Customer Reviews

To The Metal

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Oh man, this is depressing. One of my favorite bands is back with a new album, and it's borderline amateurish. The songwriting and the production leaves much to be desired. How did this happen? Why was this released? I haven't seen the "making of" DVD on some of the other editions of this album, but it would definitely be interesting to see how they put this album together.

First of all, the songs. They are generic. They are stock. They have been done before, both by Gamma Ray and by other bands. I'm assuming that the title track, "To The Metal", is an homage to Judas Priest's "Metal Gods" (it even references the song in the lyrics), but I don't understand why. Why would you take an established song, rearrange the riff and the words, and pass it off as something new? And on top of that, make it the centerpiece of your new album?? It's mind-boggling.

The rest of the songs have some good ideas, but their organization is all over the place. Sometimes a really fast aggressive song will veer off the road directly into an over the top poppy, light chorus. Sometimes a slow song will suddenly speed up, and Zimmerman can't settle on what style drum beat he wants to do, so he just throws in everything but the kitchen sink. Sometimes Kai will throw in some crazy scream between two verses, for absolutely no reason, when the song isn't calling for something like that at all. At other times, he sounds like he's phoning in a verse - he just doesn't sound that interested. And then there are the guest vocals of Michael Kiske, which sound like a chorus was written for him, and then the band realized that they had to come up with verses and the like to go around it. I could go on.

Second, on top of the wishy-washy songwriting, the album suffers from the worst production of Gamma Ray's career. Think Death Magnetic. Think annoying trebly digital noise on top of Kai's vocals and many of the instruments. It might sound ok on an ipod, but I'm not listening on an ipod. I'm listening on my home stereo, and in my car, and it actually hurts my ears. I'm not exaggerating on this either. I was in the car today and I had to turn the volume way down because it was so abrasive. Again, what happened here? The band has always had good production - why suddenly has this changed?

Finally, since this is the Japanese review (yes, I did buy the Japanese release - I did not illegally download it) there are two bonus tracks - One Life and Wannabes. Wannabes is a fun song that pokes fun at people who say they're into the band but aren't - hangers-on, VIPs, etc. The production hurts this track as well, but it's not a bad bonus track. 'One Life' is like the album itself. A fairly generic metal song that I would expect out of a metal band that I have no interest in listening to. But this is Gamma Ray, and I expect better.

Let me just say, I LOVE this band and what they've done over the years, so I am completely baffled by this release. I just wish someone would have had the stones to say "let's start over" upon hearing this. It gets two stars because many of the songs have good ideas in them. But I can't claim that even one of the songs is great from start to finish.

The only reason that I didn't give this disc 5 stars is for 3 reasons. First, I think that the conscious effort to write shorter, more compact songs takes away from Gamma Ray's strength. It's missing that one big epic song.
Second, I think that No Need To Cry should have been a bonus track at best, with either One Life or Wannabees(both bonus tracks from the Japanese version)making the final album track listing. I understand that this is a very personal song to Dirk, but sometimes some songs should either be bonus tracks or left out entirely. Sadly this is one of those songs that I feel completely misses the mark.
And third, for the life of me I can't understand why Edel/EarMusic decided to change the track order from the original version that was released in Japan. When I listened to it the first few times I thought it was only an ok album. Then I listened to it in the original sequence, the way the band meant for it to be heard, and it sounds like a completely different album. It just flows so much better this way.

1.Rise
2.Deadlands
3.Mother Angel
4.No Need To Cry
5.Empathy
6.To The Metal
7.All You Need To Know
8.Time To Live
9.Shine Forever
10.Chasing Shadows

I won't detail every track, but it's safe to say that it's what you would expect from Gamma Ray considering their progression over the last few albums. If you already have this album and were disappointed with it, try listening to it in the above sequence. I think you'll see it in a new light. If you don't already own it, pick it up. It's another solid album by the masters of power metal.

Hail To The Metal. All Hail Kai.

Note to all Gamma Ray fans that I was not a fan
before this album so I don't know why you don't
like it. I bought this cause I heard To the Metal!
& I loved it! It reminds me of Metal Gods by Priest
& bands like Saxon, Motorhead & Maiden from the
early 80's! But it is not but I love it. I'm not
a fan of thrash or cookie monster vocals but this
is an incredible album. The songs are well written
& melodic but fast paced & played extremely well.
Every song is a killer. I may get into more Gamma
Ray later but this should last me. I loved the DVD
bonus also. Great insight to the band. I can say to
any NWBM fan from 80's this is good stuff. I still
love the other metal bands like UFO, Y&T & the ones
above & surprised I like this but I admit I'm hooked.
I think new fans and old fans should give it a listen.

"To The Metal" is Gamma Ray's latest album after the heavily criticized and IMO weak 'Land Of The Free II'. The main problem with Gamma Ray's previous album was the fact that the band borrowed numerous musical ideas from other bands such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, while they also recycled some of their older tunes as well. From that perspective "To The Metal" is much more original but still nothing innovative or mindblowing.

