Customer Reviews

Gambling With The Devil

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Gambling With The Devil" is a little bit of everything for everyone. By that I mean it sounds a bit like Freedom Call, a bit like Andi Deris' solo material and Pink Cream 69-era material, a bit like classic Keepers' Helloween, and a bit like the current era Helloween. That being said, the album has some excellent tracks like Kill It, The Saints, Heaven Tells No Lies, Fallen To Pieces, and Can Do It (a quirky little tune that is one of my personal favorites), but as one reviewer pointed out, there's something missing from the album to label it a 5-star effort. I feel that part of the issue might be the production of the album. A lot of fans love the job that Charlie Bauerfeind has done on the last few albums, but at times it feels almost *too* polished and as a result I think the sound suffers overall. Despite their public comments to the contrary, I think Helloween was at its peak when Tommy Hansen produced their albums. There may have been an old-school sound and feel to their albums, but for some reason, it just sounded right.

I also think that part of the issue is Dani Löble's drumming on the album. Again, as much as the band toes the company line with the usual "this is the best lineup Helloween has ever had" business, I believe Uli Kusch was the perfect drummer for Helloween. There was something about his drumming that meshed perfectly with Weikath, Grapow and especially Grosskopf. Löble, on the other hand, feels too much like a drum machine, too stiff, too unimaginative. As a result the songs sound and feel stiff. No surprise that since Kusch left, they have used a number of drummers to fill in (Mark Cross, Mikkey Dee, Stefan Schwartzmann) and I still don't think they have the guy that sounds right for them. Additionally, I think Kusch helped to break the monotony of Weikath and Deris' songwriting styles; Helloween fans consider "Better Than Raw" and "The Dark Ride" to be some of the Deris-era Helloween's best material, and no surprise that Kusch had a big hand in the songwriting on those albums. Ironically enough, prior to hiring Loble Helloween was looking at hiring Freedom Call-er and Gamma Ray drummer Daniel Zimmermann; one can only imagine what Zimmermann, an accomplished songwriter himself, would have brought to Helloween.

In any case, Helloween has still managed, for their thirteenth release, to put out an effort that proves they have not lost any steam, and are still one of the better bands out there when it comes to keeping their material fresh and exciting. Highly recommended.

I have been a Helloween fan since the Keepers days. I have, for the most part, enjoyed all of their albums as they are my favorite band. However, my tastes often differ from other Helloween fans. My favorite three Helloween albums in order are Chameleon, Master of Rings, and The Dark Ride. What I like about these three albums are that they each take risks and expose different sides of Helloween other than the traditional approach that usually trademarks each album. So it is for that reason the new album, Gambling with the Devil, scores big with me.

Upon it's first spin, Gambling sounds like a cross between the fast and heavy sound of Better Than Raw mixed with the dark, sonic vibe of The Dark Ride. However, there is even more depth to this album. Songs like Final Fortune and Fallen to Pieces sound like nothing Helloween has ever done, and they are the finest songs on the album. The opener, Kill It, certainly harkens back to the brilliant Push (from Better Than Raw), however, again it has way more depth and does not follow the typical Helloween structure, making it overall, a much better song than Push.

Gambling with the Devil may prove to be Helloween's best album yet, or at least the best one with Deris. It is a flawless album with absolutely no filler. Having been somewhat dissapointed with the inconsistant Rabbit Don't Come Easy and completely let down with The Legacy, Gambling with the Devil will restore fans' faith in Helloween. The Germans once again prove they can move foward in 2007 and create something new and exciting without abandoning the principles that got them to where they are.

March On!

Being a huge Helloween fan for some time now, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the new album so I downloaded an advance copy a few weeks ago, and I was totally blown away! I ran out and bought the album the day it came out, and all I can say is this has been the best CD purchase I've made in quite some time... it's that damn good!

Every track stands out on it's own and there's no filler to be found here like on their previous album, the disappointing "Legacy". Andi's vocals are top notch as always, Sacha and Weiki's guitar work is easily the best so far of the newest lineup with some awesome dueling solos, and for my money Dani is excellent behind the drum kit and is definitely as good as, if not better then, Uli or Ingo (RIP). Really the only bad thing I could say about Gambling With The Devil is what a couple of reviewers previously mentioned, and that's the fact that the 2 songs on the limited edition bonus disc are not included on the main album. They are stellar tracks in their own right, especially the song Find My Freedom which IMO is the best song on the album. It's just too good for "B-Side" status, and ranks with "Deliver Us From Temptation" (The Dark Ride) for "bonus songs that shouldn't be bonus songs".

