Gamma Ray - Majestic

[Liu]

Gamma Ray - Majestic
Sanctuary

Gamma Ray have gone a long way from shedding the stigma of "Kai Hansen's new band". While the first three albums didn't do much to persuade people otherwise, it was Land Of The Free where Kai was finally able to break free from the shackles of his former band and has since blown said band out of the water every step of the way. Its now 15+ years later and the band has released their eighth album, showing that Kai and company have no desire to slow things down.

Upon first listen of Majestic, one hears a noticable change from the last few albums. Everything just sounds HEAVY. The guitars deliver a devastating assault that can shatter ribcages, the bass thunders with Valhalla's intensity and the drums crush the souls of petty non-believers with every snare hit and cymbal crash. Indeed, this may be the band's loudest album, in volume and musicianship. Its definately a step up from the last album, No World Order, that saw the band struggle with some stagnation. There is no such problem on Majestic, everything sounds refreshed and with a sense of renewed vigor.

However, the album kind of starts on a small misstep. My Temple doesn't have quite the same impact that previous album openers such as Rebellion In Dreamland, Anywhere In The Galaxy and Beyond The Black Hole had. All these songs are considered top tier on their respective albums, and My Temple doesn't really register when you take the rest of the material here into account. Thankfully, Fight more than makes up for the previous song's shortcomings. Its the shortest song on the album, but its very energetic and fast paced, everything you'd come to expect from Gamma Ray. Hell Is My Home and Spiritual Dictator are some more songs that hold onto that vibe, the latter of which is probably the best song here. It just screams "Classic Gamma Ray" throughout. Condemned To Hell has a more controlled pace that builds up to the powerful chorus. Strange World and Majesty provide periodic breaks from the speedy material, mixing things up nicely. A few unexpected touches are thrown in, such as the tribalesque drum break before the solo on Condemned To Hell and the chorus of Majesty which goes into an almost doomy territory. These little things thrown in add much more flavor than what you'd expect from a Power Metal band. The keyboard-laden How Long is a bit of a sour note. Musically the song isn't bad but the anti-war lyrics just sound unnecessary. Revelation is the pre-requisite epic album closer, in the same vein as Armageddon from the Powerplant album. It personifies the album title perfectly.

Majestic silences any doubts of Gamma Ray's dominance in the Power Metal universe. This is their best album in quite a number of years and certainly surpasses whatever tomfoolery that Kai's former band is peddling these days.


01. My Temple
02. Fight
03. Strange World
04. Hell Is Thy Home
05. Blood Religion
06. Condemned To Hell
07. Spiritual Dictator
08. Majesty
09. How Long
10. Revelation

Score: 8/10