Oh, it’s good. If you like your metal fast, anthemic, and with plenty of hair-raising solos - then you’re gonna want to check out the latest from metal masters Gamma Ray. “To the Metal” is a very solid release, probably better than their last two, which were good. Kai Hansen has some different sounding vocals than I’ve heard from their other releases. He does a lot in the lower register, which sounds cool, and sets it up nicely for when he really rips high (which I love). The rest of the band is top form, and each one gets showcased plenty throughout the album. Even the bass has some amazing solos, especially the kickin’ intro to “Shine Forever.”
The album opens with one of the slowest tracks of the disc. It’s heavy and dark, with Hansen singing really low. “All You Need To Know” is next, which is very heavy and fast - yeah! The chorus has the group-vocal-singability which is something I love about Gamma Ray. And the Guitar work on that song is fast, progressive, and hard as crap to follow along with your air-guitar. The addition of Michael Kiske is the cherry on top. “Time To Live” is the first song where the vocals go into the stratosphere as they should. It has a great syncopated guitar part, and what sounds like a tonality change from minor to major in the bridge to the main chorus - very cool! One of my favorites on the disc.
The title song is very Judas Priest-y, but it works. To me, it’s not the strongest song on the album. But it doesn’t matter, because the next song, “Rise” makes up for it with some awesome vocal pairing, including some cool echoes. There’s even some surprise death-metal growls popping up in the song. Interesting. A nice double guitar solo tops off this wonderful song where the keyboards find their way out of the background for the first, but definitely not last, time. Shine Forever is another lightning fast song with high, staccato vocals. The anthem chorus slows things down just long enough to breathe and sing along, before ripping again into a frenzy with all instruments blazing. Great juxtaposition and fantastic solos throughout this gem of a song.
The last three songs might be my favorites on the disc. “Chasing Shadows” has a keyboard-driven piece of the song that almost sounds like carnival music. It’s dark and delicious, with a fantastic melody. Very progressive sound, with changing time sigs and solos that you want to hit the reverse button on. And the closer is a ballad, that is anything but bland. Hansen’s vocals are amazing (dare I say “beautiful”?), and there are weird things going on musically throughout, including more progressive changes, and sudden drops of sound. I love it!
Lyrically, “To the Metal” touches on typical Gamma Ray themes, like the dark streak on humanity’s hearts. But also in typical fashion, they don’t leave you wallowing in the bleakness of that reality. Rather, there is always a “ray” of hope that the music belies, in man’s aggressive perseverance that only a metal onslaught like Gamma Ray can illustrate so well. It’s a great album, with a really strong second half. Definitely worth checking out.
Reviewed by Matt Milligan
