Helloween - Gambling With The Devil (2007)

After making such a massive concept record in "Keeper of The Seven Keys: The Legacy", Helloween decided to go back to basic with their 12th offering, an album that did not have an over arching theme or story, just a CD with kick ass Helloween music. It is definitely a sensible approach, a way for the band to let off a bit of steam from their pressure cooker. It is a gamble though, because if they let out too much, then the album will suffer dearly, so the title does make a lot of sense in that regard.

Despite its title, "Gambling With The Devil" is pretty standard stuff from the Germans, at least from what they have been doing up to this point during the 21st century. It is heavier power metal that leans on being catchy and epic, and also has some humour to it hopefully. The band has created this solid formula that works for most times, and while I do not think it is broken here, it just does not have the same impact this time around. Could be that I have heard similar, but better, songs previously made by the band, but there is something off with this record.

One explanation could be that this is one of the lighter records in recent memory. Sure, we still get our dose of bone crushing metal, like the insanely aggressive "Kill It" and the chugging "Paint A New World", but there are more songs in here that either lowers the tempo, or has a softer touch to it, and it would be nothing wrong in doing such songs as long as they hold a reasonably good standard, which they unfortunately do not. The first single "As Long As I Fall" is not only ridiculous in its meaning (trust me guys, you will hit the ground eventually), but it is one of the lamest Helloween songs I have heard, not offering anything of substance. Then we have "Heaven Tells No Lies", which is just all out forgettable, which is not good normally, but it is even worse since this is the track that ends the album. A disappointing way to close things up. I do think though that "Fallen To Pieces" is proof that the band can do more light types of tracks, because this is one of the more epic ones of the record with its orchestral incorporation and a varied solo that takes some unexpected turns.

The biggest problem with the record though is that it just is not memorable. I have listened to it a whole bunch, but there are just a few songs that sticks with me. Not saying that the songs are not catchy, but you forget about them as soon as they are over, which just shows that they do not have that impact that you would want from a Helloween tune. "The Saints" is a pretty good example of this, it is a catchy song that has all the tools to become a great track, but it fails at punching it in, mostly thanks to that it is a carbon copy of what Helloween has previously done. This is also why more original songs like "I.M.E." and "Can Do It" stands out more, they do not remind us of any previously made song.

This is a surprisingly frustrating record, because there is quality in here for sure, but it is quality we already knew the band possessed, so it does not have that lasting impact. "Gambling With The Devil" is definitely a record you can take for a spin now and again, fully enjoying the experience every time, so it honestly does not do much wrong. It is however a more laid back version of Helloween we get, which keeps it from reaching those high levels. It seemed like a safe bet from the start, setting up for a sure fire jackpot, but I guess good old Beelzebub has tricked us once again, leaving us with a decent, but forgettable, record.

Songs worthy of recognition: Fallen To Pieces, Kill It, Paint A New World

Rating: 6,5/10 Saints

www.helloween.org/
twitter.com/helloweenorg

More reviews of Helloween
Walls of Jericho
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Keeper of The Seven Keys: Part 2
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Keeper of The Seven Keys: The Legacy
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Megadeth - United Abominations (2007)

After the successful comeback to the thrash sound in "The System Has Failed", Dave had gotten himself a complete line up for the new album, the 2007 release "United Abominations". Besides from Dave himself, we have the brothers Glen and Shawn Drover that took care of the guitar and drum work, and also James LoMenzo who became the bassist. We also have a updated Vic Rattlehead in the cover with the hair that resembles of the dub step artist Skrillex. Not the coolest of hair styles, but it was a part of a fan competition to reinvent the mascot and Dave seemed to like it (he chose that one over the actual fan voted winner by the way).

This album takes the band another step forward in making the band sound heavier and it is probably the most provocative record yet written by Mustaine. Songs about the American government, the UN and tons of other stuff, all just to stir the pot up, as Dave himself has said. It is nothing surprising that Dave is doing it since he has always been that kind of guy, and to be honest, some of his best lyrical work comes from him being pissed off, which also goes with the music.

The album starts off in the best way possible, with a fast, thrashing tune that is filled with meaty riffs and solos. That song is "Sleepwalker" and it is one of the best songs Megadeth has done since their original thrash era. It could be that the lyrics about a man that kills people in his sleep has a B-movie stamp all over it, but the music is top notch and catchy. The overall start of "United Abominations" is just fantastic, continuing with the groovy "Washington Is Next!", the provocative title track, and the heavy "Gears of War", a track that was written for the video game with the same name.

