Gamma Ray - To The Metal! review
| Band: | Gamma Ray |
| Album: | To The Metal! |
| Style: | Power metal |
| Release date: | January 29, 2010 |
| A review by: | Baz Anderson |
01. Empathy
02. All You Need To Know
03. Time To Live
04. To The Metal
05. Rise
06. Mother Angel
07. Shine Forever
08. Deadlands
09. Chasing Shadows
10. No Need To Cry
11. One Life [Japanese bonus]
12. Wannabees [7" bonus]
13. To The Metal [demo] [7" bonus]
+ DVD: The Making Of To The Metal [limited edition bonus]
Almost as if the band as a whole sustained some form of brain damage from some tragic and unforeseeable accident, Gamma Ray have not been themselves since 2001's great No World Order. The last two albums saw the band as mere shadows of themselves blatantly and obviously ripping off other bands, none more than Judas Priest.
A new year, a new decade, a new Gamma Ray. To The Metal is a huge step towards recovery from this hypothetical accident. Still, the band don't break any new barriers but the overall quality of songs is much higher than their previous two efforts. The songs flow better, there are more original ideas, the whole album seems less forced and more relaxed, almost a throw back to the band's glory times of the late nineties.
In general the first half of the album is the worst, ending with the criminal rip-off of Judas Priest's "Metal Gods" with the title track. The good news is that after the title track, the rest of the album is fantastic.
"All You Need To Know" is like stepping back in time with it's chorus featuring none other than Michael Kiske, and the last couple of "Shine Forever" and "Chasing Shadows" are Gamma Ray at the very best they have been for a decade. The band sound as if they are once again having fun with this half of the album, and it is a pleasure to hear coming from such a respected and influential band that just seemed to loose it with their last two studio albums.
To The Metal is still far from Gamma Ray at their tip top, and suspiciously comes from behind a slightly muffled production. This is without a doubt a leap in the right direction however, and reason to rejoice. By far the band's best effort since 2001, and a sign that the band still have some creative juices locked away. The first half of the album until the abomination of a title track can be effortlessly and without guilt put to one side. Gamma Ray can still deliver the magic in this day and age, and it can be found here on the second half of this otherwise variable but good album.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 5 |
Comments page 2 / 2
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| alexxhighlander Posts: 6 |
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| Lord_Regnier Posts: 1469  |
Written by Irritable Ted on 09.02.2010 at 21:56 Maybe not run out of talent but run out of inspiration. Since "No World Order", Gamma Ray's material is quite uninspired and their albums rather boring. But, let's face it, we could say the same about any other Powermetal band who started being active during the 90s or earlier. This genre has spawned the best it had years ago. I would go as far as saying this genre has spawned all the good it had. I think there's nothing good to expect from PM anymore. The genre has turned into a ridiculous joke.
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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| JÄY Metal slave Posts: 1567  |
Written by Lord_Regnier on 10.02.2010 at 16:19 sad, but true..erhhm, troo It sucks...i love power metal and i realize 90% of my favorite PM albums are from the 80/90's and the 00's are over! I have hope though..... a new generation will come in and reboot the genre
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| Warzsia Posts: 1 |
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| acidbasement Posts: 1 |
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| Epyon Posts: 10 |
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| Robstar Posts: 230  |
As sooI was really waiting to this album cause I really like gamma was waiting something more heavy riffs I'll give it a 7 not too bad not that great...
---- Nothing is unreacheable
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| jimmy Posts: 42 |
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| beyondtehdarksun Posts: 186  |
I consider myself a fan and I liked Majestic too, but LOTF2 sounded to me like that not a single idea for the whole record. I heard mostly positive reviews about the new one though, and I think it can be compared to Majestic in terms of quality.
---- "We are blind to the world within us, waiting to be born"
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675  |
Written by jimmy on 06.01.2011 at 14:05 Emm... "Sigh No More" probably has the worst rep of all Gamma Ray albums. Certainly in my experience of fellow Gamma Ray fans, this appears to be the case. There are even some who have the opinion that all of the Ralf era albums are inferior to all the ones that came afterwards. As for "Majestic" I really like it, and think its pretty underrated. LOTF II for the most part though, sounded pretty tired to me. There's a small amount of standout tracks on it, but overall, I find it to be a weak GR album. I certainly prefer all the Ralf era albums over it.
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| RavenKing Posts: 1941  |
Written by Angelic Storm on 06.01.2011 at 16:22 I like "Majestic" and LOTF II much more than "Sigh No More" and "Insanity And Genius". SNM has really boring songs and parts but I still prefer it to IAG. Imo, IAG is the worst album Gamma Ray ever released, apart from "To The Metal" (which is a pile of shit, imo). I hate the sound on IAG and I've never been able to get used to it. It just sounds like crap with extremely annoying drums (snare, especially) and nasal vocals. I'm not fond of the Scheepers era and never listen to those albums nowadays.
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675 |
Written by RavenKing on 07.01.2011 at 02:06 I do think your opinion there is probably the same as for most Gamma Ray fans, which is why I objected to the idea that those albums ("Majestic" and LOTF II) have a "bad rep". They perhaps do, but certainly not as much as I&G and especially "Sigh No More". I&G does have pretty lame production, I'll give you that.  Ive always loved songs like "Tribute To The Past" and "No Return" though. It is quite patchy, but I still prefer it to LOTF II. "Sigh No More" is an album I didnt like the first time I heard it. I went back to it after some time had past and listened to it a couple of times, and began to really enjoy a lot of the songs on it. I certainly do have a lot of appreciation for the Ralf era stuff, and feel it is underrated. "Majestic" is the only Kai era album I think which is underrated. I wouldnt put it up there with something like SOIS or "No World Order", but its certainly a lot better IMO than a lot of people give it credit for. xD
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| Valentin B Iconoclast Posts: 10094  |
Lol I'm listening to the title track, what the hell is this? could this be any more an obvious "reference" to Metal Gods? 
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675 |
Written by Valentin B on 10.01.2012 at 12:57 It could be, other than that "Metal Gods" is a better song in every way. It's one thing to be inspired by your idols, and another to start making inferior versions of their music. Kai is certainly capable of much better than this.
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| JÄY Metal slave Posts: 1567 |
Written by deadone on 06.06.2014 at 07:30 In the 4 years that have passed since I posted that comment I would def. say my opinion has changed to be closer to yours, for sure!
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