Review: Helloween, "Gambling with the Devil"

It’s always nice to be surprised. I’ve only followed Helloween’s career sporadically since the 1980s, and have never really found anything in their catalog that impressed me as much as the first two "Keeper" records. I didn’t expect to find it here, but they had me from the first true song on the record.

As with most intros, you can skip “Crack the Riddle,” but you can’t ignore “Kill It,” a snarling beast of a song that’s possibly one of the meanest and heaviest tunes Helloween has ever recorded. It hooks you with the soaring power metal bridge, then pummels you with the pounding chorus. Andi Deris’ vocals are probably at their best on this tune, and on the record as a whole. He moves through sounds that range from classic power metal to 1970s progressive to the aggressive “Kill it, kill it, kill it” screams on the chorus, to an almost black metal rasp coming out of the interlude. Unfortunately, no other song on the record quite lives up to “Kill It,” and for the next few songs, you’ll miss that aggression.

“The Saints” starts out well, but somewhere along the way morphs into that same power metal tune you’ve heard four billion times before. “As Long as I Fall” just reeks a little too much of 1980s power pop. But hang in there, because there’s some good stuff coming a little later, mainly in the form of a three-song cycle mid-record that serves as a mini-concept album.

It opens with the prog-power assault of “The Bells of the 7 Hells” which has the most irressistible hook to be found on the record. It’s a match for any soaring power metal tune in the band’s history. The second song, “Fallen to Pieces,” is softer with a slightly more mainstream bent, but it’s still a strong piece. With its electronic undertones, it really sounds like what they were going for and didn’t quite get on “As Long as I Fall.” The trilogy closes with one of the best guitar riffs on the record from Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner in the sliding main riff of “I.M.E.”

The final three songs on the record are hit and miss. “Can Do It” offers a really strange mix of showtune and 1980s power pop that just doesn’t quite work. “Dreambound” delivers a solid power/traditional metal number that while, not as engaging as “Kill It” or “The Bells of the 7 Hells,” is still entertaining, and “Heaven Tells No Lies” offers up an enjoyable shot at an epic, storytelling tune.

In the end, "Gambling With the Devil" doesn’t quite live up to the promise that “Kill It” makes, and on some of the tracks, I’m left wishing for that more aggressive sound. But it’s still a solid effort and the best record that Helloween has done in a long time. If you’ve liked Helloween in the past, but not lately, definitely give this one a shot.

Hear a sample of "Kill It."

Hear a sample of "The Bells of the 7 Hells."

Get "Gambling with the Devil."

Review: Ride the Sky, "New Protection"

Ordinarily, I’m not a big fan of the “supergroup” concept. No matter how good the musicians are, I don’t think a month in the studio together can bring the tightness and spirit to a band that playing together for years, busting your ass to make it and living together in a van down by the river does. That said, occasionally one of those “supergroups” manages to make a pretty good record. That’s the case with Ride the Sky.

The band is a project of drummer Uli Kusch – a veteran of bands like Masterplan, Helloween and Gamma Ray – vocalist Bjorn Jansson of Beyond Twilight and Tears of Anger, and studio guitarist Benny Jannson. Later they added keyboard player Kaspar Dahlqvist who has played with Stormwind and Circle II Circle and bass player Mathias Garnas of XsavioR. The result is a pretty solid set of melodic metal.

Admittedly this record is a little heavier on the keyboards than I would prefer, but there are enough nice biting guitar lines from Benny Jannson on tunes like “Silent War” – one of the best tracks here – to hold my interest and make me overlook it. The songs on the album cover a wide range of styles and emotions. There are shiny, happy tunes like “A Smile from Heaven’s Eye,” which reminds me a little of Lillian Axe, then there’s the driving power-prog blend of “The Prince of Darkness” and the spacey synth lines on “The End of Days.” Of course, they do deliver up the prototypical power metal song that I was expecting with “Far Beyond the Stars,” but that’s really the only one here.

The soaring melodic songs like “Corroded Dreams” and “A Crack in the Wall” are really good, but Ride the Sky is at its best when they depend on Jannson’s guitar work. The best tunes here all have that in common. “Break the Chain” offers up a nice, chunky, almost thrash-like riff, and “Black Cloud” delivers up the heaviest number on the record with some very aggressive riffing at the opening.

If there’s one complaint it’s that they overuse the vocal-bass combination where the rest of the band drops out for the verse and there’s usually some effect on the vocals. They use that at least four or five times, and it occasionally gives the songs a feeling of sameness.

Overall, this is really solid stuff, though. It’s great melodic metal with occasional hits of symphonic, prog and power. I highly recommend it for people who like music that’s melodic, but not wimpy.

Get "New Protection."

Review: Masterplan - "MKII"

I enjoyed Masterplan's last record, "Aeronautics," and was looking forward to hearing the follow-up. Perhaps its because of the loss of vocalist Jorn Lande or perhaps its because I'm listening to it shortly after I've been impressed by the chances taken on Sonata Arctica's latest record. Whatever the case, I'm underwhelmed with what I'm hearing here.

Band leader and ex-Helloween guitarist Roland Grapow still provides top-notch guitar work, particularly on tracks like "Lost and Gone." The vocals of ex-Riot singer Mike DiMeo are not bad, though I do prefer Lande's. But I'm just not finding anything that excites me among the 12 songs on this record. It's very well done, but it's exactly what you expect - no chances taken, no unexpected moments.

There are plenty of good songs to be found, like the aforementioned "Lost and Gone" and "Take Me Over," which opens with a nice dark acoustic piece before exploding into a raging, squealing riff. The exotic melody of the main riff of "Call the Gipsy" is nice, too, making it probably the best song here. There's a nice variety of songs from fast-paced power metal tracks such as "Watching the World" to more progressive numbers.

I'm struggling for more to say about this record, particularly after the glowing review I gave their last record, but I can't find it. Bottom line, it's a good record, melodic metal fans should like it, but it won't blow you away.

Get "MKII."