1174. Gamma Ray / Somewhere Out in Space. 1997. 5/5

By the later years of the 1990’s, Gamma Ray had firmly ensconced themselves as one of the leaders of the power metal movement throughout Europe, through constant touring and a developing strength in the material that they were writing and recording as each album came out. It had also come with a constant shift in band members, with each album having a different set of players in the group. Band founder, former Helloween co-founder Kai Hansen had been the mainstay, though even his role had changed. Initially just playing as a guitarist, he had returned to the dual role of guitarist and lead singer for the band’s previous album “Land of the Free”, the album that cemented them as one of the greats of the genre. It brought back wonderful memories of the early Helloween albums where he had filled the same role. Alongside him was Dirk Schlachter, who had been the second guitarist for the band through those years. Dirk however had always been more fond of the bass guitar, and on the previous album the plan had been for him to return to that instrument, and have the bass guitarist Jan Rubach swap on to guitar, but Jan had changed his mind and not wanted to change. After the recording of “Land of the Free” both he and drummer Thomas Nack left Gamma Ray to return to their previous band. This allowed Dirk to move onto his preferred bass guitar, and they brough in the smiling assassin Henjo Richter to play as the second guitarist. Following the tour, Dan Zimmermann was recruited to play on drums. This was the foursome that went on to record “Somewhere Out in Space”, and they remained unchanged as a group for the next 15 years.
Following on the full concept album that “Land of the Free” had been, “Somewhere Out in Space” is a themed album rather than a concept story line. The majority of the songs on this album concentrate on the theme of outer space, but without a common thread throughout. It allowed the album to be full of songs that are strong on their own without them having to blend into the next. It also has writing contributions from all four members, allowing it to be a complete band compilation rather than having Kai doing the majority of the writing and it being like a solo album. The fact that the songs still combine so well with both the theme of the album and the musical flow is the perfect attribution as to why this form of the band blended together so well and then remained together for such a length of time.

From the outset, the album announces itself as going along the same path that Gamma Ray had trodden along with their previous album. It’s a nice intro for both Dirk and Dan to have the bass and drums open the album with their own start to the first song, before crashing into the opening riff, a way of announcing their place in the band. Dan’s amazing double kick is evident from the start, something that not only drives this album but those following for the next decade or so. “Beyond the Black Hole” is a brilliant opening track, full of wonderful riffs and solos and great singalong lyrics about searching deep space for what may lie beyond, that set the album off on the right foot. “Men, Martians & Machines” follows on in perfect fashion, even utilising those five tones at the start of the song that are synonymous with the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and the absurd soaring scream from Kai to remind everyone he can still do so with the best of them. It’s another song that flies along at great pace, utilising the best that Gamma Ray has always offered, that wonderful combination of the rise of power metal and the speed metal that Kai also pioneered back in his early Helloween days. “No Stranger (Another Day in Life)” is a song that Kai initially wrote for Michael Kiske, his former bandmate in Helloween, to use on his then solo album. Kiske, as was his fashion at the time, having basically turned his back on the metal scene, said that the song was ‘too heavy’ for him to use and so he rejected it. This just allowed Kai to use it here, and it fits in perfectly with the album theme and style.
The title track is a ripper, and has become a mainstay of the live set in the years since this album was released. The song is the band’s tribute to the science fiction series ‘Star Trek’. But it’s the amazing riffs and soaring vocals here that are the winner. The dual solos through the middle of the song are just exquisite, and the amazing end to the song is up there with the best moments of the band, with the power and the emotionally charged ending... it is just superb. This is followed by the Henjo Richter written “The Guardians of Mankind”, another great song driven along by Dan’s double kick drumming. I love how, lyrically, this song is not as positive about the outcome of the human race, that it openly questions just what we are doing, and that the Guardians of the human race are losing their faith and their battle against evil. Another excellent song with the guitars through the middle just beautifully in synch.
“The Landing” and “Valley of the Kings”, which tells the story of the arrival of aliens on earth thousands of years ago and how the inhabitants felt about them, became the single released from the album, one that did well in the European markets. It has the simplified song pieces that is almost a lesson in how to write a single 101, while retaining the integrity of the music about it. These first six songs on the album are the absolute strength of the band, and show all facets of what makes this band so brilliantly marvellous in every respect.
“Pray” is Dirk’s tome piece that also looks at the desolate stage of the human race, about the loss of hope of saving humans from extinction. “The Winged Horse” is Henjo’s song that is based around mythology more than space, of his magician and titular winged white horse being the opposite forces of good and evil. Following Dan’s drum solo’s song “Cosmic Chaos”, Dirk’s “Lost in the Future” then chimes in to again sell both sides of any argument that travelling through time is a clever place to be.
“Watcher in the Sky” is a song that Kai wrote and played on for the band Iron Savior with his mate Piet Sielck, an album that was reviewed here on this podcast just a couple of months ago in Season 2. As the Iron Savior project was a concept piece about science fiction and space, and this album is also themed that way, it isn’t a surprise that Kai chose to have it on this album as well. This is the same version, with Kai, Piet and Thomas Staunch playing on it, and not the Gamma Ray members. The album then concludes with the instrumental intro of “Rising Star” than segues into Dirk’s “Shine On”, a terrific song to bring the album to its natural end. It follows the same theory that “Valley of the Kings” does, that extraterrestrial life visited Earth long before and planted the seeds of mankind. There is also the obligatory ‘bonus track’ that CDs had become fashionable at this time, with the band doing a ripping version of Uriah Heep’s “Return to Fantasy”.
It would be easy to suggest that the first half of the album sounds much stronger and more brilliant, with faster paced songs and greater emphasis on the guitars, because it contains songs mostly written by Kai Hansen, while Dirk and Henjo produced almost all of the material in the second half. Personally I see it as different rather than a pervading sense of brilliance. Is it noticeable that the styes of the songs are different with the writers involved, but doesn’t make them any less Gamma Ray than any others.

I can be very easily upfront in admitting that I am a massive fan of Gamma Ray, and the chances of you hearing me say anything bad about any of their albums would be as close to zero as you could possibly imagine. And this album is no different. I was on this as soon as it was released, having played “Land of the Free” to death over the previous two years. Like most new albums, I always felt as though I was going to expect too much of this album, and be disappointed as a result. All of that went out the window within about thirty seconds of the opening track beginning. It stayed in my stereo at home in one of the five CD slots for a year. The cassette copy for the car went around and around for months. When I went to England for a month the following year I took five CDs with me to listen to on the trip. This was one of those CDs. When I was getting back into drumming and needed practice on the double kick, this was the album I TRIED to drum along to. 1997 was a lean year for the metal that I loved and listened to. Alternative albums, yes. But the old bands I listened to had changed or died off, and I was still a late convert to the newer forms of metal that were coming out of the US. So I guess I grabbed on to this for dear life, as it was familiar, and as it turns out, one of my all time favourite bands, so it all worked out ok.
When it comes to Gamma Ray, I think “Land of the Free” is still the absolute benchmark. Beyond that, there are up to six albums that sit on the rung that is just so very slightly below that, and “Somewhere Out in Space” is definitely one of those. The high voltage speed and energy that come from tracks like “Beyond the Black Hole”, “Men, Martians & Machines”, “Somewhere Out in Space” and “Valley of the Kings” in particular makes it an album that provides everything that Gamma Ray can offer. And the musicianship is second to none, with each member providing their own brilliance. And when you see them perform live, as I was so fortunate enough to do back in 2006 at the Gaelic Club in Sydney, you understand just how good they are.