Coming from the Sky

Here we have the debut of what would perhaps later become France’s top power metal band. About 10 years ago, the band started the decade off with this debut, in what I easily considered to be their weakest effort. Then out of nowhere, they release TWO of the best power metal albums of all time. After releasing some monumental, groundbreaking albums, you think they could never release another weak album again. Then came the end of the decade, and they fell down on their own asses and came out with a really shitty half-assed effort, that being “Carpe Diem” of course. But the focus here is not on their latest work, thankfully, but rather their debut.

The first thing I noticed right off the bat is the lack of originality. It’s a complete Gamma Ray clone throughout the whole album. I mean, there is not one song where one can safely say, “Oh, well this song sure doesn’t borrow that much from Gamma Ray”. The arrangements of the songs, the choruses, riffs, solos, vocal melodies… you get the point. This formula of theirs works very well in the albums that would follow, but it just doesn’t do it in this one. It is not entirely a bad thing, because they don’t copy Gamma Ray in a bad way, but just like that band, Heavenly just very much so lack heart and energy in this release. That is most sad because the three releases that would follow are filled with said qualities.

The biggest letdown is the production. Something strange about it: the lightly played, ambient keyboards are dominating the songs it seems, along with the somewhat layered vocals which sound like a blend of those from Blind Guardian and Iron Savior. Yet the guitars (especially rhythm), serve as faded, background instruments for the majority of the album. Had the production been along the lines of Virus I would have rated it some 10 points higher.

Aside from stated cons, there are quite a few pros. There are actually enough to make it an above average release, with “Time Machine” being the main focus of the pros. This song is phenomenal from beginning to end. There is not one part that won’t completely kick your ass. The two guest appearances of the album are both featured in this track, and they both deliver killer performances: Piet Sieck of Iron Savior, and Kai Hansen of Gamma Ray. This song explodes right away from the beginning with Piet Sieck’s authoritative vocals killing the first verse, and then we get Hansen delivering on the second verse. They both switch back and forth, until Ben Sotto comes in a little later. The song has quite a few tempo changes and the leads carry it very nicely throughout.

Other than this classic, “Riding through Hell” and “Our Only Chance” are the other two very good tracks, both featuring great vocal melodies and a few good leads. The latter has badass verses and a great main riff, but suffers from the production flaws stated earlier. The rest of the album is mediocre for the most part, featuring some great moments, along with some boring ones as well. Recommended for Heavenly fans only. Fans of power metal: pick up any of the three following releases for they will kick your ass, and not put it to sleep like this one. Okay, it's not nearly that bad, but it just doesn’t compare to their other work.

Whether one thought of the millennial European power metal revival as the delayed apex of a first wave that was pioneered by Helloween and Running Wild or its own second wave that was helped along by the efforts of a strong first wave remnant in the mid-90s, by the tail end of said decade it had become a force to be reckoned with, and the year 2000 would be the likeliest year to be denoted as its zenith. Though it was largely a decentralized phenomenon that eventually came to rest in much of continental Europe and select locations in Asia and South America, the trifecta of most prolific locations fielding bands were clearly that of Germany, Italy and the similar yet distinct Scandinavian cohort of Sweden and Finland (the latter technically being only partly Scandinavian from a cultural context, though musically they shared more in common with Sweden than not). Left out of this veritable union of central, northern and southern Europe was the western nation of France, a country that had likewise only fielded a moderate number of bands during metal's heyday in the 80s, and was only really making headway due to the recent activity of one of its classic 80s acts Nightmare reuniting for some tour dates in 1999. But around the same time, a fire was brewing among the French ranks, one that would be nurtured and unleashed by the tutelage of some of Germany's biggest heavy hitters of the day.

Although the band in question had already cut their teeth in the mid-90s as a hard rock cover band dubbed Satan's Lawyer, at some point during the same time period they took note of the ongoing power metal revival and opted for a change in both name and stylistic direction. Though the only culmination of their formative period in a studio capacity was a three song demo in 1998 featuring eventual Fairyland guitarist and Neo-classical technician Anthony Parker, it showcased a heavy stylistic affinity for Helloween's late 80s offerings with Michael Kiske at the helm, with vocalist Ben Sotto being all but a dead ringer for said power metal vocal icon. Even the band's adopted moniker Heavenly shares a striking phonetic similarity with the name of their chief influence, let alone the ethereal subject denoted dovetailing with the theistic themes of the Keeper Of The Seven Keys conceptual saga. This highly effective homage to the sound that arguably kick-started the entire European power metal style would eventually capture the attention of two figures associated with the sub-genre's birth, namely studio producer and Iron Savior front man Piet Sielck and Gamma Ray/Iron Savior/ex-Helloween guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen, and despite the fact that Anthony Parker would end up jumping ship before Heavenly would join the ranks of the ongoing Euro-power revolution, the stage was set for greatness to be achieved.

To dispense with the obvious, the resulting debut album that put this band on the proverbial map Coming From The Sky sounds quite similar to both Gamma Ray's Somewhere Out In Space and Iron Savior's Unification. This is largely the result of nearly every member of Iron Savior at that time involved in either the performance or production department, with Piet Sielck's signature post-production handiwork and backing vocal choirs being a ubiquitous factor in nearly every single song. Aided by Iron Savior bassist and commanding vocalist in his own rite Jan-Soren Eckert, Sielck essentially turns the entire album into a full blown power metal answer to Queen's epic rock niche, which is further bolstered by a heavy degree of lead guitar input by Piet, resulting in dense guitar harmonies that bridge the gap between Brian May and Adrian Smith. It is in this context that the lone new arrival to the Heavenly fold in Anthony Parker's replacement Chris Savourey truly comes into his own. Differing from his predecessor in that his style is more based in the melodic blues/rock formula that is more in line with Smith's input on Iron Maiden's mid to late 80s offerings rather than a shred-happy Malmsteen approach, Savourney finds himself often playing second lead guitarist to Sielck, who contributes solos to nearly half of the songs found on here, and combined with a guitar tone that was crafted by Piet in order to fit the rest of the arrangement, the result is essentially along the lines of Hansen's and Sielck's guitar duels on Unification.

