Livin' in Hysteria

I write about a lot of contemporary power metal releases on here but rarely touch the classics, as I feel they are well represented or I’ve written about them elsewhere. I’ll make an exception in this case, though, as ‘Livin’ In Hysteria’ is one of my all time favourites, and a lost essential of power metal that no fan can do without. Heavens Gate were always a bit of a mythical band for me. A great deal of my favourite CDs as a teen were produced by guitarist Sascha Paeth, and I was desperate to land the records he’d made with his own power metal band in the late 80s/early 90s, but they were notoriously hard to find. When I finally got the experimental ‘Planet E.’ I was massively disappointed, as it was a steaming felchpile, but then I managed to track down Heavens Gate’s second opus, 1991’s ‘Livin’ In Hysteria’ on Japanese import, and it quite honestly blew my mind.

Heavens Gate were one of the very first bands to be direct descendants of Helloween, but unlike their contemporaries in Scanner and Blind Guardian, they took up where the ‘Keeper’ albums left off, as opposed to the more thrashy ‘Walls Of Jericho’ sound. They had a unique flavour to them from the get go; mixing a good dose of 80s Priest with the more anthemic and brawny USPM style, they used tight, intricate riffing with tons of tasty tags to them that really sound like no one else, throwing a bit of hard rock into their vocal melodies to give them a stadium-filling vibe, as well as the lighthearted attitude that made ‘Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II’ such a crowd-pleaser. Vocalist Thomas Rettke had a powerful, muscular voice that could hit piercing highs easily enough, but wouldn’t have felt out of place on a Jag Panzer or Armored Saint album, either. On ‘Livin’ In Hysteria’, you’ll hear a good mix of ideas borrowed from Queensryche, Accept, Rage, Running Wild, and early Savatage, with a bit of Riot and Twisted Sister, as well, and those influences pressed up against the high-flying double-kicking major chord melodies of 80s Helloween really make this a very fresh sounding record, even now. Kicking off with the excellent title track, Heavens Gate rarely let their foot off the gas. From the speedy ass-kicker that is ‘Flashes’ to the galloping romp of the catchy as all get out ‘We’ve Got The Time’, this is the sound of a young band really hitting their stride. Slower cuts like ‘The Neverending Fire’ march along with ballsy riffing, while rockier songs such as ‘We Want It All’ hit the same sort of vibe as the material Kai put out on the first two Gamma Ray albums. They save the best for last in the fucking immense ‘Gate Of Heaven’, a perfect up-tempo power metal song full of epic riff work, smart solos, and one of the best choruses in the whole damn genre. If there is one tune to sell you on this band, it’s got to be this one.

It’s amazing to me that ‘Livin’ In Hysteria’ continues to go unnoticed, especially in the internet age when you can hear anything you like at the touch of a button, so if you love that classic power metal magic conjured by albums like ‘Keeper Of The Seven Keys’, ‘Land Of The Free’, ‘Hypertrace’, and ‘Death Or Glory’, you absolutely must get your hands on this. If you can imagine what would’ve happened if Andi Deris joined Helloween in 1989, this is what they would’ve recorded instead of ‘Pink Bubbles Go Ape’, and that alone should pique your interest enough to check it out, never mind the cover art displaying a dragon smoking a fucking pipe. Absolutely essential.

This is a follow-up to my review of Heavens Gate's first record "In Control". Well, the latter album was quite average with its mixture of power metal tracks with some others being slower rock ballads. By the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s, this style of power and speed metal was probably one of the most popular genre of music in Germany. With bands like Helloween and Blind Guardian, most other acts from that time took inspiration from these guys at some point. In the case of Heavens Gate, they already took some inspiration from those bands, but it's even more noticeable on the album reviewed here. Released in 1991, "Livin in Hysteria" marks the return of the band as their second album and their first one released under the bigger Steamhammer label. This album is mostly known as their most known and best record of their career, which is quite true as the subsequent material is going downhill in term of originality and consistency. Note also how cool the album cover is, if a dragon that smokes with a pipe isn't cool, I wonder what would be.

