Artist: Gamma Ray
Label: Mayan Records
Released: 2005
Rating: 3/5
“Majestic” is a real Gamma Ray album, and every fan of the band is going to be very happy with it. It’s got proper steel-plated metal balls and it’s blasting away in every direction. In places it’s way more aggressive than its predecessor “No World Order!”, which the opener My Temple announces right away.
As always, this album has all the right attributes you’d demand from any Gamma Ray record. First, that signature icy, angry vocal, extreme power metal double bass drive, supersonic picking over the riffing, a heaping dose of melody, nicely put-together songs you can actually listen to, gorgeous interludes, lovely twists of motifs laced with polished solos and three-part harmonies that keep the album’s dynamics high. Unique, just as Gamma Ray should be. And of course, no skimping on the polished intros and outros.
Still, it’s a bit annoying to realize that Gamma Ray really aren’t offering any freshness, anything new. They’ve stood still and are just serving up their well-tested recipe, which they of course have down flawlessly, and in that sense the album is flawless too. But only in that sense! Of course, Gamma Ray tried to hide the lack of ideas, for example by throwing a nu-metal riff into Condemned To Hell and dressing the title track in some half-step doom-style wailing. But that actually just strengthens the argument that there’s a shortage of imagination when it comes to writing new songs. We can also note that the basic guitar motif and beat in Blood Religion sound like something Running Wild might have written on one of their better days, while Strange World (not an Iron Maiden cover!) comes across like something Gamma Ray were doing back when Ralf Scheppers (Primal Fear) was still singing vocals. Spiritual Dictator is basically a lost song from “No World Order!”.
The album does open with full-on enthusiasm, mind you! Angrily jacked up, the way heavy metal should be, with My Temple, which torpedoes your ears clean off and instantly gives you the feeling that this is going to be “the real metal deal”. It’s followed by the “gentler” mid-tempo song Fight, which artfully discharges the first 5 minutes of the album’s high tension. Majesty turns out especially well here, graced by an outstanding instrumental middle section that makes you forget all about the tired, half-step-bent chorus. But the album still can’t boast anything special. And since almost every metal band has a song called Revelation, Gamma Ray went and wrote one for themselves this time too. It’s the longest song on the record and the most complex in structure. It’s a mini EP and the high point of the album. In short, a great start and a great finish, with nothing much going on in between. “Majestic” is proof that Gamma Ray have apparently reached some final stage of their evolution. They’ve tried it all and tasted it all.
Lineup
Kai Hansen – vocals, guitar
Henjo Richter – guitar, keyboards
Dirk Schlächter – bass guitar
Dan Zimmermann – drums
Production
Kai Hansen & Dirk Schlächter
Track list
1. My Temple
2. Fight
3. Strange World
4. Hell Is Thy Home
5. Blood Religion
6. Condemned To Hell
7. Spiritual Dictator
8. Majesty
9. How Long
10. Revelation
Album length: 55:03