Oh, and speaking of bonuses, the limited edition also comes with a scratch-off card that has a riddle for the fans to solve and some cool prizes to be won, definitely a plus and a big nod to the hardcore pumpkin heads from the band... wish more bands would do cool stuff like this.

So to sum it all up, whether you're a long-time fan of old school "Keeper's Era" Helloween, or if you prefer the more modern albums like Better Then Raw and The Dark Ride, this album NEEDS to be in your collection! No ifs ands or buts... and none of that "Well I don't like anything after Hansen/Kiske" bullcrap either! If you can't appreciate this amazing album, then you're not a true Helloween fan, and that's the plain and simple truth ;-) Buy it now!

Having been a die hard Helloween fan for 20 years now, I have been waiting for an album from them that was every bit as awesome as the first Keeper when it was released. This album completely blows me away. It is nothing like you have heard before from them. It is fast, it is furious and it will rock you. The lyrics are inspiring, the music is incredibly addictive, the baseline is solid and you will not be dissapointed if you are a true Helloween fan. I cannot find one flaw in any of the songs, and cannot find one filler song. This album is exactly what you have been waiting for. Hope this review helps you.

I think this new album had successfully won back many fans who think they were already done for after the keepers legacy album. I thought that album was pretty decent but a turn off on most songs I wouldn't say it was bad. But gambling with the devil has the loudest modern sounds of heavy melodic speed metal with the mix of few similar bands including their own in the mid 90's, albums like better than raw/the dark ride and similar materials from bands like pinkcream 69 and freedom call. Andi deris's voice sounds better than ever in this new awesome album and every song was awesome, I didn't actually think michael weikath can write much better songs but he sure can and the new guitarist sascha gerstner was a much better guitarist than I expected for a young player. Any way this album was awesome and for those of you who thought keepers legacy was such a turn off then I strongly suggest that you go out and buy this new album gambling with the devil along with gamma ray's new album land of the free part 2.


And remember helloween and gamma ray are the law!

I own Helloween albums (Walls of Jericho, Keeper I, II, The Legacy, Pink Bubbles, Chameleon, Master of Rings, Dark Ride, Time of Oath, Better Than Raw, Rabbit Don't Come Easy) released before this one, so when I spotted this album on Amazon, I quickly made a purchase.
Actually I also checked the official website initially just for fun and for additional info about this release, but when I clicked their tour plan my eyes stumbled upon the confirmed date for my hometown, Jakarta, scheduled for February 22. My memories wandering off to 4 years ago when I witnessed their first concert here , and in fact I already had the ticket for their upcoming concert here. How wonderful it's going to be !!

To the album, I found out that this one is one of their best album in my opinion, the other being The Time of The Oath. Songs in this album are simply amazing, melodic, powerful and back to the nature of Helloween. Albums such as Pink Bubbles, Chameleon, and Keeper The Legacy are somewhat off the track to my humble opinion. It's a rare thing for me that I love all the tracks in a music album from an artist or a band, including Helloween's. It's very common that I skip some track on an album because I simply rather listening to other track. But that's not going to happen for Gambling With the Devil. I never skipped track on Time of Oath either. Neither on Keeper II, but what can I say, Keeper II is way too old.

"Kill It" is a powerful song, as usual with the first track on Helloween's album ; "The Saints" is typically the song written by my favourite guitarist, Weiki, melodic and nice ; "As Long As I Fall" is somewhat not typical for Helloween as it's rather short and 'too simple' but provides what I call easy listening ; "Paint A New World" up the beat ; then comes another typical 'sweet' Helloween songs written by the old member, bassist Markus, "Final Fortune", very melodic and without a doubt being my favourite track in this album ( I always had thing like this in every music album I own ) ; "The Bells Of The 7 Hells" is the contrary from the previous track , as the least track I want to listen in this album as for me it's too 'flat' ; "Fallen to Pieces" found to be the 'slow rock' song in this album, very nice that Helloween still keep the concept of adding slow song to the album ; "I.M.E." is a typical song written by the vocalist ; "Can Do It" also written by Weiki and found to be another melodic sweet song ; "Dreambound" and "Heaven Tells No Lies" are a combination of melodic and powerful song.

Gone are the long melodic simultaneously solo guitar from this album. Some tracks are too short compared to the old songs they've written.

Kudos to Helloween for this great album ! Hope they'll be still on track in the next one.

