July 2021 Feature Release – The Guardians Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month’s feature release for The Guardians has been nominated by shadowdoom9 (Andi). It's 1999's classic "Power Plant" album from German power metal gods Gamma Ray. With the exception of 2000's "Blast From The Past" double re-recording, I've struggled with Gamma Ray's supposed classics over the years. But "Power Plant" is generally regarded as one of their finest works so I'll be interested to see if it can change my opinion on a band that I've generally regarded as being overrated.

https://metal.academy/releases/2215

I did my review, here's its summary:

This is a mighty achievement by the band and of 90s heavy/power metal. Hansen and co. have made quite a difference since their previous two albums, like for example, no interludes! While one or two tracks may suffer from a slight flaw, all the other songs are perfect classics with lots of solo shredding, octave singing, and drum filling. With brilliant metal anthems and speedy rollercoaster rides, Power Plant is a classic to respect and appreciate the band's legacy that shall stay immortal!

5/5

Recommended songs: "Anywhere in the Galaxy", "Send Me a Sign", "Gardens of the Sinner", "It's a Sin", "Heavy Metal Universe", "Armageddon"

For fans of: Helloween, Stratovarius, Judas Priest

With the exception of the 2000 double re-recording album "Blast From The Past", I can pretty much cut & paste my feelings on Gamma Ray's other "classic" releases here as my feelings are very much the same. "Power Plant" is well written, executed & produced & includes some brilliant examples of "Painkiller"-era Judas priest worship that I really enjoy but they're rarely extended to an entire song & are well & truly cancelled out by overdoing the schlocky melodic cheese in an attempt to out-epic & out-anthem the competition. The guitar solos are outstanding & are generally the highlight of the album while Kai Hansen's Rob Halford-esque vocal delivery is also impressive but I just can't see past my usual issues with the signature German power metal model here. In relation to the Gamma Ray back catalogue, the weaker tracks on "Power Plant" aren't as bad as they were on 1997's "Somewhere Out In Space" which gives it a slight edge however it's worth noting that there aren't as many highlight tracks either. "Land Of The Free" is probably the stronger of the three however it's pretty clear that Gamma Ray simply aren't my cup of tea. Still,,, I'd definitely take them over Helloween.

For fans of Helloween, Blind Guardian & Judas Priest.

3/5

My struggle with Gamma Ray continues. As I said about 2 weeks ago for my new self-titled Helloween review, I'm not exactly a Helloween fan even though I rate some of their albums fairly highly. By extension, I really can't say that I was ever a fan of Gamma Ray considering they're just an augmentation of Helloween at their core. I've always considered Gamma Ray to be the stale and boring version of classic, Speed Metal influenced Power Metal and apart from a few gems in Power Plant I think it's still the case. The album starts out with the ripping "Anywhere in the Galaxy" which instantly made me rethink my bias and got me pretty excited for what was to come, but the album peters out extremely quickly for me. "Razorblade Sigh" is okay at best, "Send Me a Sign" is a little too cheesy, upbeat, and straightforward even for me, and it only gets stranger from there. I can only describe "Strangers in the Night" as Hansen's half-baked audition tape to Rhapsody and after two tracks that I have no complaints about there's a strange Pet Shop Boys cover inclusion that's more confusing than anything. "Heavy Metal Universe" is the classic, eye-rolling Heavy Metal "stadium anthem" song that I've heard a million times by a million bands and it never seems to get any better no matter who takes it on. The back portion with "Wings of Destiny" and "Hands of Fate" is admittedly solid, but the opening half of "Armageddon" rubs me the wrong way with its dragging vocal melodies and weirdly generic riffing that you can hardly hear behind the drums. The transition at 4:45 is fantastic and the second half of the song is probably my favorite portion of the album, so it puts me in a weird spot. 

I still can't say that I really like Gamma Ray. There are so many other Power Metal bands that I'd recommend to new and old listeners alike, and I don't think that Power Plant is their strongest material to begin with. Struggling with this album gave me the motivation to go and check out Somewhere Out in Space and wow, what an improvement! For whatever reason, contrary to Daniel's opinion, Somewhere Out in Space is way more consistent, energetic, and exciting than this album by a longshot. Even though Power Plant didn't really do it for me, at least I can say that there's a Gamma Ray album I definitively like now.

3/5

Ok, so if I said I loved this album you would all know I was lying and if I said I hated it I would know I was lying. It's got a few tracks I quite enjoyed in a cheesy, Helloween kind of way, but there were definitely some I disliked and in particular the Pet Shop Boys cover of a song I've always hated. There were some decent solos that were OTT, but managed to stop short of Dragonforce levels of ridiculousness. I felt the band were at their best the more they stuck to the Judas Priest / Iron Maiden template and worst when the old euro-power beast is allowed full head. 2.5/5 - half and half.