I am not saying that the second half of the album is much worse than the first, but it does have more slip ups, the biggest one being the re-recorded version of  the "Youthanasia" song "Á Tout Le Monde". There is no good reason to do this and put it in the standard set list of the album. I could have accepted it as a bonus in some kind of deluxe version, but it is just obvious that Dave and the band's new record company, Roadrunner Records, wanted as much money as possible out of this product. The song itself is slightly faster than the original and it also features a guest appearance by Lacuna Coil singer Cristina Scabbia, who does a decent job, but it is not enough to even get close to the beautiful original.

So besides from that unnecessary re-recording, this album kicks ass. "United Abominations" is the most bad ass Megadeth album in almost 20 years and I would say that they have almost completely made up for the albums that was created in the 90's. With a good, strong line-up that is ready to shred until they bleed and a anger that is more or less unstoppable, Megadeth is ready to enter its second golden age with force and determination.

Songs worthy of recognition: Sleepwalker, Washington Is Next!, United Abominations, Play For Blood

Rating: 8,5/10 Amerikhastans

Devin Townsend - Ziltoid The Omniscient (2007)

After the birth of his first son, Devin took some time off of the touring with Strapping Young Lad and The Devin Townsend Band to take a break from music. I guess that break was not very long at all since he released this album in the spring of 2007 (a half year after the release of "The Hummer"). "Ziltoid The Omniscient" is one of the most legendary and well appreciated albums in the Devin Townsend discography, mostly thanks to the crazy concept about a 4th dimensional alien that travels to Earth in search for the ultimate cup of coffee.

This is the solo album with a capital S. Devin made the album all by himself (even the drums thanks to the Drumkit From Hell expansion on EZdrummer). This makes it even more impressing since the production is very good and the drums are sounding pretty real (although some parts are just a little too ridiculous). But his best work is not the production nor the work he put into this album. It is the amazingly hilarious concept. Everything with this concept is so well thought of into the finest details. From the dialogues in and between the tracks to the voice acting made by Devin, Dave Young and Brian Waddell.

After a short introduction to this green, lizard like alien who has the same hair style as Devin, the invasion begins with "By Your Command" and "Ziltoidia Attaxx!!!", two heavy songs that shows how Ziltoid got the title as the ultimate 4th dimensional guitar hero, but also two songs that shows the diversity of the album. "By Your Command" is a heavy and progressive piece with an ending that instantly brings out goose bumps and some frenetic headbanging, while "Ziltoidia Attaxx!!!" is more of a faster paced song that could easily have been in the "Mars Attacks" sound track (btw, that movie is so bad that it is sometimes good).

After that, we get to follow Captain Spectacular and his ride towards Nebulon 9, in search for Ziltoids true identity (how that will stop the invasion is beyond my knowledge). This part of the story is explained in "Solar Winds" and "Hyperdrive", two songs that are slower, but are still very much alike the two songs that was before them. "Solar Winds" have a great epic ending and "Hyperdrive" is a shorter song, more fast paced song. I also think "Hyperdrive" is the song on this album that defines the space theme best with its dark feel and laid back vocals. It is without a doubt one of my favourite tracks on this album.

So Ziltoid gets exposed as the nerd he is and the story skips forward to what seems like a crucial thinking process where he decides to attack Earth once again, but this time with the devastating 6th dimensional Planet Smasher. This is without a doubt the heaviest track on the album, and probably the closest we get to being a Strapping Young Lad song (the verse reminds me of the track "Hope" from "The New Black"). I only miss a smashing solo, but other than that, this is a fantastic song with great drum beats, awesome growling, and probably the grandest chorus that Devin has ever created. Makes me wonder why the Planet Smasher rejects Ziltoid after this magnificent effort.

The album ends with Ziltoid visiting the Omnidimensional Creator (or some pot head) to find out his true identity and a plot twist (which I will not reveal. Listen to the album yourself you lazy hippie). This leads us into the most progressive part of the album with the amazingly diverse "Color Your World" as the epic master piece. If it was not for "Color Your World", then I think that "Ziltoid The Omniscient" would be a slightly less awesome album. The technicality and the flow of the song lifts the album from being great to being a master piece. The last two songs of the album are fine pieces as well, but they are clearly behind quality wise against the other songs.