The new album is energetic, powerful and contains some of Gamma Ray's best guitar work in recent years. Several songs are fast paced double bass numbers, others are mid tempo heavy metal songs and there are a couple of ballads aswell.

There are several strong songs on offer here. "All You Need To Know" is probably the best track on the album. Fast double bass drumming, speed metal riffs, a catchy melodic metal chorus sang by Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween) and some brilliant guitar solos, round off this great number. Kiske's vocals transport you to the 80's and remind you of how good he sounds when singing songs written by Kai Hansen. The second highlight is the speedy and trademark Gamma Ray song "Rise" with its epic chorus. "Shine Forever" is another good track with aggressive verses and an uplifting chorus. "Time To Live" is a mid-tempo heavy track with a catchy chorus. "Mother Angel" is a fairly good heavy ballad and "Chasing Shadows" is another strong, fast paced power metal song with some amazing guitar work.

The title track is an enjoyable heavy metal song but it unfortunately borrows too many ideas from Judas Priest's Metal Gods, while the ballad "No Need To Cry" is the second weakest track on the album.

A good album overall, but a couple of weak songs together with some borrowed ideas prevent it from receiving a higher rating. Nevertheless, "To The Metal" is a superior release when compared to Gamma Ray's two previous albums.

When I bought this album, I expected another work of enjoyable sound. That's exactly what I got. To the Metal is one of Gamma Ray's heavier albums but it still holds that consistent sound and quality of this band's style. Personally, I have already listened to much of their work so I didn't need Amazon to tell me much about the new album, but what they provided was adequate. I'd say for anyone who hasn't heard this band (and who enjoys metal) to listen to this latest work by Gamma Ray. Who knows? You might just be singing hail to the metal!

Just to be clear, this is not a five star album, however it does deserve more than 3 stars. So, hopefully this will bring the amazon rating up a bit.
So, this isn't standard or new power metal Gamma Ray, but rather new age/poppish/80s/metal. Not bad (though the lyrics seem contradictory here and there when Kai seems to be writing anti-religiously, then sings about heaven and his mom being an angel). He does admit he doesn't think too much about the meaning of the lyrics. As said, it does borrow ideas from other albums, but riffing and solos are still there, and the double bass. Nothing new, but not stale either.
Give it chance! It may not be the Gamma Ray you're used to, but you may still like it!

This is the 11th studio album by German power metal band `Gamma ray', `to the metal'. Both the title and the flamboyant cover artwork made this a very intriguing purchase.

The album is of course built on the definitive `Gamma Ray' sound; yet as in the previous two albums the band takes another step ahead in terms of musical direction. As the title suggests the new album may stand as a testament to metal overall with emphasis on classic heavy metal; therefore the tempo for the biggest part does not reach the speed of the previous albums' faster moments. On the contrary `To the metal' is considerably riff based, one might say more guitar oriented but without as many progressions and twists in structuring the material as in their previous albums.

On a personal level this slight turn to a more classic metal sound is actually fairly effective making `To the metal' songs substantially memorable with the listener being able to recall most choruses having heard the material a couple of times. I would definitely agree that this makes for an even more direct album, more to the point (opening riff, followed by main body, verse and chorus). Favorite tracks include `empathy', `mother angel', `deadlands' and `time to live'.

Now, the DVD part of this limited edition is the documentary surrounding the creation/recording of the album which for its biggest part finds `Gamma Ray' in their studio while the playful attitude is once again ever-present (clearly a social characteristic that defines the band since their early days) making the documentary quite fun to watch.
A real value add bonus is the fact that the documentary includes "Rise" and "empathy" played from start to finish live in the studio (all four members performing in a large studio room) both songs are professionally shot and recorded .


"Metal Hammer" Greek magazine issue 302 marks this album with 8/10 commenting: "...many great songs without a single filler in sight".

"Rockhard" Greek magazine issue 49 also marks the album with 8/10 commenting: "...magical melodies coming from the guitars and vocals"

"To The Metal" is Gamma Ray's latest album after the heavily criticized and IMO weak 'Land Of The Free II'. The main problem with Gamma Ray's previous album was the fact that the band borrowed numerous musical ideas from other bands such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, while they also recycled some of their older tunes as well. From that perspective "To The Metal" is much more original but still nothing innovative or mindblowing.

The new album is energetic, powerful and contains some of Gamma Ray's best guitar work in recent years. Several songs are fast paced double bass numbers, others are mid tempo heavy metal songs and there are a couple of ballads aswell.

