Power metal is a much-maligned sub-genre of heavy metal; it’s known for being ridiculously over-the-top, full of swords-and-sorcery themes, and cheesier than a Swiss fondue. This is unfortunate, because the progenitors of the genre are true innovators, legends in their own time; the legion of imitators that they spawned, however, managed to reduce the genre down to a self-parody. Bands like GAMMA RAY, RUNNING WILD, and of course the legendary HELLOWEEN are still more than capable of showing all of the undeniably talented younger bands- CRYONIC TEMPLE, POWER QUEST, RHAPSODY OF FIRE, FREEDOM CALL, and so many others- how it’s done.

So it is with HELLOWEEN’S newest album, 2013’s “Straight Out of Hell”. This band has certainly seen its share of ups and downs. After creating the blueprint that everyone else would follow in the 1980s, they spent the first half of the 90s making a complete hash of things. It wasn’t until 1995 that they began to get back on track. Eighteen years later, they’re back where they have always belonged- at the top of the pile, joyfully and effortlessly showing everyone else how it’s done. The only other band that has this kind of influence and history is GAMMA RAY, and that’s because GAMMA RAY is headed by the great-granddaddy of power metal, the legendary Kai Hansen himself.

The new HELLOWEEN album has thirteen tracks of pure power metal badassery (15 if you got the limited edition, which I did). And I’m delighted to say that there isn’t a single bad track on the entire album. This album is far more consistent and enjoyable than the previous two, which were solid but not brilliant. This one, however, is their best album since “Keeper Pt 3”. It’s a full hour of power metal genius. This band sounds revitalised, happy, and full of energy, and it really shows in the music.

Things kick off with a needle-sharp hook that starts up the track, “Nabatea”, which is both catchy as hell and rather interesting lyrically, referencing the history of the ancient kingdom of Petra. I’m not exactly sure whether that history is accurate, but hey, it’s heavy metal, it’s all good fun. “World of War”  is just pure speed, showing off everything we all love HELLOWEEN for- power, precision, instrumental skill, and vocal histrionics. “Live Now” is one of those power metal anthems that HELLOWEEN does better than anyone else- think “Power” from The Time of the Oath and you’ve got the idea. “Far From the Stars” is, again, just pure power metal joy.

Then we get into the first truly brilliant track off the album- “Burning Sun”. This song is one of the best that HELLOWEEN has ever written. It’s about a lunatic who “just wants to be a spaceship and steer the ship to the Sun“. The trend continues with “Waiting for the Thunder”, a powerful melody-driven track with some real lyrical genius in it and phenomenal mid-paced drumming. The track “Hold Me in Your Arms” is one that only this band could pull off; most power metal bands make their ballads completely sappy and stupid, but these guys somehow manage to prevent these songs from descending into mawkish absurdity. The quirky humour that HELLOWEEN are known for makes itself felt in “Wanna Be God”, which is not only hilarious but catchy as f***. They successfully manage to avoid the silliness that tripped them up on albums like Pink Bubbles Go Ape and Chameleon

And then we get to the title track, which is flat-out genius. It’s mid-paced, lyrically brilliant, full of great melodies, and so catchy that the CDC will probably quarantine it at some point. This track, along with “Burning Sun” and the next track, “Asshole” (which is truly hilarious), is one that I cannot wait to hear live.

After this uninterrupted run of epic quality, we get to the tail end of the album where things get a little bit more mature. “Years” has lyrics that sound like they were written by a bona fide Red Pill addict. “Make Fire Catch the Fly” is a darker-sounding track that probably wouldn’t have been out of place on “The Dark Ride” album. The album (or at least, the standard edition) ends with “Church Breaks Down”, which is one of the more political (and frankly historically inaccurate) tracks that the band has written- basically about how the Church retards scientific progress in the name of God. This is pure nonsense, as anyone who actually knows anything about the Church would be able to tell you, but then my impression of songwriter/guitarist Sascha Gerstner is that he’s a bit of a liberal, so it’s not surprising.

Overall, the best songs are the ones written by the veteran songwriters of the band- Andi Deris, Michael Weikath, and of course Marcus Grosskopf, who wrote the entire title track and did a phenomenal job with it. If you got the limited edition, he also did a fantastic job with “Another Shot of Life”, another great mid-paced metal anthem that I cannot wait to hear played live. And things are nicely rounded out by a killer Hammond-organ-inflected version of “Burning Sun”, dedicated to the late, great Jon Lord.

I cannot recommend this album highly enough. I loved the last two albums, but they just didn’t grab me half as quickly or as easily as this album did. It’s a true return to form for one of the legends of this genre, and I’m seriously looking forward to the Hellish Rock tour later this year, when HELLOWEEN hits the road with GAMMA RAY for the second time in 5 years.

Verdict: 5/5, pure unadulterated genius

KILLER KUTS:

• Nabatea
• Burning Sun
• Waiting for the Thunder
• Wanna Be God
• Straight Out of Hell
• Years