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Seventh Avenue > Between the Worlds > Reviews
Seventh Avenue - Between the Worlds

Good Christian metal?! Say WHAT?! - 87%

Khat57, October 13th, 2009

Actually, this is REALLY good stuff, and this is coming from an atheist. I picked these guys up, not knowing that Seventh Avenue was Christian metal, just expecting a really kick-ass power metal album, and that's exactly what I got. Hell, one of my favorite songs is on this album. Everything on this album is big-- the riffs, the vocals, the choruses, the solos, even the timing runs a bit over an hour! With 12 bang-up songs that run about 5 minutes on average (well, there's that useless 2-minute intro, but whatever), you get a lot of metal for your buck. If you put aside your religious beliefs (if you're not Christian), and just head bang like a motherfucker to the catchy as hell choruses and rip-roaring solos, you're bound to have a good time with this one.

Sound-wise, these guys are like if DragonForce actually tried to write some riffs. Their guitars hold that same tone, and most of the songs on this album are about that same speed, except the difference between DragonForce and Seventh Avenue is that not all of the songs sound the same. The dual guitar leads could definitely give Herman and Sam a run for their money on the solos. Looking back over the lyrics, it's actually kinda painfully obvious that these guys are writing Christian metal.

"I believe in this one thing
When it is over it just will start
But I have to decide before
Impossible? Oh no, my friend
The saviour just has paid for me
On that cross upon the hill."

Can't get much more Christian than that. But I will give these guys muchos credit for trying. These lyrics will hardly convert you if you're not Christian already, but if you're open-minded, just sing along with the choruses like you know you wanna. ANYWAY, back to THIS album. All starts off good. The titular opener gets you in the mood for more, and you get more. The instrumental "Storm II" breaks things up nicely, and is apparently the sequel to an instrumental on a previous album (titled "Storm I," like they KNEW they were gonna do another one 5 years later!), and it's structured very nicely, considering the first "Storm" was only a minute and a half. Here, we get a whole four-and-a-half minutes of pure shredding power! Well, it starts off slow with an accompanying piano, but builds up into face-melting after about a minute.

After that, we get a psyche-out ballad (don't worry, the REAL obligatory ballad comes later!) and then what COULD be one of my favorite songs, "Wings of Dawn." I dunno, it's just one of those songs that clicked with me instantly that usually flies under most people's radars (Iron Maiden's "Deja Vu" comes to mind right away) and I listen the crap out of it (I'm a sucker for opening drum solos). It's definitely the catchiest song on the album, and oddly the most progressive at the same time. It starts off fast, slows down a bit, goes a bit more mid-paced, then picks back up to lead into a typical shredding solo, maintains that speed, then goes back down to mid-paced, it's just all over the freakin' place, but it's such a blast to listen to each time. It's especially worth it to hear the singer, Herbie Langhans, hit that amazing high note every time at 2:32. It's a shame he doesn't hold it for longer than he does or do it on other spots in the album. And as long as I'm noting performances here, this album marks the first appearance of second lead guitarist, Florian Gottsleben, who has stuck with the band ever since. The bass and drums have their little moments, but this band is heavily guitar-based.

After "Christian Metal Masterpiece" (I know that ain't saying much, but trust me, that song is freakin' AMAZING) we then have the ballad... Why don't bands just give up on this? Or at least try to make them as good as Axel Rudi Pell does? Well, admittedly, it's not THAT bad, it's really just a slower version of any of their other songs, but it seems to be passed off as THE ballad. Do all power metal bands have a higher-up that forces them to put in a ballad with EVERY release?

Well, the album finishes off strong with the shortest song on the album, "Burning Heart" (I never count intros... and BTW, "Burning Heart" is a Survivor cover! Didn't learn that til I was writing this review!) followed by the longest song on the album, the epic, 9-minute "One Life Ends." It's not much different from the other songs, really just a few extra solos thrown in a regular song, but it finishes the whole thing off strong. I definitely recommend this, no matter what religious beliefs you have, unless you're like, in the extremities of anything that isn't Christian, buuuuuut I won't get into that. Just rip this shit to your computer, and expect nothing more than more-than-competent power metal with a few religious overtones. Hey, it's gotta be better than Stryper, right? ... Okay, bad example. Just... Just trust me on this.