Song: Ride The Sky
Album: Walls Of
Year: 1985
Genre: Speed Metal
With a
stentorian thunder and blinding sun on their golden wings, majestic eagles
brought down from the highest mountain tops the magic swords of an ancient
race. Forged long ago by their pagan brethren; the once bloodstained steel of
their ancestors was now in hand, as they cry for vengeance. Onward into
battle!…haha….I’m just kidding. That’s
stuff’s not easy to come up with by the way.
Anyways, I’m of the opinion that long-standing German metal misers Helloween designed
the blueprint for speed and power metal as it exists today. In 1985 they released a debut EP and a full
length record that combined the velocity of the newly born "thrash
metal" and the melody of traditional heavy metal. Their lyrics weren’t exactly the sword and
stone tales so many bands use now (we have a much beloved Mr. Dio to thank for
that), but dabbled more in the realm of societal issues and personal
strife. No too many bands mixed overly
melodic, high pitched vocals with the speed Helloween was playing in '85. In fact, only Agent Steel comes to mind as
far a those qualifications. Ever since
then, their first 4 releases, which includes the incredible Keeper Of The Seven
Keys parts 1 and 2, have been studied and copied hundreds of times by power
metal bands through out the world. The
metal world owes a great debt to Helloween for being innovative in an era of
Metallica, Slayer and Judas Priest wannabes.
Up the pumpkins!
Listen to "Ride The Sky" here.
Listen to "Ride The Sky" here.
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