RATING:
IT's there! Two years after "The Time Of The Oath", Helloween come back with their best album since the legendary "Keeper II"!! Yes, I know I said the same about "Time Of The Oath", but the simple fact is that "Better Than Raw" is... well, better. This album has it all: it's fast, heavy, melodic, atmospheric. The musicians are at their very best, for example drummer Uli Kusch offers one of the most devastating performance I ever heard, and the twin guitarists Roland Grapow and Michael Weikath play some of the greatest solos of their carreer. Even singer Andi Deris has improved. The songs are 11, the first of which is the classic symphonic intro "Deliberately Limited Preliminary Prelude Period In Z". Listening to "Push", the opening song, for the first time is almost a shock: Andi's voice is nearly unrecognizable, I don't remember hearing him sing so high and screamy before this time! Apart from this, giutars are really heavy, but the refrain is what we should expect, therefore full of melody. "Falling Higher" is the classic Helloween anthemic speed tune, (it can be compared to "Where The Rain Grows") and I'm sure you won't be able to stay quiet while hearing it. There are also some great mid tempos, such as the groovy "A Handful Of Pain", the highly melodic "Hey Lord!" and the absolutely wonderful single, "I Can". Some experiments can be found on slower "Don't Spit On My Mind" and the fastest (and very long) "Revelation", but maybe there are some little parts that could be done better. However, the rest of the album is fantastic, including the semi ballad "Time". In a few words, dear metalheads... BUY IT!
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