THE TIME OF THE OATH ALBUM
Helloween’s “The Time of the Oath” follows a structure that has become pretty standard for a power metal release - a mix of fast and mid-tempo tracks, a vaguely “epicish” track near the end and the obligatory couple of ballads thrown in for good measure. Nevertheless, despite the variety of the songs and the fact that there are four contributing songwriters, the release maintains a certain continuity that differentiates an album from a mere collection of songs. The production is adequate and as it doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of any of the songs I won’t mention it further.
What separates “The Time of the Oath” from similar releases are the patented Helloween moments of genius, both in the compositions and in the performing. The album also manages to avoid the clichés of modern power metal such as repetitive double bass drumming that can reduce a grown man to tears faster than throwing handfuls ground glass into his open eyes and the entire lyrical “exploration” of “sword and sorcery” themes. In particular, the title track (which succeeds in being purely evil - and not merely in a “scream-through-your-eardrums-and-rape-your-brain kind of way that I understand many black metal bands are going for), “Power”, “Kings Will Be Kings” and “Steel Tormentor” standout as brilliant.
The title track is my personal favourite on the album, being the most menacing piece of atmospheric metal since Tony Iommi and the boys sat down with Satan himself and penned “Black Sabbath”. The mood is perfect and while the heavy and malevolent primary riff might not be quite as distinctive as the one from the aforementioned song, atmospheric keyboard work and an excellent vocal performance really make this one a standout. My only complaints with this one are the occasional stupid “whooshing” sound effects (there’s only about 3 in the whole song 7 minute song so its not a major issue) and that the solo that kicks off at 4:00 seems slightly out of place. Don’t worry, they haven’t inserted a cut of 1910 Fruitgum Company’s “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy” or a reggae breakdown into the song, I simply think that a slower-paced, heavier solo would fit better here than the speedy guitar work on offer.
“Power” is the furthest thing from “The Time of the Oath” on the album (and yet is my second favourite track), being a more traditional happy, sing-a-long Helloween song with an exceedingly catchy chorus and nice guitar leads. Surprisingly, the lyrics are another high point of this song and seem to document Helloween’s history from Weikath’s (slightly smug) point of view.
“We Burn”, “Steel Tormentor” and “Before the War” are great blazingly speedy yet melodic metal tracks and all three are among some of Helloween’s best of the style. Steel Tormentor is the superior of the three, though “Before the War” isn’t far behind.
Uli Kusch debuts as a songwriter on this album and his two compositions, “A Million to One” and “Wake up the Mountain”, stand out as particularly important as his influence is to grow and he is to become more involved in the song writing on the following two albums. His contributions here are both enjoyable, mid-paced tracks that provide the listener with something slightly different while still remaining true to the Helloween sound.
The ballads are the weakest part of the album and unfortunately don’t maintain the high standard of the other songs. “Forever and One” just seems uninspired and rather boring, it’s not dreadful though. “If I knew” strikes me as a longer, less interesting version of “A Tale That Wasn’t Right” from the first Keepers album and during its 5:31 length, the “skip track” button beings to look awfully tempting. The only plus side I can think of is the deliciously melodramatic ending: “I’d simply break down…. and cry”.
“Mission Motherland” is the “epic” of the album and seems to be an attempt to marry the many changing tones and intricate instrumental work of another Helloween epic, “Halloween”, with the more melodic style of another of their earlier compositions, “Keeper of the Seven Keys”. The result as a whole doesn’t quite live up to either of the earlier works and isn’t as memorable (though Grosskopf’s bass work is just as remarkable as it was on “Halloween”) but the song remains tight and doesn’t get boring despite its 9 minute length. There are also some great vocal melodies early on in the piece and in the chorus.
In my opinion, “The Time of the Oath” contains some of the greatest Deris-era (and even some of the greatest Helloween) songs and is essential for fans of the band and comes highly recommended for fans of the genre. This record is often overshadowed by the following two albums and, while I can’t speak for “The Dark Ride” (I haven’t heard it), I’d place this release at least on par with the heavier follow-up “Better than Raw”. And as a side note, if you really don’t like the ballads on here there’s a quick fix – just burn the CD minus the two ballads onto a blank disc. The thing will still be about 52 minutes long (longer then a fair number of other power metal releases) and it will save you having to reach for the “skip track” button on your player at any point during the disc.
