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Track Listing: Empathy All You Need To Know Time To Live To The Metal Rise Mother Angel Shine Forever Deadlands Chasing Shadows No Need To Cry

If you've never heard a Gamma Ray album before, quit reading this, run to your local record store and pick this album up right away. This album is definitely one you DO NOT want to miss. Especially if you're a guitar freak like me. Gamma Ray has managed to mix a sound that I can only describe as Power Metal with a dash of Scorpions thrown in for good measure. The riffs are smooth, and the solos are instant classics. The bass is smooth and fluid, the drums are heavy-hitting, and the vocals are very strong. The production and overall musicianship on this album is absolutely amazing. The sound is clear and crisp, not covered in a cloud of static like many albums I've heard before.

The song "Mother Angel" really shows their classic metal influences on this album. The riffs have a very classic sound to them, while still retaining a power metal feel throughout the song. The vocals are very theatrical, almost operatic, and the guitars compliment Kai Hansen's vocals wonderfully. The drums are very methodical and heavy hitting, and this track even features very light and very tasteful synthesizer accompaniment. This song is actually quite beautiful, although a bit long with a running time of five minutes, 21 seconds.

Another great track off this album is the title track "To the Metal." This is another song that has obvious classic metal influences. The riffs alone are great, but with the drums and bass added, it makes the song a thousand times better. The vocals are very well performed and the lyrics flow perfectly with the song. The song breaks into a solo around the 3 minute mark, and it sounds like a classic stadium solo, short but in your face. I would honestly expect this kind of solo to come from one of the Schenker brothers, not a power metal band! This is another long one, with a running time of almost 6 minutes!

My favorite track off this album has to be "All You Need to Know." This song is pure power metal. With epic riffs and licks, intense double pedal drumming, and thick creamy bass, this song is pure badassery. About halfway through, this song goes into a pretty heavy breakdown and into an epic solo, although it's a bit short lived, it's pretty intense. The vocals are pretty awesome as well. Kai's singing is perfectly suited for the style of music he puts so much effort into.

Whether you're a new Gamma Ray fan, or if you've followed them since 1990, you'll love this album. I give it a 8.5 rating and two horns up! LONG LIVE METAL!