Usually when German Power Metal comes up in a metalheaded conversation, one of the bands that blinks on and off like a neon sign inside my head, by default, is none other than Helloween. The band of smilin' pumpkin heads has always been a love/hate situation especially ever since vocalist Michael Kiske departed from the band after the release of Chameleon (1993, EMI), let aside the moment when Kai Hansen (Gamma Ray frontman) decided it was time he moved on and left the Helloween camp after the release of the two brilliant Keeper Of The Seven Keys albums (Part I in 1987 and Part II in 1988).
And though I'm not going to elaborate on Helloween's history in this particular review (we'll get to that when it's time to review the new Keeper... album - soon), I just want to say that all bands surely have their crappy time periods, releasing shitty albums etc. It happens to everyone or almost everyone. So, after two really mediocre or even bad albums (Rabbit Don't Come Easy made me puke pumpkin seeds all over my brand new carpet...), Helloween decided to change their record label (for the 6th time? Something like that...) and attempt something rather...risky. Yeah, it's risky when you're about to release a third Keeper... album and singer Andy Deris sure has balls to try and do something like that, knowing how successful and critical the first two parts were for the band's career. So, here we're going to examine the Mrs. God EP, the first tease off the new album.
The title track of Mrs. God really amazed me, bearing in mind that - as I mentioned above - the band's latest albums were quite disappointing for me. So, there I was, happily taping my foot to its catchy chorus, singing along...yeah, you get the picture. When a song does that to you, you're apparently liking it. The song may not be in the same speedy vein the first two Keeper... albums were but hey...that was a long time ago. BUT, it does sound like a mid tempo leftover from that era. I mean, it's not like this song couldn't have been on any of those two albums (and I guess that with Kiske, it would have been even more interesting - no disrespect meant towards Deris, I like his voice too). It's fun, it's groovy, it's Helloween and I'm sure most of their fans will enjoy it.
My Life For One More Day is a blend of two periods, in my humble opinion. It's got the tension the old Helloween songs had and a slight, tiny touch of Deris era. Excellently catchy chorus, once again. Cool hooks, cool rhythm. I enjoyed this track too.
Run (The Name Of Your Enemy) is the less interesting part of this EP. It doesn't differ much from the style of tracks found on The Dark Ride (2000, Nuclear Blast Records), it's short, it has a repeating chorus which gets rather tiring and feels quite different from the two aforementioned tracks.
Last but not least, the video of Mrs. God is quite funny, I think you'll all enjoy it, especially if you've liked the track which I must confess it grows on me as time goes by. Poor Andy Derris...getting a merciless haircut by some gorgeous chicks. Oops, sorry, didn't wanna make a spoiler...
I don't know what the third Keeper... album will sound like in its entirety (I will, soon though) but if this EP is a representative sample then I'm anxiously looking forward to slipping it in my CD player (or up my butt if it sucks). And since this is an EP, there will be no rating. Ratings are for the real thing, so, we'll all just have to wait...