HEEL – Chaos And Greed

Chaos And Greed is the second album from Swedish Power Metalers Heel. Their last release Evil Days was released two years ago and since then the band has made great material for the new record. This is an album born in the roots of good old Power/Neo-Classical Metal. It features high-pitched vocals, screaming guitars, thundering drums, rough bass lines and keyboards that remind you of Jens Johansson’s outstanding playing. This will make every Power Metaler go crazy. The music is true to the genre, full of great hook lines and exploding with heavy attitude.

The album opens with the title track which is a great song with heavy, aggressive riffs, pounding double bass drums and raw high-pitched vocals, just what a good Power Metal song requires. It’s a cliché, of course, but sounds pretty awesome. It sounds a bit like Neo-Classical Metal inspired as well, like Yngwie Malmsteen for example.

The next song “Crusader” is a Heavy Metal beast, a little slow and flowing with aggressive riffs mostly played in unison between guitar and bass. It’s a very basic song and nothing more than just average. But what happened at the end of it? Sounds like the one who mixed the album accidentally cut away the end.

The next one is a ballad, again a bit Neoclassical inspired. During this one you can hear similarities between singer David Henriksson and Stratovarius singer Timo Kotipelto. It’s possible to hear this comparison during the entire record actually, but this may be the first time you’ll be able to notice it.

“Sons Of Thunder” is another standout track from the record. The chorus is fantastic, reminding you of Edguy’s album Theatre Of Salvation. You may notice drawing lines between the band and others in the genre, that’s because there’s nothing original about the band. However, they deliver classy, good old Power Metal. There’s also some great keyboard playing by David Johansson on this one. However, his playing is definitely heard on the following tune “Forbidden Ways” where the song starts out with some very cool shredding between guitars, bass and keyboards. On this one you’ll hear David singing much higher than on the previous once, which is very cool listening too.

The rest of the album follows the same path as the already mentioned songs.

Chaos And Greed is a great Power Metal album. It could have been better with a great production but the song material compensates for it. Chaos And Greed is highly recommended.

1. Chaos And Greed
2. Crusader
3. Did You Know
4. Taste Of Steel
5. Sons Of Thunder
6. Forbidden Ways
7. Kingdom Comes
8. Light Of Day
9. Save Our Souls
10. This Angel Cry
11. Gold And Glory
12. Walk To The Light
13. Land Of Freedom