My God Given Right

by Helloween

Overview

The stalwart German outfit's 16th studio long player, My God-Given Right is a power metal cornucopia spilling over with commercial-grade sweets and cheeses. Bolstered by the dizzying guitar work of Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner, the 15-track set has some satisfying moments, especially early on with the one-two punch of "Heroes" and "Battles Won," both of which fit nicely into the Helloween canon where speed metal precision meets rich, melodic choruses tailor-made for unison fist pumping. Vocalist Andi Deris more than holds his own throughout, delivering often inane lyrics like "We wanna stay crazy, fresh as a daisy" with gusto, in a voice that falls somewhere between former Helloween frontman Michael Kiske and head Scorpion Klaus Meine. At 15 slabs of metal, My God-Given Right overstays its welcome a bit, with large portions of its latter half drifting dangerously into filler territory. But stand-out cuts like the soaring "Creatures in Heaven," the menacing "Swing of the Fallen World," and the aforementioned "Heroes" prove that, 30 years into their career, Helloween are still largely unequaled purveyors and unabashed champions of "cheese-tastic" power metal hymns. ~ James Christopher Monger

Product Details

Release Date:	06/02/2015
Label:	Atomic Fire / Nuclear Blast
UPC:	0727361334420

Tracks

1. Heroes
2. Battle's Won
3. My God-Given Right
4. Stay Crazy
5. Lost in America
6. Russian Roul¿¿
7. The Swing of a Fallen World
8. Like Everybody Else
9. Creatures in Heaven
10. If God Loves Rock 'n' Roll
11. Living on the Edge
12. Claws
13. You, Still of War
14. I Wish I Were There
15. Wicked Game

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Helloween   Primary Artist
Matthias Ulmer   Keyboards
Andi Deris   Vocals
Olaf Senkbeil   Vocals (Background)
Michael Weikath   Guitar
Billy King   Vocals (Background)
Markus Grosskopf   Bass
Dani Loeble   Drums
Sascha Gerstner   Strings

Technical Credits

Martin Haeusler   Artwork,Design,Photography
((Grosskopf))   Composer,Lyricist
Matthias Ulmer   Keyboard Arrangements
Thomas Geiger   Editing
Charlie Bauerfeind   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Andi Deris   Composer,Lyricist,Group Member
Michael Weikath   Composer,Lyricist,Group Member
Markus Grosskopf   Composer,Lyricist,Group Member
Dani Loeble   Group Member
Sascha Gerstner   Composer,Lyricist,Group Member
Marcos Moura   Illustrations