Establishing themselves in the German metal scene, the guys of Heavens Gate came back with a quite strong album that might have pleased fans of the genre back then. By 1991, Helloween was already going through some issues following the departure of "Kai Hansen". If I would have been there back in that time, I would surely have jumped into "Livin' in Hysteria" instead of the mess that Helloween did with "Pink Bubbles Go Ape". What we have here on the album is 10 tracks which includes a rather pointless instrumental titled "Fredless", other than that, all the material on this record is worthy of the attention of a fan of the genre. The first track to kick off this album is the self-titled "Livin' in Hysteria". At first listen, you can already notice a change in the sound of the band in compared to their last album "In Control". It has a more straightforward approach and in general leaning toward a more aggressive and metallic sound. The lead singer "Thomas Rettke" is also at his peak there, unleashing powerful vocals and high-pitched screams that reminds "Rob Halford" from Judas Priest to some degree.

In traditional power metal fashion, the songs features a catchy chorus which makes you listen to the tracks over and over again. However, the album does not contain any cheesiness compared to the more recent power metal trend, fortunately for us. Along the dominant Helloween influence, the band also took many elements from the NWOBHM. Judas Priest being one of the main one, the track "Can't Stop Rockin'" is a good example of that. Take a listen to Judas Priest's "Heavy Duty" on the "Defenders of the Faith" album and see how the intro and main riff are similar to each other. The track "The Neverending Fire", which is a follow-up to "Path of Glory" in the "In Control" album also contain a cool groovy riff that remind me of something I have heard from a similar band as well. Along with the self-titled track, the song "Gates of Heaven" seems to really have caught the most attention among the listeners. Being a highlight on the album, it features parts of what Helloween did on the "Halloween" track, especially in the middle of the song with this similar structured vocals and bass lines part.

While the album is mostly power metal, song like "Flashes" show case a more speed metal vibe with its fast-paced riffs. On the other hand, we also have a ballad titled "Best Days of My Life" that reminded me of Helloween's "A Tale That Wasn't Right", which are both actually good. Recorded in the same studio as the "Keeper of the Seven Keys" albums, you might notice that the sound is pretty similar too, which is quite a good thing since the production work done for the album is great. The instruments are well mixed and all members of the band has their shining moment through the album. On a general note, this album is an improvement in every ways compared to "In Control" and might appeal to every fans of the genre. It might also be one of the best old school power metal album from Germany, despite being more underground, like Scanner or Chroming Rose. Unfortunately, Heavens Gate will not be able to release more material at this same level of originality, but at least we have some great stuff to enjoy here.

Favorite tracks:

Empty Way to Nowhere
Gate of Heaven
Livin' in Hysteria
We Got the Time

In general terms, European power metal has nowadays acquired a somewhat bad reputation. The reason behind this rests on the fact that most contemporary bands of this genre sound extremely childish, relying on refrains where all group members scream their lungs out together, and lead guitar riffs that are very light and simplistic, in a way that they sometimes end up sounding ridiculous. Nevertheless, European power metal didn’t always have the form of “happy Euro power”. In fact, this particular metal genre had its heyday somewhere between the late 80’s and early 90’s. Back then, things were simpler, more straightforward and aggressive, without sounding naïve or childish.


More specifically, the largest proportion of European power metal was initially developed in Germany. Contrary to American power metal groups, who tried to add glam and / or thrash influences to traditional metal perspectives, the bands in Germany attempted to combine the traditional heavy sound with the approach that Helloween (the most important group of Euro power) had established. A good example of the latter was Heaven’s Gate, who harmoniously and successfully blended the sound of Judas Priest with that of Helloween. Led by Thomas Rettke, a skilful vocalist, and Sascha Paeth, a guitarist who would later become an accomplished producer, Heaven’s Gate released a very promising debut album, called “In Control”, in 1989.


“In Control” was followed in 1991 by slightly superior “Livin’In Hysteria”, which was arguably the best album Heaven’s Gate ever produced. “Livin’ In Hysteria” actually contains all the healthy and positive elements of European power. Thomas Rettke possesses a rather good voice, and he also sings pretty well, despite his relatively strong German accent. Even though Sascha Paeth and Bonni Bilski aren’t the best guitarists in the world, they do seem able to cooperate with each other in an intelligent and pleasant way. Finally, the album is dominated by a component that later became misunderstood and debased by a lot of power metal fans, as well as power metal bands: it conveys a humorous feeling, a feeling that indicates that Heaven’s Gate had a lot of fun writing and recording the songs.


