Tag Archives: Kai Hansen

Serious Black – As Daylight Breaks

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Well, that’s shut me well and truly the fuck up

(You wish…)

It’s apt to begin a commentary on a release from one ex-Helloween guitarist (Roland Grapow) with reference to the man he succeeded in the pumpkin-obsessed kings of Power Metal, one Kai Hansen, who titled the third Gamma Ray album Insanity & Genius (Noise) and referenced in the lyrics how thin the line between the two is. Well, the line between generic and uninteresting pap and Power Metal Glory is even thinner, perhaps as thin as the hair-line on Herr Hansen’s fivehead these days. But with As Daylight Breaks (Nuclear Blast) Serious Black (contenders for best new band name – certainly best Harry Potter themed one) have released a debut that is so far over the line on the side of quality, the line is a dot to them (answers on a postcard if you get that reference).

Having written off Power Metal in my mind as a genre that, no matter how well its composite parts could be put together, was done, creatively redundant and in the type of artistic morass that Death Metal found itself in for twenty years, nevertheless, like the child poking the disembowelled frog with a stick and hoping for some twitch or reaction, with morbid curiosity I find myself drawn to it. See, when Power Metal is on it, there’s very little better for invigorating the mind and soul. And Grapow’s latest offering slapped me round the chops, leaving me with a fiendish grin, a rediscovered  enthusiasm for the genre and a frog named Lazarus.

The brainchild of Grapow and former Visions of Atlantis bassist Mario Lochert, with the rhythm section rounded out by former Blind Guardian tub thumper Thomen Stauch, Serious Black absolutely nail everything that is joyous about Power Metal infused hard rock, from the driving opening pair of ‘I Seek No Other Life’ and the simply massive ‘High And Low’ through to the theatre-y and slightly camp closing ‘Older and Wiser’.

The band is led by the underrated and under-celebrated vocal talents of former Tad Morose pipes, Urban breed who avoids being one of a million Kiske-clean wannabes by injecting power and tone; at times channelling Jon Oliva, particularly on the keys led title-track, at others Mike Howe (Metal Church), and able to carry a faster verse alongside the ubiquitous sizeable choruses.

Musically, you can bandy about names such as Kamelot (‘Akhenation’), Within Temptation (the uptempo rock romp of ‘Trail of Murder’), Savatage, Stratovarius, and Sonata Arctica if you like; there definite elements of Blind Guardian and Helloween,  and that’s absolutely fine, as Serious Black sit as a kind of summation of all that “is” from the polished end of Power Metal.

As Daylight Breaks benefits from a great, full, vibrant production and above all exudes the sensation of a band really enjoying their work. As they rightly should. I once incorrectly tagged Grapow as a Janick Gers figure who had ruined one of my favourite bands. He well and truly proved me wrong – I even quite like Pink Bubbles Go Ape now, and I’m one of the few people on the planet who love Chameleon (both EMI) – and with Serious Black he’s done it again, proving as Edguy did with last years’ Space Police (Nuclear Blast) that, when done well, Power Metal can be fulfilling rompy-pompy.

 

7.5/10

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STEVE TOVEY


Gamma Ray – Empire Of The Undead

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Kai Hansen almost single-handedly (OK, double-handedly – it’s quite hard to play the guitar with one hand) invented Power Metal as we know and love it today, being the guiding force behind Helloween’s legendary Walls of Jericho (for the thrashier power metal) and Keeper Of The Seven Keys I and II (for all other non-US power metals) tour de forces. In terms of style, since Land Of The Free Gamma Ray have sat firmly between the two, imparting both classics (Somewhere Out In Space, No World Order) and less-than-vital releases (Land Of The Free II, To The Metal).

Like death, taxes, and Max Cavalera dropping names as frequently as you or I drop off the kids, there’s an inevitability about Gamma Ray albums. You know they’re coming , you know exactly what they’re going to sound like and you know you’re going to get to play the #Neknomination rivalling potent drinking game of “Spot The Stolen Riff” (have a shot for each stolen riff on the last 6 Gamma Ray albums and see if you survive), and Empire Of The Undead (earMUSIC) is no different.

Opener ‘Avalon’ is a 9 minute microcosm of all things Gamma Ray. Strong, distinctive riffing, rousing vocals, a powerful chorus, excellent melodic lead-work, grand story-telling… and then some bits stolen from Iron Maiden (though plundering the Brave New World era is a new approach for Hansen). Elsewhere, it’s hard to ignore that ‘Master Of Confusion’ is a mash-up of two Helloween tracks – the Hansen-penned classic ‘I Want Out’ and the post-Hansen ‘Who Is Mr Madman?’ – or that ‘Time For Deliverance’, the obligatory piano ballad, is different words to Queen’s ‘We Are The Champions’. While Hansen may keep on fighting to the end (it’s impossible not to substitute the line), there are further lifts from Judas Priest’s ‘All Guns Blazing’ and his own ‘Future World’.

You may find this forgivable; their albums are always enjoyable, always reliable, and tracks like ‘Born To Fly’ with its massive chorus are certainly good Power Metal songs, but for every fiesty ‘Hellbent’ there’s a ploddy ‘Demonseed’, and, ultimately Empire Of The Undead is just A.N.Other Gamma Ray album, with all their usual high-points and failings.

Inevitable, really.

6/10

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STEVE TOVEY