EDGUY – Hellfire Club

“Never change a winning team” is a common saying. Edguy is outrageously far away from doing that. I’ve had lots of fun with Edguy both live and on record earlier, but I think this is the album that “does it” for me, I’ve had enough, basically. I’m not trying to be to square or rude, but in terms of unoriginality, this is amongst the very best I’ve ever heard. Let me explain: Listen to “Mysteria” and “Under the Moon” and compare them to “Painkiller”-era Judas Priest, “King of Fools” and compare it to HIM, Pain, or similar single-oriented acts, the calmer parts of “Forever” and compare it to “Nothing Else Matters” or “Mama Said”, “Navigator” and compare it to anything from Iron Maiden, and finally “The Spirit Will Remain” and compare it to the music from the movie “Braveheart”. Then comes the evident “Mysteria” = “Hysteria” (Def Leppard), “Forever” = “Forever” (Stratovarius), “Navigator” = “The Ghost of the Navigator” (Iron Maiden”, “The Spirit will Remain” = “The Spirit Carries On” (Dream Theater), and last but not least the band photos in the booklet, that smells like The Darkness (I hereby officially announce that darkness can be smelled).

I’m pretty sure that Tobias Sammet (singer and main songwriter) himself is aware of these resemblances, and Edguy has always been sort of a mix of everything that’s good in traditional Metal, but this time it’s gone too far. First and foremost, the quality of the songs is below Edguy’s normal standard, and the spark of youthful energy (hah, Lord Byron go home!) is lacking this time. Still, “Lavatory Love Machine” IS both a) funny and b) a great song, the best one on the album, actually. There are also some other highlights albeit the obvious link to other bands – both “Mysteria” (especially the limited edition version with Mille Petrozza from Kreator on additional vocals) and “King of Fools” are quality tunes, and also “Forever” and “The Piper Never Dies” have their moments.

Still, it’s with a heavy heart I announce this to be the least good Edguy album since Kingdom of Madness, and I certainly hope they can come up with better stuff in the future. The Metal world needs the energy and sense of humor Edguy represents. Cheerio for now and welcome back soon, is all I can say. “We Don’t Need a Hero”, you say in song 3 on the album, and that’s certainly true. You’ve got enough of those already …