Straight Out Of Hell (2013) by HELLOWEEN

Rating: 4/5 #omglistentothisyoudoorknob

Genre: Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Fun.
After a particularly long and tiring day, I was lying on my bed contemplating the destruction of all life. Annoyed and pissed, I suddenly had the urge to try out the new Helloween album. I've always been a huge fan.
About 40 minutes later, I was humming this really catchy chorus in my head with a stupid grin on my face. This is what Helloween does to you. It turns all your anger and hatred into smiles and laughter. Magic.
For those who are a bit lost here, mere mortals who are not familiar with Helloween, they are a power/speed metal band from Germany. Power metal is a branch of heavy metal which is generally characterised by really melodious and catchy music that can be really fast and heavy with an overdose of double bass. One of the pioneers of the genre, Helloween is just that with a bit of silly thrown in every now and then.
“Straight Out Of Hell” is Helloween's 14th studio album (that sure as hell are a lot of albums). This album offers much of the same, with a bit more atmosphere and overly-clean productions. Also, this album sounds less silly (!) than most of their previous albums.
The album runs for 60 minutes containing 13 tracks without the 2 bonuses. It's a pretty solid release overall with no actual fillers. There are 2-3 (comparatively) weaker songs like “Wanna Be God” but the better tracks more than make up for it. The power ballads are okay, but nothing exceptional.
Vocalist, Andi Deris, has been as incredible as ever. Brilliant vocals throughout the album and justifiably one of my favourite vocalists. Grosskopf, one of the most popular bassists in the scene, takes a more active role with lyrics and music in a few songs in the album while being dead consistent on bass. Weikath and Gertsner are brilliant as ever on the guitar with incredible riffs and beautiful solos reminiscent of the ones form “Time of the Oath”. Löble with the drums is consistent and powerful with a good blend of heavy and groovy. And double-bass, of course.
Lyrically, I've always found them somewhat silly (not a bad thing), even in the more seriously-themed songs. Most of the songs in the album are written by Andi Deris with themes ranging from historic utopian civilisations now destroyed (“Nabataea”), war, love, hate etc. “Wanna Be God” is a tribute to Queen, mimicking “We Will Rock You”. “The Church Breaks” Down is about the conflicts of science and religion (Christianity in particular).
The Good: A very solid album all in all, no real fillers, 60 minute of heart-pumping metal. Best tracks in my opinion are “Nabataea”, “Waiting For The Thunder”, “Burning Sun”. “Hold Me In Your Arms” is a decent ballad.
The Bad: Like most Helloween albums, they tend to get somewhat repetitive if you aren't in the mood. The relatively weaker tracks are “Wanna Be God” and “Asshole”.

Verdict: Definitely worth a listen. Or 20. Another brilliant album from Helloween, who are yet to disappoint me with a full studio album. And the choruses. The choruses alone are worth giving the album a try.