Written by zarakkazak on 04.01.2011 at 11:40

A total deception...the only valid track is are you metal?, the rest is pure shit...I don't know why it is so seriously overrated...

Written by jimmy on 06.01.2011 at 12:54

Great album. helloween's my favorite band and this album surprised even me. i thought GAMBLING WITH THE DEVIL was a great album and i thought it might be hard to top that one but they did. they blew it out of the water. it's fast, heavy, melodic....all the things that good metal should be. the riffs on this one are awesome, along with the drumming. it' just monstrous.
this is definately one of the best albums of the year. certainly better than the abysmal new iron maiden or the lackluster new halford album.
and for those of you who say it sounds terrible in your car.....maybe its time to update the old car stereo. or maybe adjust the EQ or turn the bass down or something. i played it in the car and it sounded fantastic. and this is in a car with a 5 year old stereo system.

Written by jimmy on 06.01.2011 at 12:54

or maybe adjust the EQ or turn the bass down or something.

Written by skrätte on 05.01.2011 at 17:42

I gave up on Helloween after The Keepers. They depressed me. But after reading all of the comments comparing The Keepers with 7 Sinners, I think it's time to give them another try.

Written by Angelic Storm on 07.01.2011 at 13:28

Its really nothing like the Keepers, so if you go into listening to it expecting to sound like that, you'll be very disappointed. "The Time Of The Oath" is far closer stylistically to the Keeper albums than "7 Sinners" which is much more modern sounding. It is a very good album, but its really nothing like the Keeper albums.

Written by skrätte on 07.01.2011 at 17:11
What I was looking for was dynamics, diversity, and musicianship.. and 7 Sinners delivered on all 3. The things that really characterized Keepers I and II for me were the dynamics, the darkness, and Michael Kiske. I absolutely loved his voice with this band. Still, that didn't save my opinion of them when Pink Bubbles Go Ape came out. After Chameleon, I just gave up and was content to preserve my fond memories in the Keepers. To be honest, I've not listened to anything with Andi Deris at the helm until 7 Sinners.. and I am thoroughly impressed.

I take that back, I did listen to Keepers: Legacy. Didn't care for it, but I was expecting a Keeper, Part III. Maybe I am too critical of Helloween because they're one of those bands I started listening to that, as a young metalhead, really shaped my opinion of music. I played Keepers I so much that I wore out 2 cassettes. Eventually, got the CD (mind you, this was the early 90's).

Quote:
Gonna have to check out some of the Deris suggestions mentioned here. Time of the Oath, definitely. Thanks for the input on that one.

Written by Vikcen on 07.01.2011 at 11:40

Written by jimmy on 06.01.2011 at 12:54

or maybe adjust the EQ or turn the bass down or something.

This is the key, if you have EQ.

Written by jimmy on 10.01.2011 at 11:51

Written by Vikcen on 07.01.2011 at 11:40

Written by jimmy on 06.01.2011 at 12:54

or maybe adjust the EQ or turn the bass down or something.

This is the key, if you have EQ.

well most stereo systems have SOME form of EQ. there's always some way to adjust the sound of whats coming out of it. thats what i meant.

Written by Ellrohir on 30.12.2010 at 01:22

I say this particular album is seriously overrated...

Written by Guest on 04.02.2011 at 11:38

What's with the piss-poor production? Seriously, it hurts my ears...the horrible production totally takes off the shine off the music. Had it been better produced I would have liked it more...

Written by Empyror on 06.02.2011 at 04:03

I love this album and had it been a different year perhaps, it would have been my pick for power metal album of the year. There was just too much good power metal released this year for this to be the best. Strong releases from Gamma Ray, Allen/Lande, Kamelot, (despite the shit people have been giving it) Yngwie, Masterplan, Seven Kingdoms, Revolution Renaisance. While Angra(again, not sure why some are giving it shit), Avantasia, Blind Guardian, Dark Moor, Freedom Call, and Rhapsody all put out some of the best albums of their careers. My favorites off this album are "Who Is Mr. Madman" "World Of Fantasy" and "The Sage, The Fool, The Sinner."

Written by Empyror on 06.02.2011 at 04:03

Strong releases from Gamma Ray

Written by Empyror on 07.02.2011 at 03:05

@ Vikcen/ Thanks for the Ancient Bards suggestion. I listened to the songs they had on myspace and thought it was really good. It seems inevitable that because they are Italian they are compared with Rhapsody, but it reminded me of Dark Moor, especially their older stuff when Elisa Martin was in the band.

Written by Empyror on 07.02.2011 at 03:05

@RavenKing/ I'll admit that it is by far not the best album in their catalogue, but I don't think it's the worst either. I like it better than all the Scheepers albums. I think those albums had some killer songs on them here and there but overall despite those two being power metal gods, just didn't have alot of great songs together. I will also admit that I was dissapointed with this release at first because it wasn't exactly what I expected. There are some weak tracks like the title track and "No Need To Cry" but I really like the rest of the album, especially "Empathy" and "All You Need To Know" feat. the almighty Kiske. I liked the cover art well enough. Title definitely sucked though with the song. As for lyrics, I would never listen to a Gamma Ray album, or most power metal, for the lyrics as they are usually pretty bad. Love the Kai Hansen love you have though. He is one of my idols and while our opinions differ on this album, it seems like we agree on a lot of other ones. At least your opinions seem like educated ones. Hopefully he can redeem himself to you in the future.

Written by Angelic Storm on 07.02.2011 at 09:19

I prefer "Majestic" to both LOTF II and "To The Metal". I think it's probably their most underrated album, and most of the material on it is great. At least to my ears. lol

The Ralf era I feel is a very neglected one overall by most Gamma Ray fans, and I have to say, that I enjoy a lot of the stuff from the first 3 albums. I also think a lot of the songs that Ralf originally sang on, like "Tribute To The Past", and especially "The Silence", sound inferior when Kai sings them. Id actually like one day for Ralf to get up on stage with Gamma Ray, and sing on a tune or two with them again. I certainly like the Ralf era a lot.

Written by GroundZero on 31.05.2011 at 06:00

Markus wrote some of the best songs in this album. He rarely write something, but he surprise us when doing it.

Helloween's member changing has been a big problem to the band. Since Kiske, who is an amazing singer, but he pretended to make of Helloween a pop rock band or something like that. I don't know why Gamma Ray, Avantasia and others continue inviting him to be part of the metal scene when he hates heavy metal.

Also, the Hansen's departure left a big gap in the band, he was an essential Helloween member.

With Deris the band started to raise again (musically talking), and Roland Grapow took a primordial role in the band as a player and songwriter, but when "The Dark Ride" appeared there was something (perhaps the darkness?) in the album that disagree to Weikath (the band leader) and he decided to fire Grapow and Kusch (Who wrote Escalation 666), leaving the band again in poor conditions.

Then, they launched first "Rabbit don't come Easy", later "Keeper Legacy" and finally "Gambling with the Devil", which are not very good albums and are comparable to Pink Bubbles Go Ape and Chameleon.

Finally, "7 Sinners", an excellent album, recall us why Helloween is one of the best power metal bands ever.

Written by Metal Invader on 31.05.2011 at 15:32

i agree with 7 sinners but i dont know who compares Gamling with Pink and Chameleon..i think that Gambling is much much much better then those 2 albums..even if you dont like it imo is not comparable with them..