Gambling with the Devil

Gambling with the Devil is the twelfth album on which Helloween lines up sharp speed metal and strongly melodic songcraft in good balance. The guitar runs lightly, and Andi Deris’s singing deftly uses brightness and shadow, greatly widening the faces of the songs. From the grandeur of the previous Keeper Legacy, it heads toward a tighter style. Beginning with an uneasy overture, from the aggression of “Kill It” and the catchiness of “As Long as I Fall” to the lift of “Paint a New World,” the momentum of “The Bells of the 7 Hells” and the afterglow of the closing “Final Fortune,” the album is varied yet keeps its unity. A construction with dynamics draws the listener in to the end. Behind the flashy melody, the rhythm section’s powerful drive and the guitar’s hard riffs firmly support the record. It is a record that powerfully updates the traditional Helloween image with present-day playing. Uniting a sense of speed and worked-out song construction at a high level, it is a fulfilling power-metal record.