• New Music Reviews
• |
• Archives
• |
• News
• |
• Submissions
• |
• About
• |
• 
• |
• 

October 2024

• Casandra's Crossing: Garden Of Earthly Delights
• DGM: Endless
• Daytona: Garder la Flamme
• Fate: Reconnect 'N Ignite
• Frost*: Life In The Wires
• Aries Descendant: From The Ashes Of Deceit
• Fans Of The Dark: Video
• Radioactive: Reset
• House Of Lords: Full Tilt Overdrive
• Cleanbreak: We Are The Fire

September 2024

• Sinner's Blood: Dark Horizons
• Serious Black: Rise Of Akhenaton
• Eclipse: Megalomanium II
• SteelCity: Reverence
• Hydra: ReHydrated
• Heartwind: III
• Gabrielle De Val and the Dragonlords: Tiger
• Find Me: Nightbound
• The Nail: The Nail
• Timeless Fairytale: A Story To Tell
• Stryper: When We Were Kings
• Phil Mogg: Moggs Motel
• Pure Reason Revolution: Coming Up To Consciousness
• Jordan Rudess: Permission To Fly

August 2024

• Siege Perilous: Creation's Call EP
• Paralydium: Universe Calls
• Mike Tramp: Songs Of White Lion Vol. II
• Bite The Bullet: Looking For Paradise
• All For Metal: Gods Of Metal (Year Of The Dragon)
• Hammerfall: Avenge The Fallen
• Jim Peterik & World Stage: Roots & Shoots Vol. 2

July 2024

• Ironflame: Kingdom Torn Asunder
• Spektra: Hypnotized
• (Michael) Palace: Reckless Heart
• Mr. Big: Ten
• Dark Mile: Dark Mile

June 2024

• Kaipa: Sommargryningsljus
• Sunbomb: Light Up The Sky
• Seven Spires: A Fortress Called Home
• Atlantic: Another World
• Xeneris: Eternal Rising
• New Horizon: Conquerors
• Issa: Another World

[ More Music Reviews ]

Helloween: My God Given Right

Heavy/Power Metal

3.5/5.0

Website Facebook
Nuclear Blast Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 13.05.2015

Largely putting power metal on the map in Europe in the mid Eighties, Germany's Helloween returns with their fifteenth album, My God Given Right. If you're counting that's 15 albums in the span of 30 years. And Helloween basically sticks with the sound the know best.

Thunder

Having said that, one's first observation could be simply: same stuff, new album. Listening to the first two tracks, Heroes and Battle's Won or the later Claws, which are essentially straight up Helloween power metal, you would be right. Alternatively, Helloween can throw some curve balls at you. One, is the low key metal ballad Like Everyone Else. It's not that can't or haven't done something like this. It's just not the first thing you think of when you think of Helloween. Another bit of sleight of hand comes at the beginning of Creatures of Heaven, with it's twinkling and spacey synths at the start. But then it jumps into racing Helloween speed metal. Another song, The Swing of a Fallen World, isn't really power metal at all. The pace is moderate, tone one of riff bombastic classic heavy metal.

Mostly, I've always thought Helloween was at there finest when their power metal was laced with a rock groove and ear catching melody. You get that within My God Given Right, Russian Roule, and If God Loves Rock n Roll, where you can bang your head, do your windmills, and tap your toe. But the real accessible groove monster is Stay Crazy, which turns on an ear candy melody and a great vocal twist.

Basically, what you could conclude is that there's something for everyone within My God Given Right. Things that you would expect from Helloween like straight power metal, a few things not so much, at least at the first listen. Will satisfy the diehard Helloween? I'm not sure, but I liked it. (You can always be thankful that it wasn't another Chameleon album; like they'd ever do that again.) Recommended.

Helloween - Battle's Won

Share This Review with Your Friends

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

There's something for everyone within My God Given Right. Things that you would expect from Helloween like straight power metal, a few things not so much, at least at the first listen. Will satisfy the diehard Helloween? I'm not sure, but I liked it.

Alphabetical Index

By far, Sweden's Eclipse is one of my favorite bands. Always consistent and always entertaining, Eclipse has been delivering their 21st century version of melodic metal rock since songwriter, producer ... [ Read More ]