Prior to buying this album, I had bought 4 of Helloween's albums: Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. 1 and 2, Walls of Jericho, and Master of the Rings. My favorite album out of these was and still is Keeper Pt. 1. It took a while before I was convinced enough to buy Master of the Rings, as I had only heard negative things about post-Kai Hansen Helloween. Although I was glad to have more Helloween to listen to, I was still dissatisfied. Hearing songs from Keeper: The Legacy, I didn't expect much from this album. I didn't plan on buying it, but I ended up picking it up when I was offered to buy it at a store the night before its official release. When I started listening to it, I was blown away...

Kill It is a great album-opening song (coming after the short intro of course) with awesome riffs, solos, and heavy choruses. One of my favorites here.

The Saints, the longest song on the album at just over seven minutes, is much more melodic than Kill It, yet still maintains a good metal sound.

As Long As I Fall, the album's first single, starts with a creepy piano intro before going into soft vocals. It has a catchy Deris chorus, as well as a memorable instrumental break. This song shows off the things which make this album great.

Paint a New World starts off right away with a fast metal riff and delivers with Weikath and Gerstner's great heavy sound.

Final Fortune begins with piano accompanying the band, and has a melodic sound mixed with the slightly dark sound that can be found throughout this album.

As can be expected from the title, Bell of the 7 Hells has with a creepy bell/chime intro before a dark, heavy riff. Helloween's return to a dark sound has very evidently worked well. This song is one of the album's highest points.

Fallen to Pieces is the album's ballad, with acoustic verses. At first listen, this takes away from the album a bit for me, but it is still a pretty decent song, with a good chorus, awesome solos and instrumental metal breaks.

I.M.E. is a medium-paced, medium-heavy song, giving relief from both the heaviness and balad. Though not one of my favorite songs from the album, it keeps the album flowing well.

Can Do It is probably the album's brightest-sounding song, taking away from the album more than anything else. It might be overly catchy for some people, but it can also be seen as a good melodic piece to give more variety to this album. I still wouldn't consider this song or any other on the album filler.

Dreambound starts with a keyboard, which can be unsettling at first, but it goes into a guitar riff and short harmonic solo. While not up to the heavy metal standard set by the beginning of the album, this is still a typical good Helloween song, with good neo-classical solos.

Heaven Tells No Lies is a worthwhile long song, with a good performance by Andy Deris, especially on the choruses. It ends the album well, with its numerous solos and guitar parts.


I highly recommend buying the limited edition, with its two bonus tracks. It's a shame neither of them were included on the main album, as they both could have been some of its best songs. Find My Freedom and See the Night are both over six minutes long, but well worth the listens.

Overall, this is a great Helloween album and, though I haven't listened to all of the Dark Ride, I am very convinced that this is their best album with Andy Deris. I recommend this to all Helloween fans, new or old. This is one of the best metal albums released so far this century.

This band keeps getting better and better.Andi Deris's voice soars on this one and there is not a bad song on the cd.Why does America have such crappy bands.Germany seems to be the place for great music.The music they pay on the radio today sucks, they would never play Helloween that's for sure.Awesome cd best of 2007 easy......

First off, I'm as big a Helloween fan as it gets. I've followed this family tree (Helloween, Gamma Ray, Primal Fear, Masterplan etc) from day one. They are simply the best for my tastes along with Iron Maiden. Gambling with the Devil showcases the stable line up of Dani Loble and Sascha Gerstner with long time frontman Andi Deris and the two remaining original members Michael Weikath and Marcus Grosskopf. For those who thought Keeper Revisited (aka The Legacy) didnt quite hit the mark, give this one a listen. Helloween takes it up a notch on GWTD, returning to the form of great Deris era work such as the Dark Ride or Better than Raw. There's hardly a hint of filler on here, with the standouts (to my ears) being "The Bells of the 7 Hells", "I.M.E", and "Kill It", one of the heaviest things they've done in years.

I have to admit that I was really looking forward to a Power Metal album with lots of amazing guitar layers and in which Andi Deris could finally be entirely at ease, once not forced to sing songs that are not within his range.
I found ample reason for headbang here, and for not being able to stay still during repeated listenings.
I must say that I have never been a fan of Michael Kiske, certainly a great singer, but way melodramatic and with a vision of the band clearly off focus and centered on his immense ego. With Andi, Sascha (a real discovery!), and Dani, the 2 Ms (Michael and Markus) definitely have found a band really worth of the excellent material written since Master of the Rings. One slight disappointment is "Can do it", but gimme "The Saints", "Fallen to Pieces" and "Paint a New World" anytime: It doesn't really get any better than this!
Heil to the Chiefs!