Helloween - Gambling With The DevilSteamhammer / SPV (2007)
The album title, "Gambling With The Devil", is definitely programmatic. “At the end of the day, life is like a gamble with the devil”, vocalist Andi Deris reckons. The man knows what he’s talking about: Like few other Metal acts, Helloween have survived the many crazes and trends the music business has produced, using each new experience to approach their next challenge with new strength. Backed by the impetus of their successful "Keeper Of The Seven Keys – The Legacy" world tour, which saw the band perform 93 shows in 34 countries all over the world (impressively documented on the double DVD, Live On 3 Continents), the five musicians, Andi Deris, Michael Weikath (guitars), Sascha Gerstner (guitars), Markus Großkopf (bass) and Dani Löble (drums), set about recording the twelfth Helloween studio album, "Gambling With The Devil". The release of one of the most dynamic and mature offerings in the band’s history has been scheduled for October 26. “The fans’ positive reactions and the great responses to "Keeper Of The Seven Keys – The Legacy" really inspired us. We were rearing to go”, Andi Deris remembers. “It’s been years since I had so much fun composing.”
"Gambling With The Devil" is filled with haunting melodies, driving rhythms, virtuoso guitar solos and other typical Helloween trademarks, perfectly directed by producer Charlie Bauerfeind at the Mi Sueno studios in Tenerife. At the same time, the band has continued to develop, frequently surprising with progressive orchestrations and arrangements that have their finger unmistakably on the pulse of the times. “It’s all a question of self-confidence”, confesses Deris, whose contemporary and multi-faceted songwriting is a perfect match for the compositions of his colleagues, Weikath, Großkopf and Gerstner, without leaving the established framework of melodic Metal.
16 new tracks were completed, 11 of which – plus the intro – have made it onto the regular version of "Gambling With The Devil". Two more will be included in the album’s more lavish limited edition, among them the first single release, "As Long As I Fall", a catchy tune par excellence. At the centre of the album is a trilogy, aptly referred to by Deris as the “trinity”, a critical appraisal of a lack of ideologies and proliferation of blind obedience, consisting of the progressive "The Bells Of The 7 Hells", the slightly more sedate "Fallen To Pieces" and the rhythmically demanding "I.M.E.". Then there are typical Helloween numbers such as "Paint A New World", "The Saints" and "Can Do It", which fascinate with their speed and catchiness. Another highlight is "Heaven Tells No Lies", which has Helloween venture into Queen spheres. The album starts with the intro, "Crack The Riddle", featuring Biff Byford (Saxon) as a guest speaker and a reference to the scratch card puzzle in the booklet. A concert ticket for the band’s impending tour of South America, including flight and accommodation, awaits the lucky winner.
Helloween’s Europan Hellish Rock tour, accompanied by Gamma Ray, is scheduled to start in mid-November 2007 and already has the experts click their tongues. Apart from a few festival appearances, this will be the first joint tour by Helloween and Gamma Ray. So here’s hoping that Gamma Ray mastermind Kai Hansen, a former Helloween member himself, will join his ex-colleagues in a jam session featuring Helloween classics. Together with the album release at the end of October, the final months of 2007 will be marked by non-stop highlights from the Helloween camp.
Track Listing
01 Crack The Riddle (Intro)
02 Kill It
03 The Saints
04 As Long As I Fall
05 Paint A New World
06 Final Fortune
07 The Bells Of The 7 Hells
08 Fallen To Pieces
09 I.M.E.
10 Can Do It
11 Dreambound
12 Heaven Tells No Lies
Disc 2
01 Find My Freedom (Japan Bonus Track)
02 See The Night (Bonus track)
03 As Long As I Fall - video (enhanced)
04 EPK (enhanced)
