Helloween - Gambling With The Devil

When a group has been around for over two decades it's unlikely they are going to radically change. There will be subtle variations and shifts and focuses on different elements, but the core sound is intact. Helloween has built their trademark sound and has had a ton of success over the years, so why mess with what works?

Helloween's latest is Gambling With The Devil, one of their strongest efforts in quite a while. It's straight ahead power metal, and a little heavier and streamlined than their past couple albums. The songs are extremely well-written and everything flows very well. The atmosphere is upbeat, and in addition to the excellent guitar work of Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner, the songs are really catchy and memorable. Tracks like "As Long As I Fall" are compact and radio friendly, and are contrasted with longer more epic songs like "The Saints."

Making the album even better is the performance of Andi Deris. These are his strongest vocals in quite a while. They have power, range, texture and emotion. Even after over twenty years and a dozen albums, Gambling With The Devil shows Helloween still has some gas left in the tank.