There are very few bands I respect as much as Helloween.
After the band created the modern power metal sound, two of their main songwriters
left (one of whom is still the prime example of a power metal vocalist). It
would have been easy for the remaining members to hire a Michael Kiske clone
and live off the success of those two classic albums (not to mention “Walls of
Jericho”!). Instead, they brought in Andi Deris, who is not only one of the
most unique vocalists in all of power metal, but is pretty much the opposite of
Kiske. While not all of their albums since then have been great, the last 10 or
so years have been pretty stellar. “Straight Out Of Hell” marks yet another
great Helloween album.
Things kick of with the Deris-penned “Nabataea”. This is the
ultimate highlight of the record, as no song proves to be catchier, or more
epic. There are several moments that will bring a smile to your face because
they are so true to the Helloween sound (the “children, children” verse, along
with the “once there was a land…” part, in particular). The chorus will make
you want to scream along with Deris, even if you have no clue what he’s talking
about. While the first song on this album is the best, the quality does not
drop at all. “World of War” and “Burning Sun” provide the blistering
high-speed power metal songs that everyone comes to expect. “World of War” has
a prime example of how to properly harmonize guitars that are soloing. Both
guitarists are shredding at blazing speeds before the song finally kicks into a
solo. Meanwhile, “Far From The Stars” features classic staccato Helloween
riffing in the verse, and is more proof that bassist Markus Grosskopf has never
written a bad, or even mediocre Helloween song. “Waiting For The Thunder”, much
like Stratovarius’ “Unbreakable”, is driven by a brilliant piano line that
opens the song and repeats in the chorus. The lone ballad, “Hold Me In Your
Arms”, is one of the band’s better ballads. It gets a bit sappy, but the
melodies are enjoyable enough to override that.
Perhaps the only weak point on the album is “Wanna Be God”.
The drums never fully come in during this song and it feels very underdeveloped
as a result. There’s nothing wrong with the vocals or anything else, but at
only 2 minutes, it hardly feels like a real song compared to the others. After
that slight dip in quality, the title track brings the album back up to speed.
Excepting “Asshole”, the entire second half of the album is filled with
intense, albeit predictable power metal numbers (“Church Breaks Down” is my
favourite). The aforementioned “Asshole” reminds me a lot of songs like “Dr.
Stein” and “Mrs. God” in that they aren’t quite what you’d expect, but end up
being one of the best songs of the album. Perhaps what differentiates this song
most is that it really isn’t all that fast. In fact, it is Deris' fantastic
performance that drives this chorus (much like the rest of the album).
It is no secret that Helloween were one of the leaders of
power metal, but “Straight Out Of Hell” continues to solidify their position as
one of the top bands around these days. Pick almost any one of their
contemporaries, and this album beats their new record. I cannot recommend this
one enough, and after all this praise, there is only one thing left I can say:
Up the Pumpkins!
Be sure to check out and like Helloween on Facebook!
Highlights
"Nabataea"
"Waiting For The Thunder"
"Asshole"
"Church Breaks Down"
Final Rating
4.6/5 or 92%.