With regard to the largely green proteges that round out the rest of Heavenly's official lineup, most of their contributions to this piping hot pot of metallic splendor conforms to what could be dubbed a typical German power/speed metal affair circa 1997-2000. Bassist Laurent Jean plays things extremely safe and is content to keep his input minimal in a manner reminiscent of Ian Hill, though Piet does make sure to give his support-based playing enough of a raunchy punch to add to the arrangement rather than simply fade into it. By contrast, drummer and co-founder Maxence Pilo makes a massive racket through this album in a manner highly reminiscent of both Thomas Knack (who contributed some drum work on here as well) and Dan Zimmerman, thundering forth with a sound that's an all out dead-ringer for the latter's drum sound on Unification. On the other hand, the lone wild card in the equation proves to be vocalist and keyboardist Ben Sotto. Though his vocal work is largely based in the Michael Kiske paradigm with occasional hints of the more scratchy head voice sound of King Diamond at times, his keyboard work and songwriting is where this album finds a point of contrast with anything that has carried Sielck's name to the point, often manifesting as quasi-symphonic interludes that, while often fleeting in length, are heavily reminiscent of the John Williams meets Danny Elfman twists that Luca Turilli was bringing to both Rhapsody and his early solo work, and offers maybe a slight insight into how the French power metal scene has since tended towards rivaling the symphonic sound of Italy rather than the speed metal based power of Germany.

The popular sentiment both at the time and to this day that Coming From The Sky is merely a Gamma Ray or Iron Savior clone, though based on a small degree of truth, doesn't really hold up to further scrutiny when considering the outlier elements that manifest in the songwriting due to Sotto's rather unique vision. This is an album that is built mostly out of epic numbers that break the 6 minute mark more often than not, and have more twists and turns than any Iron Savior song, and even the most complex Gamma Ray offerings penned by Henjo Richter such as "The Winged Horse" or "Wings Of Destiny". All of that being said, it is hard to miss the obvious parallels between the harmonic guitar led bombast and military-like march of the opening title number when compared to opening number "The Arrival" off the Iron Savior debut, and the shorter speed metal infused riff monster "Carry Your Heart" listens like a homage to "Eagle Fly Free" reinterpreted into a Unification template. Even more complex excursions into quasi-progressive territory such as "Time Machine" begins on a riff that could almost be mistaken for Maiden's 22 Acacia Avenue were a few ancillary elements removed from the equation, namely Piet Sielck's voice and souped up production work. Truth be told, there are multiple moments of melodic lead guitar lines and hard galloping riff magic on every song found on this album that could be connected to an iconic 80s Maiden or Priest song.

In similar fashion to just about every great metal album that has come about since the early 80s, this is an album that makes its mark by expanding upon what has already been established rather than outright breaking with tradition. Though at first glance it may come off as derivative, it is difficult not to be utterly riveted by the ambitious character that this album exudes, particularly when the generally predictable early moments give way to unfettered metallic celebrations like "Riding Through Hell" and "Until I Die", which marry the expansive formula that Iron Maiden began dabbling with in the 90s with the speed and technical flair of Gamma Ray and Freedom Call. Things take on a particularly nuanced and dense character with the even more elaborate wizardry of "Our Only Chance" and "Number One", which borrow a few elements from Dream Theater and seamlessly transition through a plethora of ballad and symphonic moments. On the more heavy-hitting side of the equation is a full on speed metal hammer to the face in "My Turn Will Come" that channels the mayhem heard on Iron Savior classics like "Riding On Fire" and "Starborn", almost predicting the excesses that were coming in a few years courtesy of Dragonforce. All that being said, the coup de grace proves to be "Time Machine", which features the lead vocal talents of Sotto and Sielck, as well as Kai Hansen in a veritable trifecta of vocal titans, stretched over a massive succession of moving parts that arguably outdoes the handiwork of the latter two's various projects.

Though a slight cut below the two albums that would succeed this one, and more often than not overshadowed by them in the eyes of the power metal faithful, too often this album is dismissed as an SRB rocket that simply allowed Heavenly to reach the point where they could later truly unlock their potential. Some of this sentiment may lie with the fact that the amount of credibility that was injected into this album via outside participation is a bit disproportionate to most albums to come out of the power metal revival, even the first couple Airborn albums, which presented a similar case of a non-German band being given a heavily German sound due to Piet Sielck's involvement. Nevertheless, this viewpoint betrays a shallow interpretation of an album that is possessed of an uncanny degree of depth and complexity that would further germinate into arguably the most technically ambitious band to come out of the power metal scene prior to Dragonforce, not to mention one that was artistically far more nuanced and serious. Though it has since been relegated to a state of semi-obscurity, for its time it was at least as consequential of a release in French power metal circles as later entries such as Nightmare's Cosmovision and Fairyland's Of Wars in Osyrhia, and it holds its own amid the sizable collection of early classics that shaped the early millennial power metal scene throughout Europe. If nothing else, this is a forgotten classic that rightly deserves a share of the ongoing nostalgia that has resulted in a number of subsequent metal sub-genre revivals of late, busty angelic eye-candy and Sci-Fi steeped sounds not withstanding.

(Rewritten on July 17th, 2019)