The Block
Human Zoo is a German traditional heavy metal band that has finally had a break through album with the release of Eyes of the Stranger. Unlike most bands that fall under the melodic heavy metal genre, Human Zoo is not a Scandinavian band. Besides great melodic passages fitted together with great rock and metal compositions, Human Zoo has more than a few tricks up their sleeves. One of those is the addition of a saxophone. The saxophone, which is evident on most of the songs, adds a nice 60’s/ 70’s blues rock type feel to the album. This is especially evident on the opening of “Everything Changes”, which could’ve been taken straight out of the 70’s.
Eyes of the Stranger is definitely very light metal, leaning very closely towards hard rock, but there are enough heavy metal tendencies to win over fans of the metal genre. Though this isn’t your typical traditional metal release from the likes of Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, and other old, and new heavy bands, this release is great listening and it has some great moments on it too. Mostly the guitars provide the enjoyment, though sometimes it’s the keyboards or saxophone. This album never gets too heavy in a general sense, but it does have its heavier moments. Like in the beginning of “The Answer” where the main guitar riff could’ve been taken straight out of Operation: Mindcrime. Also there are some power metal tendencies in the drums, though not often.
The musicianship on this album is no doubt superb on this album. The saxophone playing by Boris Matakovic is great, and being a sax player myself I can really appreciate how good of a musician he is. Everyone else on the album is equally as good, especially the singer, Thomas Seeburger, and the guitarist, Ingolf Engler.
Overall this album is very finely produced and performed. Though this album is a bit commercialized it provides entertainment, and every track is a great melodic heavy metal composition. Eyes of the Stranger easily gets 3.5 stars.