Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Gambling With the Devil / Helloween (2007)


1. Crack the Riddle
2. Kill It
3. The Saints
4. As Long As I Fall
5. Paint a New World
6. Final Fortune
7. The Bells of the 7 Hells
8. Fallen to Pieces
9. I.M.E.
10. Can Do It
11. Dreambound
12. Heaven Tells No Lies

After Andi joined the band, Helloween became a different band. Of course, they are the pioneer of Melodic Power Metal band. That status never changed. However, his pop essences and ability as a singer brought much influence in this band. I am not hear to talk about which singer was better than the other. As I mentioned before, they are completely different, and we cannot say one is better. All I want to say is that, this album could be sung only by Andi. He can do dirty scream, high tone, and sometimes even growling voice. He contributed 5 songs out of 12. As a result, this album became full of Andi taste. 

1. Crack the Riddle
Opening Narration

2. Kill It
A brutal tune. It reminds me of "Push" from "Better Than Raw". It is a great opening number. I realized that Andi has been one to write the most (Helloween style) brutal songs in recent albums. 

3. The Saints
A typical Weiki's song. It has a good flowing melody on chorus.

4. As Long As I Fall
A good Andi style pop metal song. This song was also released as a single.

5. Paint a new world
Another strong power metal number written by Sascha. This one was also released as a single. 

6. Final Fortune
From last album, I really like the songs that Markus. This song is my favorite song in this album.

7. The Bell of the 7 Hells
Starts with intense verses and goes to catchy chorus. You can see all attraction of Andi as a singer in this song.

8. Fallen to Pieces
First, you would think this song is a ballad. In some sense, you can say that, but the song has good progression during the middle of it. A dramatic tune.

9. I.M.E.
Andi's writings line up three in row. This is heavy but has good pop essence as well.

10. Can Do It
Weiki only contributed two songs, but they both ended up typical Helloween songs that fans expect. Track 3 was a power metal song, and this one shows the pop side of this band.

11. Dreambound
Another fast tune written by Sascha. Since the beginning of his joint, Sascha has been a good composer of this band (I am pretty sure other members help him with arrangement). He became another pillar of this band's creativity.

12. Hell Tells No Lies
Another great song written by Markus. He and Weiki have been the carriers of the legacy of Helloween in recent albums. 

☆☆☆☆