Kai Hansen formed Helloween in 1984, playing guitar and singing on the speed metal band's first four albums. He left in early 1989 and founded Gamma Ray with vocalist Ralf Scheepers (formerly with Tyran Pace). The duo intended to record a one-off project that Hansen originated while in Helloween, so they recruited bassist Uwe Wessel, drummer Matthias Burchardt, and several other musicians. The album, Heading for Tomorrow, was released in 1990 and proved a hit with fans and critics, so much so that Hansen, Scheepers, and Wessel decided to tour the album with added members Dirk Schlacter (guitar) and Uli Kusch (drums). And now 20 years later the band is still active and having a pretty big fan base, they still doing alot of touring between a album release and a few months ago (January 29, 2010.) did the band released their tenth full-length album, "To the Metal"! To promote To The Metal, Gamma Ray will headline a tour with Freedom Call and Secret Sphere.
The album was recorded in Kai's own studio in Hamburg in autumn 2009.
The band has recorded 12 songs. Ten of them will be featured on the regular album release, while the other two will be bonus tracks and they will appear on the different editions of the album.
The band described some of the songs on the official website, revealing that there will be a full-throttle number called "Rise", a rhytmic and melodically diverse song called "Time To Live", and a multilayered anthem titled "All you need to know", featuring Michael Kiske.
Other songs mentioned are "No Need to Cry", a song written by Dirk Schlächter about the death of his father, "To The Metal", a song they played on various festivals last summer and the atmospherically dense "Empathy". "Rise" is one off the tunes from the new album that´s have a video, witch is taken from the bonus DVD.
Two days ago did Gamma Ray had a stop in Sweden for a gig at Klubben here in Stockholm, so i did a quick visit when i had some time off from Hansson De Wolfe. I did see the soundcheck and had a quick talk with the crew. Here is some pictures from the gig, taken by Jonte Strömberg, thanks dude!
So enjoy todays tune "Rise" with Gamma Ray taken from their latest album "To The Metal".
Album versions:
1. Regular jewel case CD
2. Limited edition featuring an additional DVD (including the making-of)
3. Red vinyl in gatefold packaging
4. Collectors’ edition featuring CD and 7” vinyl with 2 unreleased tracks, completely hand-signed
More info at Official Gamma Ray Website
Listen to "Gamma Ray - Rise" on Spotify
Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify
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