GAMMA RAY - No World Order
September 18, 2001, 22 years ago
(Sanctuary)
For the record, Gamma Ray hasn't done anything musically different on No World Order when compared to the last few albums, yet somehow, this is their strongest work since 1995's Land Of The Free. Don't exactly know what that is - there's still the same dosage of speed metal mayhem laced with a few mid-tempo crushers - but the songs come off stronger, the performances tighter, the melodies much more infectious and the hooks sharper. If anything, it seems that Kai Hansen has returned to his Helloween-era roots, which are particularly noticeable on tracks like 'The Heart Of The Unicorn', 'Damn The Machine' and 'New World Order'. In fact, that's probably what makes the album kill the Powerplant and Somewhere Out In Space albums dead. Tracks like the acoustic-led 'Dethrone Tyranny' - a Rayniac classic if there ever was one - 'Follow Me' and the Judas Priest-inspired 'Eagle' are more a renovation than a reinvention of the Gamma Ray sound, but lethal tracks all. And, the obligatory ballad 'Lake Of Tears' was thankfully tacked onto the end so as not to interrupt the flow of this jet-fuelled rollercoaster ride.
