November 2, 2010

Reviewer: Peter

Mention “German Power Metal” and one of the first two bands that get mentioned is Helloween.  Their legacy is defined with albums such as Walls of Jericho, Keeper of the Seven Keys I and Keeper of the Seven Keys II, as well as the song, “I Want Out,” which seemingly is the most covered song when it comes to Helloween.  However, the last ten years or so haven’t been too kind to the band, as the albums released in that time have received some criticism.

This year marks Helloween’s fourteenth full length album in 7 Sinners.  Long time fans of the band who weren’t impressed with the band’s recent efforts will probably avoid this one like the plague while newcomers to the band will probably want to look into the band’s earlier albums to get a better idea of what the band is about.

From a musical standpoint, one could argue that Helloween is still pretty serviceable at this point in their career.  However, lyrical content has more often than not, left fans scratching their heads.  The opening track “Where the Sinners Go” isn’t too bad, but it is on “Are You Metal?” that things begin to go south.  The first single off the album, it is also one of the more ridiculously written songs on the album in a lyrical sense.  Making matters worse on the song is the overuse of synthesizers.  The synthesizer overkill continues on “Who is Mr. Madman,” which ruins an otherwise okay song.  “Raise the Noise” is actually a pretty good song, but the flute solo invokes thoughts of the Burger King commercial promoting its breakfast menu and the “epic flute solo.”  Any hope of 7 Sinners being worth anything above a “good for a laugh” just went out the window with that thought.  Going through the rest of the album can be a chore at times, with “You Stupid Mankind” being another offender of the bad lyrics principle.

It isn’t like Helloween has lost much in the music playing ability, but when it comes to lyrics, it becomes increasingly difficult to take them seriously nowadays.  7 Sinners is full of peaks and valleys (mostly valleys) that is unlikely to bring back any of the older fans that left some time after 2007 or so, and gaining new fans sounds more like a pipe dream with a laughable effort.

Release Date: October 31, 2010
Label: SPV Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Where the Sinners Go
2.  Are You Metal?
3.  Who is Mr. Madman?
4.  Raise the Noise
5.  World of Fantasy
6.  Long Live the King
7.  The Smile of the Sun
8.  You Stupid Mankind
9.  If a Mountain Could Talk
10.  The Sage, the Fool, the Sinner
11.  My Sacrifice
12.  Not Yet Today
13.  Far in the Future

Total playing time:  60:44

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Helloween - 7 Sinners