Helloween – Straight Out Of Hell

“Straight Out Of Hell” is finally out. The most anticipated Helloween album for me in years. As I have stated in my review on the “Burning Sun (EP)” I was amazed by the new songs, after a long time that Helloween kept disappointing me music wise. I do not know if the new album refers to die hard fans or not but one thing’s certain: it is the best album they have written since “The Dark Ride“. Recorded and mixed with producer Charlie Bauerfeind at Mi Sueno Studios in Tenerife, “Straight Out Of Hell” fits the standards of the band’s sound and its cover artwork was created by Martin Häusler.

It begins with “Nabataea”, which is a song that refers to an ancient kingdom in North Arabia and its edited version was the first video to promote the new album. Second track is called “World Of War” and is definitely one of the best songs of the album and starts like a classic Helloween song but then comes a djent type riff and blows your mind.

In this point I would like to mention the fantastic job that Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner did both in rhythm and lead guitars as well as Markus Grosskopf’s incredible bass lines and Dani Loble‘s awesome drumbeats on rhythm section. “Live Now!” differs musically from the rest of the album while songs like “Far From The Stars”, “Burning Sun”, “Make Fire Catch The Fly”, “Years” or title track “Straight Out Of Hell” are typical Helloween power metal songs with catchy choruses and combine all the elements that they are known for.

“Waiting For The Thunder” is kind of a hit-song and sounds like a heavier version of “If I Could Fly” and “Hold Me In Your Arms” is a great ballad that may not be comparable to songs like “A Tale That Wasn’t Right” but still remains a good song.

Andi Deris seems that hasn’t aged at all after all these years. His voice sounds better than ever accompanied by Olaf Senkbeil and Billy King on backing vocals. Matthias ‘Matz’ Ulmer’s majestic keyboard parts complete the band’s perfect sound. “Wanna Be God” is a song dedicated to Freddie Mercury and “Asshole” is a humor song that highlights the funny side of Helloween while pointing out annoying personalities. “Church Breaks Down” is yet another great song that closes the album with full guns blazing.

German, European and US Limited editions feature two bonus tracks, “Another Shot Of Life” and “Burning Sun (Hammond Version)” which is a song dedicated to “Jon Lord” and the Japanese version includes “No Eternity” and “Burning Sun (Hammond Version)”.

The pumpkins are back, with the will to shake up the metal community with their new album, and in my opinion they succeed. So, if are you a fan of their music and still haven’t heard the album, stop reading the review and go right away and buy this album.