Warthur The true followup to Gambling With the Devil - the anniversary release Unarmed essentially being an acoustic and orchestral tangent - 7 Sinners finds Helloween playing in much the same style as they did on that album, with perhaps a bit more of a consistent atmosphere than that release, the music here being angled towards the darker end of that sound. "Going darker" usually a good way to make metal fans' ears prick up, at least momentarily, but to me 7 Sinners neither represents a solid step up over the somewhat lukewarm Gambling With the Devil nor one of Helloween's occasional serious missteps - it's one more acceptable but inessential album in their catalogue which fans will probably enjoy, but which won't trouble the likes of the Keeper of the Seven Keys albums when it comes to a place in the top tier of Helloween albums.

Kingcrimsonprog In 2010, Helloween decided to take things in a darker, heavier and more serious direction with their 13th full-length studio album, 7 Sinners. While still unmistakably a Deris-era Helloween record full of gorgeous dual lead guitars, thundering double-kicks and character-filled vocal performances, the overall attitude is just a little less fun and a little more aggressive. The guitar tone has a harsher bite too.

For the perfect example of what the band are doing here, listen to the single “Are You Metal?” and pay attention to the music underneath the guitar solo. Then listen to the first heavy riff on “Who Is Mr. Madman?” – See? It’s the Deris-era Helloween sound, but darker, harder, and heavier. Songs like “Long Live The King” still have huge sing-along melodies and soaring triumphant guitar lines that you want from Helloween, but they simply crush as well.

It sounds kind of like a mixture between the heaviest parts of 2000’s The Dark Ride and 2007’s Gambling With The Devil albums.

Ok. So its heavier than their usual style, but is it also good? Yes. Yes, its very good. There are memorable choruses in spades, great guitar solos, fun drum fills and a very smart balance of consistency with variety. You won’t get bored, but it feels like a cohesive “whole.”

Standout tracks include Grosskopf’s fantastic contributions “World Of Fantasty,” and “If A Mountain Could Talk” as well as the fist-pounding, anthemic “Raise The Noise” which they should have made a concert staple. Its an absolute stormer. It even has a Jethro Tull-esque flute solo that doesn’t feel cheesy, token or forced.

A lot is said about Helloween’s frequent line-up changes, but this third album by the Löble/Gerstner/Deris/Grosskopf/Weikath line-up (the longest-lasting and most stable line-up in the band’s 30-year career) more than stands up to scrutiny, and shows progression and development without “missing the point” of the band.

Overall, if you wanted to pick up the harshest most savage Helloween album, this would be your best bet. If you want to pick up another good Helloween album this is still a great bet.

Stephen Over 15 albums in almost 3 decades, Helloween has strengthed themselves as the true defender of European power metal. And after the 25th anniversary playful album, "Unarmed", the band returns in action with "7 Sinners", and this time they unleashed a very balanced mix of "Master of The Rings" and "Gambling With The Devil", with the essence of "The Dark Ride" element thrown in. It's modern, it's aggressive, it's blazing, but yet the melodic flavor from their classic era is still there.

"Where The Sinners Go" has an updated sound, not very fast paced, and honestly this first track almost put a doubt in me, are they really back in form or not? But then the punctual title question, "Are You Metal?" breaking in, it's a phenomenal power metal track, equipped with a dark riffs and insane drumming, and followed by "Who Is Mr.Madman?" with a raging melodic rhythm and superior sing-along chorus, damn me but I just know the king has reclaim the throne.

"Raise The Noise", "If A Mountain Could Talk", and "The Sage, The Fool, The Sinner" are examples of how they brought back the glorious era of the 80s when the speed and harmonic are the success keys. "World of Fantasy" erupted with a volcanic riffs, the synth implementation is effective, the chorus blows many average power metal tracks you heard before. I spotted at least three fillers which I think should have been left out to form a perfect album, but overall a very satisfying result and the quality is up there side by side with "Gambling With The Devil".

Though I still think "Gambling" is more enjoyable and accomplished, "7 Sinners" put Helloween back on the map and if this kind of album are they going to release in the years to come, I bet it's impossible to shake them off from the top.

J-Man Are You Metal?

Helloween seems to be one of those bands who just never disappoints. Even 25 years and 13 albums since their debut, Helloween is still cranking out great semi-progressive power metal albums. 7 Sinners is the 14th album from Helloween, and was released on Halloween of 2010. Although I doubt Helloween will ever release an album that can compete with some of their 80’s and early 90’s classics, it’s great to hear that these guys are still dedicated to making great power metal. If you like Helloween, or power metal in general, 7 Sinners is one of the best albums this year to come out in that genre. Although there is a bit of “cheesiness” on the album (as expected from most power metal releases), there are far more positives than negatives to be found on this Helloween release.

The music played here is power metal that we’re used to from Helloween, but there is a fresh, modern sound also to be found here. Although there isn’t anything terribly unique on 7 Sinners, it’s great that Helloween is still reinventing themselves after such a long career. There are quite a lot of progressive tendencies on 7 Sinners, and even a few songs, such as If A Mountain Could Talk or Far in the Future, could even be considered prog metal tracks. These two songs are also highlights on the album. The flute solo in Raise the Voice is especially worth noting. It progresses into a great flute/guitar dual that sounds almost as if Ian Anderson had a jam with Iron Maiden. It’s a really powerful track. The Smile of the Sun is a keyboard-led power ballad, and is actually another great track. I really love the chorus in this track. Unfortunately, there are a few weaker tracks like Are You Metal? and The Sage, The Fool, The Sinner. These aren’t complete throwaways, but they are disappointing nonetheless.

As we should all know from Helloween by now, they are a very talented bunch. The two guitarists, Sascha Gerstner and Michael Weikath, especially stand out. The drumming from Dani Löble is also noteworthy. He really rips on some parts of this album, and it’s great to hear his talent shine through.

The production is a bit of a problem in my opinion. The “cheesiness” I mentioned in the first paragraph was directly pointing to the production. This is that type of over-produced, synthetic-sounding power metal production that can get really annoying. If you like that sort of thing, that may be a good thing, but I really wish that the sound here would have been slightly rawer.

Conclusion:

7 Sinners is a really good album from Helloween. It really amazes me that, 27 years since their conception, they are still making great power metal albums. If you like other Helloween albums, and are okay with a cheesy production, this is a release worth getting. I’m going to give 7 Sinners 3.5 stars. Had the production been better and a few songs were tweaked slightly, this would be a 4 star release. Still, this is highly recommended to fans of power metal!