The tracks themselves are, in most cases, inspired compositions and, furthermore, they represent a rich variety of the dimensions that power metal encompasses. Some of them display AOR influences (“Livin’ In Hysteria”, “We Want It All”), others are more close to an epic atmosphere (“The Never - ending Fire”), others are typical examples of fast German power (“Flashes, “Gate Of Heaven”), while the album also includes an excellent, romantic ballad (“Best Days Of My Life”). Grammatically speaking, the lyrics do have some flaws, but nevertheless they manage to express the feelings and thoughts Heaven’s Gate wish to express.


In conclusion, “Livin’In Hysteria” is a reminiscent of an era when European power metal could sound humorous without having to sound ridiculous, and it could also sound imposing without having to use ridiculous backing vocals. This era might seem distant nowadays, but we can only hope that the contemporary power groups will eventually discover new approaches, so that a qualitative rebirth of power metal may take place. Until then, we will always prefer to listen to older albums, like “Livin’ In Hysteria”.

Haha, as the police said in the episode of South Park, regarding a kindergarten teacher having sexual relations with one of her students: "Niiice!"

That's exactly what this album is. It contains the four major elements of Heavy Metal that I fucking love: Original riffs, soaring vocals, intricate melodies and kick-ass solos!

First of all, my favourite aspect of this album: The riffs and melodies; they're definitely very different to any typical classic/traditional heavy metal band. Generic, or commonly-accepted classic/traditional heavy metal songs USUALLY just amix traditional concoctions of the heavy metal genre: Fast riffs, not particularly intricate or unique, fast, fast solos and orthodox-metal melodies, that never seem to be defied. Whereas, Heavens Gate seem to incorporate an almost jazz-rock-influenced sort of metal, with chord progressions that generally don't make much sense, but damn they're interesting. Very cool riffing, and very hard melodies that will get stuck in your head; as I've discovered, the opening track seems to get stuck in your head the easiest, but the rest of the album will sure to prove that Heavy Metal can have no boundries.

For the other stuff -

Vocals:

The vocals are just how I like them: Rough, soaring, and clear. Mr Rettke, though much more traditionally a guest vocalist for various bands, has proven his worth in this album for sure. I can't say the same for Planet E., but damn this is some good shit. I absolutely love his style, and he has proven himself better in this album than most vocalists do in any of their own. Typically, I relate his vocals to more Bruce-Dickinson-like, except harsher and heavier. But you could also relate his vocals to, again typically, Rob Halford. But I guess he influences most, right?

Bass:

Finally, I can hear some bass guitar! It seems that lately with all the horrid shit I've been exposed to to write negative reviews, I get so happy when I can hear the bass guitar, and it hasn't been mixed out of the record. Manni seems to do a fairly good job catching up and improvising/counter-melodically riffing over Sascha's and Bonny Bilski's very intricate style and riffs. but I guess you can expect that from any typical Heavy Metal bands, but like I said, this guys aren't typical. Unfortunately, you don't get to hear too many bass interludes in any of the songs, only in one track, but there are so many more compensations. I'm probably saying this ignorantly, but I'm not a bassist.

Overall Production/Structure of the Album:

The overall effort itself is fucking tits. I can't really think of another word, but when I think of the concluded effort of this album, I just think of a pair of perfectly-perky titties bouncing around in my face, and I just wanna grab 'em. The album and structure of each album represent supreme and superior musicianship of this fantastic metal ensemble. Through this album, I can see the production of a perfectly-rounded consolidation of various original ideas that just defy the rules of Metal, if there are any. I feel I appreciate this album more as a piece of artwork; a compilation album of some fucking fantastic concepts, that confuse you and excite you at the same time with both their complex intricacy and rock-hard Metal feel that just can't be mistaken.

This album is superior to most, for it's originality, but can still be your classic/traditional band to reminisce on the 80s with, even though it was made in '91.

Superb.