422. Helloween / Gambling With The Devil. 2007. 4/5.

There was quite a bit of hype over the release of this album, with suggestions that Helloween were going to revert back to a darker, heavier style such as was found on The Dark Ride. A big call indeed, considering two members of the band left after that album, mainly because of its musical direction.
When this album first came out, I will admit to being taken in by the hype. Despite this, I felt it was a strong album, different again from the previous three albums. I wasn’t sure it was different in a good way or a bad way, but for my initial listening period I felt positive about it.
Come the time to relate and review for this project, and I had a slight double take. On numerous listenings, I found myself questioning my original judgement. Does this album really have the magical Helloween touch? This was difficult, because it is in my workplace, where it is not always possible to appreciate the music being played. So I put it in the car, and drove around, and also played it at home with my 5 year old and 2 year old daughters at a better level of volume. And I rediscovered what I was missing.

In places during the middle album, I feel myself singing along to a song – “As Long As I Fall” and “Can Do It” are the best examples - and I feel almost dirty, like when you start singing along to one of those daggy 1980’s songs that come on the radio, and you only know the words because you grew up with it. It’s an automatic reaction – “I shouldn’t like this!!” Perhaps that’s just me, but it scares me a little that I should feel that way about a song by Helloween. I haven’t done that since Chameleon, and we all know how that turned out.
Then we have songs such as “Paint A New World”, which has all the ingredients of a good metal song, but for some reason just doesn’t sit well with me – and I don’t know why. The chorus seems to annoy me.

That’s not to put all the songs down. “Kill It” is a heavy starter to the album, in a similar vein to “Mr Torture” on the aforementioned The Dark Ride, followed by the faster pace of “The Saints”, which sets a cracking start to the album.
The end of the album redeems any negative thoughts that have gone on earlier. “Dreambound” and “Heaven Tells No Lies” are probably my favourite songs on the album, with great dueling guitar breaks from both Gerstner and Weikath, and the best range of vocals from Deris.

Suffice to say, this is not the next The Dark Ride nor is it like any other Helloween album. It is a mixed bag, and as some people have commented, it probably lacks the consistency of other releases. Breaking the album down, you can see that. Taking the package as a whole, it is another high quality album from one of the best bands around.

Rating: Still at the top of their game and willing to gamble a little. 4/5.