Another Helloween album that splits my mind in two during the first listenings! Yes, that's what happens whenever the new Helloween platter is out. Every single time. Usually those few negative feelings start to turn towards positive with repeated listenings, but how happened with this, the band's 12th studio album?

On 'Gambling with the Devil' Helloween have included many of those elements they've utilized on their earlier albums, and now I'm not talking only about Andi Deris era. There are both darker and joyful atmospheres present, and in Helloween's case the dark is just quite colorful itself... 'The Dark Ride' (2000) is the band's darkest album to date, atmosphere-wise, and I remember reading some interview around its release, that original guitarist Michael Weikath never wanted to do such a dark album again. Well, ladies and gentlemen, here it is! Well, kind of, because there are more joyful bits than on 'The Dark Ride'.

After pretty good and mood-setting intro, 'Kill It' opens the album with crushing heaviness and unstoppable drive. It's also hellishly catchy. And surprising. These traits play huge role throughout the album. The song is the band's heaviest work to date, but also includes some soundtrackish elements to grow it into a short epic. 'The Saints' is about good ol' heavy metal with Helloween-ish cheer. 'As Long as I Fall' is the single-cut and what it means, is that the song is simply absolutely catchy. While it is calmer than the previous tracks, it packs some surprises too, e.g. long guitar solo part. 'Paint a New World' is true speed metal with loads of shredding stuff in it! 'Final Fortune' mixes darker side and Abba-style piano melodies. Now we've reached the midway of the album, at least if counting the tracks.

The second half of the album starts fantastically with 'The Bells of the 7 Hells', a dark and adventurous epic in under 5 and a half minutes. Balladish 'Fallen to Pieces', with its 70's synth work, enlarges into orchestral amplitudes. 'I.M.E.' is a straight heavy metal rocker, and about in time too! It proves that sometimes less is more. Easily the weakest song, 'Can Do It', is nauseatingly cheerful piece of crap, even more so than nauseating enough 'The Game Is on'. Actually the song sounds like Finnish girl band Tik-Tak's! I am not joking here, even though I wish i was... 'Dreambound' takes things back on the track with typical fast Helloween piece with another catchy-as-heck chorus and some Ritchie Blackmore style guitar work. The band have always been masters of the closers, and 'Heaven Tells no Lies' is no exception. It is the biggest song here.

There are so many moods and styles presented on the album, but still it feels "one", not scattered like 'Chameleon' (1993) or even 'Keeper of the Seven Keys - The Legacy' (2005). This time around there's only one song, that in my opinion does not fit on the album at all. 'Can Do It', no can do it, man...

The band sound awesome effortlessly. Andi Deris has become more diverse as a vocalist, he's even doing a few growls here, but he also sings better. Also, his voice is stronger. His raspiness always make me think of ex-Iron Maiden voice Paul Di'Anno, but Andi's voice is much wider in register. There are huge backing vocal choir at times, as is relevant. When such name as Biff Byford (Saxon) guests on an album, you'd expect to hear him singing, but he only does some spoken words on the intro. The players treat their instruments heavy-handedly. This might well include the heaviest and most shredding guitar playing since the debut. Messrs Weikath and Sascha Gerstner must have their fingers few bits shorter after recording this, so brutal (yes, you read right!) some riffs are. The solos are thought to the core to entertain every metal freak. Bassmaster Markus Grosskopf's playing is, if not similar, but as lively as Steve Harris', so no single boring moment here. Drummer Dani Löble is known from his straight, wood-chopping style, which is heard here a lot, but he does some amazing technical stuff every now and then. For once power metal sounds truly powerful!

This takes us to the production job. Charlie Bauerfeind's style is sometimes a bit too artificial, which can be heard in drums' sounds. As it was meant to be loud, it is bloody loud! Sometimes the fantastic guitar work gets eclipsed by the loud drums, most notably on the chorus of 'The Bells of the 7 Hells' where one can hear some fantastic fast melodies, but just barely. Also, sometimes the music sounds like overpacked with sounds. There are a lot of synthesizers, which can be anything from piano to choirs and to orchestral sounds, sometimes in leading part, sometimes behind the other elements so it's hard to notice.

There is no real concept behind the lyrics, except "gambling with the devil" is the ongoing theme. On this album there are some of the best lyrics from the band. Another computerized image on the cover... Which isn't too bad, but other graphics are nicer to examine. The design really sets the mood for the music, which I think is quite an important aspect.

'Gambling with the Devil' needed some spinning to really start hitting its nails in. After 2 and a half years after its release, it's so spinnable album. This is so enjoyable with great music, attacking sound and immortal Helloween spirit. Dare to gamble?

Update (12-15-2019): This album is absolutely strong! My original score 8½ isn't bad, but I think it is a tad low. I think this album is one of the strongest efforts from Helloween, ever. Score raised up a bit. Also awarded with classic status from "honorary mention" (after 5 years since a release came out, it can get a "classic" stamp, not before). - Lane

Rating: 9½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
02/23/2010 21:47