HELLOWEEN Straight Out Of Hell

'Straight Out Of Hell' is the 14th studio album from German power metal veterans HELLOWEEN, and the 9th with Andi Deris as lead singer. I must admid that I have never been totally convinced by any of the albums since Deris joined the band, he is definitely a great singer but he isn't and will never be nowhere near Michael Kiske....period! With that stated I must add that 'Straight Out Of Hell' definitely has it's bright moments. With songs like 'Nabataea', 'Far from the stars' and 'Burning sun' Helloween manages to recreate some of the magic atmosphere from the Keeper-albums, with melodic and happy twin guitar leads over thundering drums and of course high pitch vocals and sing along friendly choruses. Those tracks proves that Helloween are still capable of writing great songs in the vain of what melodic power metal was meant to be. 'Church breaks down' is another great song from the album, but with a slightly different and darker atmosphere than the others mentioned. Unfortunately there are some really weak tracks on the album as well, 'Asshole' for instance should never even have been considered for this release. 'Wanna be god' is another poor track that is meant as a tribute to Freddie Mercury....not a good one by any means. 'Waiting for the thunder' and 'Hold me in your arms' are also pretty average tracks in my opinion. To sum everything up I would say that one third of the album is brilliant, one third is ok while the last third is really poor.

Discography:

'Straight Out Of Hell' 2013

'7 Sinners' 2010

'Gambling With The Devil' 2007

'Keeper Of The Seven Keys: The Legacy' 2005

'Rabbit Don't Come Easy' 2003
'The Dark Ride' 2000
'Metal Jukebox' 1999
'Better Than Raw' 1998
'Time Of The Oath' 1996
'High Live' 1996
'Master Of The Rings' 1994
'Chameleon' 1993
'Pink Bubbles Go Ape' 1991
'Live In The UK' 1989
'Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II' 1988
'Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part I' 1987
'Walls Of Jericho' 1985
'Helloween' 1985