonic style song and functions not just as the intro of the album but a bit more than that. The first half of the text was originally written for "Marching For Liberty" instead of the Latin verse of the song when the translation was not yet completed. After the translation was finished this segment became redundant, but later it has been used for the intro. It summarized the concept of the album so perfectly that it became the motto of the album also.
Dust Of The Sun
In some respects the Marching For Liberty album can be considered as a pioneering effort in the life of the band because more members participated in the process of songwriting. Previously Gabor Kovacs and Mate Molnar had written every song. The musical and textual roots of the dynamic "Dust Of The Sun" came from Balazs Agota and his ideas were developed jointly by all the band members. This fast and pure power metal track with its chorus is reminiscent of the classic Rhapsody Of Fire songs. This was the first occasion when Balazs tried to write a song and he instantly caught the spirit of the band perfectly. He has brought something new and exciting to the table lyrically with his particular interpretation of existence.