Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Heaven's Gate
Label: Limb Music Records
Release: 2015
Length: 91:21
Rating: 4/5
Heaven’s Gate were a German power metal band from Wolfsburg who put out five studio albums between 1989 and 1999. In 1999 they officially called it a day! Over the years the band’s name has stayed overlooked on the international metal scene, except in Japan, where the release of their debut »In Control« brought them more noticeable success. During their years together, Heaven’s Gate played top-notch power metal that you could slot stylistically somewhere between early-era Helloween and Judas Priest of the first half of the eighties.
The band has a pioneering significance for the development and popularization of German, and European, power metal, right alongside much more successful names of the scene like the aforementioned Helloween, and also Gamma Ray, Rage, Running Wild, Grave Digger, etc.,… since their beginnings reach back to 1982, when Heaven’s Gate were called Steeltower and in 1984 released their only album under that name, »Night of the Dog«. Later they renamed themselves Carrion and played under that name until 1987, then changed names a third (and final) time, to Heaven’s Gate. So in 1988 they released their (new) studio debut as Heaven’s Gate, titled »In Control«, which got a quick re-release the following year. The debut featured reworked songs written back when the band was still going by Carrion. It’s an excellent album that can hold its own any day against the most prominent achievements of the German power metal scene of the eighties and even later, since in terms of quality it has passed the test of time. Over the years and four more studio albums, the band consolidated, nurtured and developed its style. Of those albums, the last one, »Menergy« from 1999, counts as a more noticeable stylistic departure, since the band started knocking on the door of progressive metal on it. Obviously the band is still a bit ashamed of it to this day, as this compilation also shows, even though it’s their creative zenith and artistic peak , right before the downfall of Heaven’s Gate’s career.
The compilation »Best for Sale!« is welcome for the simple reason that the band’s studio albums are almost impossible to find on the market these days, and at the same time it boosts the chance that all the freshly baked fans of melodic, hard-hitting heavy metal get to know this unjustly overlooked but truly excellent outfit. Besides the single-CD edition, which packs in 17 tracks and so fills up the full 80 minutes of an »average CD« to the brim, there’s also a digital »download« edition with 20 tracks in total, including three extra songs, which hold no surprises at all for anyone who knows the band. The first of them is Touch the Light from the excellent EP »Open The Gate And Watch« released in 1990, the second is We Got the Time from the album »Livin’ In Hysteria« (1991), and the third is Evolution from the album »Menergy« (1999). That last album is treated like a stepchild here, with just one track (Mastermind) on the compilation, so at least the digital edition, which also brings Evolution, softens the blow of that album getting shortchanged, even though it’s no less brilliant than the band’s other studio releases.
If you’re a fan of the genre, Heaven’s Gate is a band you absolutely have to check out, so spare at least a moment of attention for the compilation »Best for Sale!« too. Anyone who doesn’t know the band and loves the classic days of eighties power metal will be flat-out stunned that there’s yet another band from those times that played great power metal and yet stayed completely overlooked on the scene.
Line-up
Sascha Paeth – guitar
Thomas Rettke – vocals
Manni Jordan – bass
Robert Hunecke “Rizzo” – bass
Bonny Bilski – guitar
Thorsten Müller – drums
Production
Sascha Paeth
Tracklist
01. In Control (“In Control” 1989) – 05:09
02. Surrender (“In Control” 1989) – 04:02
03. Tyrants (“In Control” 1989) – 04:36
04. Path Of Glory (“In Control” 1989) – 04:15
05. Touch The Light (EP “Open The Gates And Watch” 1990) – 03:48
06. Livin’ In Hysteria (“Livin’ In Hysteria” 1991) – 04:36
07. We Got The Time (“Livin’ In Hysteria” 1991) – 04:32
08. The Neverending Fire (“Livin’ In Hysteria” 1991) – 05:27
09. Flashes (“Livin’ In Hysteria” 1991) – 03:21
10. Best Days Of My Life (“Livin’ In Hysteria” 1991) – 05:53
11. Gate Of Heaven (“Livin’ In Hysteria” 1991) – 04:37
12. Under Fire (“Hell For Sale!” 1992) – 03:38
13. White Evil (“Hell For Sale!” 1992) – 04:58
14. Rising Sun (“Hell For Sale!” 1992) – 03:29
15. He’s The Man (“Hell For Sale!” 1992) – 04:20
16. Planet Earth (“Planet E.” 1996) – 05:00
17. On The Edge (“Planet E.” 1996) – 03:31
18. Noah’s Dream (“Planet E.” 1996) – 10:07
19. Mastermind (“Menergy” 1999) – 03:59
20. Evolution (“Menergy” 1999) – 03:48
