Krokus - Hellraiser

*=Staff's pick	Hellraiser* Too Wired To Sleep Hangman Angel Of My Dreams* Fight On So Long* Spirit Of The Night* Midnite Fantasy No Risk No Gain Turnin' Inside Out* Take My Luv Justice Luv Will Survive Rocks Off!

Genre	Heavy Metal	Marc Storace	Vocals
Tracks	14	Mandy Meier	Guitar
Runningtime	56 Min.	Dominique Favez	Guitar
Label	AFM	Tony Castell	Bass
Release	15 Sept. 2006	Stefan Schwarzmann	Drums
Country	Switzerland	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	Saxon, Accept

Krokus seemed just a slightly bit tired this summer at Sweden Rock. But with two exceptions; The three new songs: Hellraiser, Spirit Of The Night and Angel Of My Dreams sounded very promising for the future album. Now it is here and I can't help being a bit disappointed. After having heard Hellraiser live I expected a really hot rocking album in the early 80s style. But the production of the record is too lame. It would fit the AOR group that Krokus is blamed of having become nowadays.

The song material is actually pretty okay. But since there is fourteen of them, a few fillers are inevitable. Unfortunately they drag down the tempo and the overall feeling of the album. There are too many songs starting very promising and then end up in an anticlimax when they reach a lame chorus. Hangman is one example.

Hellraiser lives up to its title. It is a classic old kick in the grind. Angel Of My Dreams is the strongest track, with its catchy melody and sticky chorus. So Long is a powerful ballad, which would have been a killer with a bit more work on the chorus. The guitar solo and Marc's vocals makes it rise a couple of steps anyway. After a couple of good but softer tracks, Spirit Of The Night is a welcome rocker in old Judas Priest style. Turnin' Inside Out is another nice rock tune. But the rest of the record is one long way to the end. The last feeling is that overall this is just slightly above average.