So is this the end of this coffee drinking alien? Devin never intended to continue the story of Ziltoid, but since this album was such a huge success, Ziltoid has been seen in many other medias, such as merchandise, having and own radio show and a coming web series. And yes, there is a follow up album called "Z²" coming hopefully around late 2014/early 2015. A decision I am not surprised of, since this is such a magnificent album with one of the funniest characters the metal community has ever seen. So when Ziltoid will once gain show up in the future, I will certainly give him my finest coffee bean that I have to offer. Hail Ziltoid.

Songs worthy of recognition: Color Your World, By Your Command, Solar Winds, Hyperdrive, Planet Smasher

Rating: 9/10 Tall Lattes

https://www.hevydevy.com/
https://twitter.com/dvntownsend

More reviews of Devin Townsend (solo work)
Punky Brüster - Cooked On Phonics
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Devlab
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Empath

Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos (2007)

If you have to believe the metal heads that have done a review of this album in Metal archives, "Systematic Chaos" is the worst of the albums in the bands entire discography with a average rating of 72% (best album in the same site is "Awake" that has the rating 93%). That statistics is nothing that really surprise me since "Systematic Chaos" is more "modern" metal than progressive or heavy and the commercialism over the album is about as high as it was on "Falling Into Infinity". A couple of proofs of the increased commercial approach on this record is that this was the first album from Dream Theater released by Roadrunner Records (a band that in present days have contracts with Nickelback, Stone Sour and Avenged Sevenfold) and the band made its first music video in over ten years (the video was for an edited version of "Constant Motion"). But I am not going to talk more on how others thought of "Systematic Chaos", this is what I thought about this album.

Starting off "Systematic Chaos" is the first part of the song "In The Presence of Enemies", a piece that in its entirety is 25 minutes long but is split into two songs with the lengths 9 and 16 minutes. The total song is a progressive masterpiece with heavy, fast, slow and melodic parts in each and every corner. It is an exciting song that has a easy to follow flow and has a ability to get a good grip at the listener. Even though this is as close to a perfect song as you can get I still feel that Dream Theater should not have made it into two parts and definitely not put the parts as the first and last song on "Systematic Chaos".

After the first part of the second longest song ever created by the band we have "Forsaken". This is probably the most commercially appealing song the band has made in over a decade and it is no wonder that this song was released as a single (even though it was not the first single from this album). If it was not for the beautiful musicality I would probably just shrug this song of me and move on. The chorus is not lifting the way I want it to and the overall song is not impressive. But it is the production and the musicality that makes this song better than it should have been. Well it will do. The first single from this album is "Constant Motion". A pretty odd choice for a first single since it is a song that is not typical Dream Theater. But this is my favourite song in this album because it has a great speed and beat that actually fits the band like a glove. Then we also have the dark and epic chorus that is getting accompanied with a simple but oh so effective guitar riff pattern. But the absolute best part of the song is the guitar and keyboard solo where the complete madness kicks in and your head is going into overdrive. So "Constant Motion" is a very welcome irregularity in Dream Theaters song catalog.

Otherwise from the three previously mentioned songs, there is nothing really impressive on "Systematic Chaos". Sure, "The Dark Eternal Night" has its great moments and "The Ministry of Lost Souls" is not a horrible 15 minute song but the remaining songs on this record is either boring or a song that the band has previously done better. The only really interesting is that several great artists such as Joe Satriani, Corey Taylor, Mikael Åkerfeldt, Steve Vai and more is lending a couple of words on the song "Repentance" (which is a part of Mike Portnoy's Twelve-step Suite, a collection of songs about Mike's struggles with alcohol). And another thing, the mix between modern rock a la Muse and a disco intro (from the song "Prophets of War") is admirable but not something I would want the band to keep doing. So yeah, the second half of "Systematic Chaos" is more or less fillers.

So is my view on "Systematic Chaos" the same as it was on Metal Archives? No, I do not think this album is the worst that the band has released but it is certainly no among the top of the discography. The gap between high and low is unusually big which in turn leads to an uneven album. But "Systematic Chaos" has it moments and with a little luck this album could have been a future classic but it also could have been a total ship wreck.

Songs worthy of recognition: Constant Motion, In The Presence of Enemies

Rating: 6,5/10 Dark Eternal Nights

dreamtheater.net/
twitter.com/dreamtheaternet

More reviews of Dream Theater
When Dream And Day Unite
Images And Words
Awake
Falling Into Infinity
Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Train of Thought
Octavarium
Black Clouds & Silver Linings
A Dramatic Turn of Events
S/T
The Astonishing

Distance Over Time