2013’s ‘Straight Out Of Hell’ showed a band looking back to their legacy as they approached their 30th anniversary. From the cover art bringing the pumpkin back front and centre for the first time in too long, and then from opener “Nabatea” all the way through to “Church Breaks Down”, here was a band pushing forward but also firmly remembering where they had come from. This line-up had come together in 2005, and had been recording and touring ever since, and by now they were firmly gelling, not quite back to where they had been at the pinnacle of their career, but certainly this shows a band determined not to slow down and become an anachronism.

There are times when they appear to be taking a leaf from countrymen Rage’s playbook, with some orchestral keyboards having solid impact, but it is never overplayed and works to add to the proceedings as opposed to replacing the guitars which along with Andi’s vocals are always front and centre. “World of War” is a great example of this with some superb solos, great riffs throughout, and plenty going on. This move back to an earlier style, combined with strong commerciality and symphonic elements, along with great vocals, shows a band refusing to grow old gracefully, even bringing in down tuned and groove elements when the time is right. Mind you, the use of a voice box does make me both smile and think of Peter Frampton when I hear it. To my ears they were somewhat treading water with ‘7 Sinners’, while they were flat on the seabed for ‘Unarmed’, yet this one shows them again making progress and being a dominant force in metal. It is good to have the remastered versions of all these albums available again, but if you are only going to seek out one of then it has to be this one.

Rating: 8/10

Links:
https://www.helloween.org/
https://www.nuclearblast.de/en/