German Power Metal titans' "Straight Out Of Hell" was indeed one of my most anticipated albums of 2013, and expectedly from a band like HELLOWEEN, it did not disappoint me. This album, contrarily to what its title suggests, is actually more optimistic than the previous ones.

The opening track "Nabatea", a relatively long one, is an amazing Speed Metal masterpiece with a quite different lyrical theme than the rest of the tracks. "World of War" is another fast-paced song with a more serious undertone that reminded me of the classic "Eagles Fly Free" for some reason. It is one of the best tracks, in my opinion."Live Now" a relatively weak track and my least favorite, is followed by the bombastic "Far From The Stars", one of the most powerful and thrilling tracks. "Burning Sun" is actually my personal favorite. Michael Weikath got the idea of this one in the shower, and it turned out to be such a masterpiece, embellished by breathtakingly symphonic interludes, and of course, amazing vocal performance by Mr. Andi Deris. When I first heard "Waiting For The Thunder", nothing except "If I Could Fly" crossed my mind. "Hold Me In Your Arms" is a soft romantic ballad, totally expected at this point, right in the middle of the album."Wanna Be God" comes right after and it's in a way, HELLOWEEN's "We Will Rock You". I definitely loved it, and you'll find yourself singing along, right away, at the first time you listen to it. The title track is a very catchy one, but there's nothing special about it. Still, you'll have the "Straight Out of Hell" line sung in chorus stuck in your head for a while. The biggest surprise was "Asshole" though. The track is surprisingly not as heavy as its title implies, not even aggressive. It is, however, another cheerful sing-along track. It's another powerful and highly ranked track for me. The symphonic elements in "Years" are just enchantingly well done. "Make Fire Catch The Flame" has a sort of cinematic intro and a perfect chorus with an awesome bombastic sound and a great velocity as in "Nabatea". "Churches Break Down" is no weaker than the previous tracks, with additional elements such as a brief use of organ and female vocals.

The limited edition of album contains two additional bonus tracks: one is "Another Shot of Life" and it's not bad at all for a bonus track. The second is the Hammond version of "Burning Sun", a tribute to the late Jon Lord. The bottom line: "Straight Out of Hell" is a decent follow-up to the thirteen preceding great albums that made HELLOWEEN the pioneers of their genre. It put a smile on my face for days.