EDGUY — Hellfire Club (review)

EDGUY — Hellfire Club album cover Album · 2004 · Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Mjöllnir
“Ladies and gentleman, welcome to just another Edguy offering...”, but a good one all the same. Building on the success of the punchy “Mandrake”, Hellfire Club straddles the line between the grandiose and the comedic phases of their career.

The album opens with the two best cuts in fine form with the straight ahead but fiery “Mysteria” and the extended number “The Piper Never Dies”. This one follows the template of the last album’s moody “The Pharaoh” closely but manages to avoid the potential dangers of this and crafts a touch of its own character. “Down to the Devil” and “Under the Moon” lead the rest of the pack built around stupendously sharp riffs and a classic heavy metal attitude. The sing along single “King of Fools” does its job adequately and “Lavatory Love Machine” points the way to follow up album “Rocket Ride” with upbeat bounce and outrageously silly lyrics with a perfectly ridiculous delivery from Tobias Sammet. Maybe all that Metal Opera stuff was just getting too serious for him and felt the need to loosen up a bit?

The album does suffer from a dip in quality as it comes to the end, though “Navigator” keeps it from collapsing with its effectively bombastic chorus. The preceding “Rise of the Morning Glory” is passable Helloween worship, but thankfully the earlier cut “We Don’t Need a Hero” is a stronger example of this side to their sound. And don’t ask about the little following interlude - you must listen to understand... The album closes with a sappy and OTT power ballad, which I can forgive as power metal bands are decidedly hit and miss with those. Following this is an equally predictable bonus song and a version of “Mysteria” with guest Mille from Kreator popping up in here and there. Still, Euro power metal bands rarely stick to the Helloween format while managing to inject some personality into this tried (tired?) and true approach, so they are worth a listen for sure.
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