Tag Archives: gamma ray

Gamma Ray @ Gramercy Theatre (1/28/2011)

Logo - Gamma Ray

Artist: Gamma Ray
Venue: Gramercy Theatre (New York, NY)
Opener: Arctic Flame, Kore Rozzik
Date: 1/28/2011
Label: Ear Music

Please don’t take this the wrong way but I hate Gamma Ray. Yep. Totally hate them and the other forty or so bands that just got to enjoy a full week of being on a Metal Cruise to the Caribbean with night after night of playing music and partying hard. My venom towards them all is not entirely serious and more based on the fact that New York City had been getting brutalized by Mother Nature who seems to be enjoying her ability to heap piles and piles of snow onto our Metropolis. I would not usually complain about such things but if you lived here you would probably be in agreement with me and hold a little bit of attitude about some folks who had been sailing their cares away in the warn sun. That being said, this “70,000 Tons of Metal” cruise had only just returned to port down in Florida earlier this morning and now the guys in Gamma Ray had to not only disembark from that without incident but also make their way up to a snow covered terrain that resembled the arctic more than it did a Big Apple. The guys in Gamma Ray were hitting our city for the first time in just over two years having last paid a visit with Helloween over at B.B. King Blues Club. That was a hell of a show, so I was looking forward to seeing them in action again as they delivered the goods from their newest Metal release “To The Metal”. They would be doing this particular show with two local openers and I had to say that with no offense to the pair, this was not all that enticing to the fans that had to trudge and stumble across the ice and slush to get to the venue. Our show was set to have both Desdemon and Arctic Flame, but illness curtailed the first band so the Flame moved up a slot and the opening time was left to a group called Kore Rozzik. I would miss the openers this evening and leave my time and attention to be purely centered on Gamma Ray. Here is how the set went down.
Continue reading Gamma Ray @ Gramercy Theatre (1/28/2011)

PiercingMetal’s “Best Of” 2008: The Videos and Concerts

Hello again, we are back with the rest of the years “Best Of” for 2008. In an earlier installment I posted all of the albums that blew me away and now its time to showcase the videos and concerts along with a few other quick items. Please take a look down below and get ready to share your own favorites with us.

Logo - The Best Of

The Best DVD’s of 2008:

Various Artists “Roadrunner United” (Roadrunner Records): Filmed concert with Heavy Metal’s finest celebrating the record labels 25th anniversary. Lots of fun stuff here.

Opeth “The Roundhouse Tapes” (Peaceville Records): Filmed during the “Ghost Reveries” tour and a follow up to the CD released last year.

Twisted Sister “Live At The Astoria” (Demolition Records): The SMF’s from NYC remind London and the world about why they are a Metal super power to this very day.

Within Temptation “Black Symphony” (Roadrunner Records): A stunning live concert performance that pairs the Dutch sensations with a full orchestra. This is an amazing show. Audio CD included.

Iron Maiden “Live After Death” (Universal Music): Never before on DVD this classic Iron Maiden show from the “Powerslave” tour, this release was loaded with extras and is listed as required Metal.

Lamb Of God “Walk With Me In Hell” (Epic Records): This documentary took the viewer on a three year trek with the band and was insightful, entertaining and sometimes jarring in its honesty. Great job guys.

Dimmu Borgir “The Invaluable Darkness Tour” (Nuclear Blast Records): The giants of Norwegian Black Metal have their tour captured on DVD for more to enjoy. A great set with a ton of features.

Blackmore’s Night “Paris Moon” (SPV Records): A great concert from the Renaissance Rockers. Bonus CD included.
Continue reading PiercingMetal’s “Best Of” 2008: The Videos and Concerts

Helloween & Gamma Ray @ B.B. King Blues Club (9/21/2008)

The pairing of Helloween and Gamma Ray was nothing less than a dream come true for many of the Power Metal fans of the world and when the “Hellish Rock” tour hit NYC we were there to document it.  So far, September had been one of the craziest months we ever experienced in the role of Metal Media guy but we were still happy to be able to present our views and images of the fun with the worldwide PiercingMetal.com readership.  We shot photos of both groups at some length and those who wish to learn more about it need only click the logo below to be brought to the item on the main website.