There are several strong songs on offer here. "All You Need To Know" is probably the best track on the album. Fast double bass drumming, speed metal riffs, a catchy melodic metal chorus sang by Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween) and some brilliant guitar solos, round off this great number. Kiske's vocals transport you to the 80's and remind you of how good he sounds when singing songs written by Kai Hansen. The second highlight is the speedy and trademark Gamma Ray song "Rise" with its epic chorus. "Shine Forever" is another good track with aggressive verses and an uplifting chorus. "Time To Live" is a mid-tempo heavy track with a catchy chorus. "Mother Angel" is a fairly good heavy ballad and "Chasing Shadows" is another strong, fast paced power metal song with some amazing guitar work.

The title track is an enjoyable heavy metal song but it unfortunately borrows too many ideas from Judas Priest's Metal Gods, while the ballad "No Need To Cry" is the second weakest track on the album.

A good album overall, but a couple of weak songs together with some borrowed ideas prevent it from receiving a higher rating. Nevertheless, "To The Metal" is a superior release when compared to Gamma Ray's two previous albums.

I was hoping that this album wouldn't be more of a let down like the 3 or 4 star reviewers say it is but im afraid their right. I pretty much own almost all the gamma ray albums and weather it's an epic or not they were never as average as their new album to the metal which the title doesn't say it all. Now for the title of the album I mean talk about gamma ray's power metal style no less, I kinda expected kai hansen and henjo ritcher's guitar work to be more of a heavy melodic metal in your face attitude slayer style with wild and thrashy solos but it doesn't seem like the guys put alot of creativity and effort into their new album and im very dissapointed. But on the other hand this album wasn't that bad and some of their songs are catchy and great and I like this album. If your new to gamma ray then this is not the best place to start, I would recommend land of the free or maybe powerplant for new GR fans but for long time fans this is for them but I don't think they will be listening to it more often.

Overall: Ok album and I give it a 3 stars!



\m/ Stay metal \m/

And so it is with their tenth studio album, "To The Metal!" that Gamma Ray finally begins to feel old and tired. I remember having the same feeling when listening to "Majestic" for the first time, but after repeated listens, that album grew on me and now I consider it to be one of their most diverse and well-rounded albums of the last decade or so. As someone else had pointed out, "Land of the Free II" was a weak album, more of a "tribute" album to Judas Priest and Iron Maiden than it was a Gamma Ray album. And now, after numerous listens to the underwhelming "To The Metal!" dare I say it, Gamma Ray has come out with 2 consecutive subpar albums.

Not that there aren't some highlights on the album. "Empathy" the opener, is a departure from the 1000 MPH speed of your typical power metal song and is actually quite good. "All You Need to Know" is a great song, although I personally found Michael Kiske's vocals on the chorus a distraction more than the celebrated ode to classic Helloween that (I'm guessing) he's supposed to signify. I found myself listening to the song and thinking "he sounded better on 'Land Of The Free'", and indeed he sounds tired and bored on AYNTK, almost like it was a chore for him to drop whatever he was doing and lay down some vocals for Kai. "Time To Live" is more like "Time to Forget", because after you're done with it it leaves no impression. Not good, not bad, just blah. "To The Metal" sounds like a bad joke, like Kai and company dusted off their vinyl copy of "British Steel", listened to "Metal Gods" and said "let's cover this, but with our own lyrics instead!" (not like they haven't done *that* before; see Priest's "Rapid Fire" and "Solid" off "No World Order). Just plain bad. "Rise" is a gem, hearkening back to the SOIS or Power Plant era. Very good. But the next 3 songs, "Mother Angel", "Shine Forever" and "Deadlands" suffer from the same thing that "Time to Live" does: one listen and they're instantly forgettable songs. "Chasing Shadows" delights, however, with its superb guitar work (more on that later), but then we reach the end of the album, and the wretched "No Need to Cry". Good. God. Not only is the song bad, but whoever thought that letting bassist Dirk Schlächter warble in the middle of the song was a good idea should be shot. Yes, I understand that it's his song, and dedicated to his late father, but suffice it to say, if I died and my kid wrote a song like this about me, I would rise from the grave and throttle him for insulting my memory. Although to be fair to Dirk, it's not like Kai sounds all that into it on this song either. Can't say I blame him.

If there's one thing to crow about on this album, it is the unbelievable guitar work of Henjo Richter and Kai Hansen; I guess that should be expected, though, after playing together now for 13 years. Richter's solowork in particular is nothing short of stunning. Schlächter gets his chance to shine in the bass department with some slap bass on "Shine Forever", and drummer Daniel Zimmermann is his usual steady self, blindingly fast when need be, but full of groove and emotion when the song calls for it.

While the band's talent level and cohesion as a unit is at an all-time high, unfortunately the compositions are mediocre at best and really take away from what otherwise is an awesome album guitar-wise. Like I said in the header, unimaginative as it may be, it is still better than 90% of the garbage that passes for metal nowadays and is a worthy pickup to complete your Gamma Ray collection, although I'm guessing after a few listens it will be relegated to one of the unused slots in your CD changer and promptly forgotten.