Logo - Helloween

Artist: Helloween
Venue: B.B. King Blues Club (New York, NY)
Opener: Gamma Ray
Date: 9/21/2008
Label: SPV Records

The concerts to attend on my planning schedule had already been rather fruitful with interesting appearances from the legendary Carcass who brought a bevy of supporting acts with them, all the way through show featuring Trouble, Opeth and the mighty Motorhead which was actually only last night for me. Yet despite the roster of things already done and being worked out for the Metal legions to enjoy – the very premise of both Gamma Ray and Helloween touring together on the same package was enough to make you tremble in your leather jacket even if we were still dealing with the warmer weather that would find such things in our closets for the next few weeks. They called this event “The Hellish Rock Tour” and it would thankfully feature no other openers and only be the two main bands. I say it like this based on the wide assortment of opening talent that I had absorbed over the past couple of weeks and since the longer the show the more exhausting it can be, I was happy to just see the pair of killer Power Metal acts taking the stage. Plus, with no openers to speak of this would mean a much longer set for each of the bands and one cannot go wrong with that. The show once again would be something that took place at B.B. King Blues Club and the venue was jam packed from the moment that I walked inside the place. I won’t lie when I say that I loved seeing that many Metal heads gathered together for the cause. Here is how the very exciting event took place if you were one of the few Metal heads that seemed to miss out.
Continue reading Helloween & Gamma Ray @ B.B. King Blues Club (9/21/2008)

Gamma Ray @ B.B. King Blues Club (5/1/2006)

Logo - Gamma Ray

Artist: Gamma Ray
Venue: B.B. King Blues Club (New York, NY)
Opener: Into Eternity, Arctic Flame
Date: 5/1/2006
Label: Sanctuary Records

Far from being in the shadow of his accomplishments in Helloween, singer guitarist Kai Hansen has made sure that Gamma Ray is one of the most important bands in Power Metal history.

Starting off the festivities for this evening would be Arctic Flame, whose name I had only recently heard but alas I was not in the club when they performed. I was given a copy of the CD by their singer and got to chat with them briefly. Watch for that CD review sometime soon. Opening up the show would be Into Eternity, and as I write this I can hear the Metal concert goers sighing “again?” The band was pretty much a mainstay at some of the biggest shows of 2005 with almost every major Power Metal show having them on the bill as well. Great for the fans that enjoy them as I do, but perhaps not too much in the eyes of those who look to see some different stuff a little more often. Tonight however we would find a very different band on the stage. Gone was drummer Adam Sagan, who had left the band a few months ago and in his place was Jim Austin who recorded the album for them in the first place. The other surprise to me as someone who had seen the band several times was the absence of Rob Doherty who was being filled in for by Collin Craig. While I don’t know the specifics behind his absence I have to say that Craig did a great job on the material that I knew. Once again a number of Metal blasts from “Buried By Oblivion” were delivered and we even were treated to a couple of new numbers that will be on their as yet untitled follow up to the last record. Looking at the calendar of shows made me wonder how many times I will see them this year. Either way I am sure Tim Roth and company will be sure to start off everyone’s Metal evening right so I look forward to it.
Continue reading Gamma Ray @ B.B. King Blues Club (5/1/2006)

“Skeletons In The Closet” by Gamma Ray

Artist: Gamma Ray
Title: “Skeletons In The Closet”
Label: Noise Records
Release Date: 3/9/2004
Genre: Power Metal
Rating: 9/10

Gamma Ray has long been considered one of the bands that set the standard in the Power Metal genre and the double CD release of “Skeletons In The Closet” brings you some great songs performed live in concert for a screaming audience. Leader Kai Hansen has always been a force to be reckoned with in this type of music. It showed early in his career when he was a part of the legendary Helloween where he played guitar and also sang. Eventually he formed a partnership with Ralf Scheepers to start Gamma Ray and released the amazing debut “Heading For Tomorrow”. If you owned this album when it came out you knew immediately that Power Metal was going to be headed in a new and exciting direction as long as this band was in existence. This was over fifteen years ago and fast forward to today where almost a dozen records have been released in the bands catalog. Scheepers has been gone for awhile and now performs in Primal Fear which left Kai the vocal duties in the group and to be quite honest he really has an amazing voice. He is also very busy on the guitar and I admit its most impressive to see the range he can hit during the songs while playing that well. I truly enjoyed most of this CD and I had a real love for “Gardens Of The Sinner” for it’s overall power and delivery. “The Silence” has also been one of my very favorite Gamma Ray tracks since the day I first heard them on that debut album & “Heart Of The Unicorn” also seemed to grow on me. This track has a very Judas Priest/Halford feel to it and will appeal to those listeners without a doubt. Joining Kai in the group is Henjo Richter (guitars/vocals), Dirk Schlacter (bass) and Dan Zimmerman (drums); together this powerful lineup gives you 18 of their most rarely heard material in one place.
Continue reading “Skeletons In The Closet” by Gamma Ray