Daftar lagu
1. We Burn 03:06
Climb down my pile
And again to the beat of my heart
You're so exciting
Take all the soul
I will give you as much as you want
Control my feelings
Higher, much higher
Unbounded fire
Closer, come closer
Close to the core
We burn, we burn
I contaminate you
I like to pollute you with my
G-g-generations
Look in my eyes
And we melt into on yearning mind
We climb the stages
Higher, much higher
Unbounded fire
Closer, much closer
Close to the core
We burn, we burn
Insanity, insanity
Never set me free
Higher, much higher
Set me on fire
Closer, much closer
Close to the core
We burn, we burn
Insanity, insanity
Never set me free
2. Steel Tormentor 05:42
Headless
Pulling the macine down
Coming to the low sound
Feeling like a real man
Racing
Flashing from down under
Flesh and blood and thunder
Trembling wheel in cold hand
Faster, much faster
What a human speed disaster
Deeper, much deeper
On through the void I cast'er
I'm a steel tormentor
And I speed 'round ev'ry curve
I'm a mean imperator
Of my intimate machine
Turkey
Near to devastation
Losing all my patience
Cannot make this kit fly
Danger
Muscular contraction
Out for satisfaction
Mere intoxication
Nightide, it's nightride
Try to catch my taillights
So sad, I'm so sad
But you won't ever suck my steel bride
I'm a steel tormentor
And I speed 'round ev'ry curve
I'm a mean operator
Of my intimate machine
3. Wake Up the Mountain 05:05
Some people die
And even never realize
Man's growing blind
Is seeing only with eyes
We think we're strong
Believe we never could be wrong
But we are fools
Because we are dying by the rules
Though I cannot change the world we're living in
I can always change myself
One more to count in
Wake up the moutain
All colour's slowly turning to grey
Our world is darkling
Wake up the mountain
And we will find it once more again
Cash and careers
Built on countles sums of fears
All good of life
Begin to vanish behind tears
How do we know
Why did we choose the way we follow
Why do we hurt
Why do we hurt the ones we love
Though I cannot change the world we're living in
I can always change myself
One more to count in
Wake up the moutain
All colour's slowly turning to grey
Our world is darkling
Wake up the mountain
And we will find it once more again
Once more again
We made the rules and we can change them
Break down the orders on by one
We made the laws and we can break them
Break down the mountain
Stone by stone by stone by stone
4. Power 03:32
Can you imagine someone being true
Turn `round and put himself in front of you
Sometimes it's fun but then you never know
How far a thing like this might go
All my life I've waited for a chance
To get right out of here
And when I had it in my hands
I could not let it go
We've got the power, we are divine
We have the guts to follow the sign
Extracting tension from sources unknown
We are the ones to cover the throne
Try if you can to come where we have gone
You may achieve what can't be simply done
Look back and there you are where we have been
And still there's so much inbetween
All those years I've travelled `round this world
Now I am standing here
To make you sing these tunes
And know they'll never let you go
We've got the power, we are divine
We have the guts to follow the sign
Extracting tension from sources unknown
We are the ones to cover the throne
We've got the power, we are divine
We have the guts to follow the sign
Extracting tension from sources unknown
We are the ones to cover the throne
We've got the power, we are divine
5. Forever and One (Neverland) 03:54
What can I do?
Will I be getting through?
Now that I must try to leave it all behind
Did you see what you have done to me?
So hard to justify
Slowly it's passing by
Forever and one
I will miss you
However, I kiss you
Yet again
Way down in Neverland
So hard I was trying
Tomorrow I'll still be crying
How could you hide your lies
Your lies
Here I am
Seeing you once again
My mind's so far away
My heart's so close to stay
Too proud to fight
I'm walking back into night
Will I ever find someone to believe?
Forever and one
I will miss you
However, I kiss you
Yet again
Way down in Neverland
So hard I was trying
Tomorrow I'll still be crying
How could you hide your lies
Your lies
6. Before the War 04:34
Come take a look up to the constellations
Take the book of God
You will find your relations
If you understand
You will know the solution
Things will fall back to the constitution
I'm a son of a distant future
I'm the last of the seven troopers
And I came here for the seventh war
I'm a child of the stars
The blaster of the gods
Ad I have seen it all before
Before the war
Cold-hearted earth
I'm the master of the universe
And I have seen it all before
Before the war
Nature sets a limit on your millenary
Turning every place into a cruel mean scenary
All will get a chance to shun the holy fire
But you will be few getting under the wire
I'm a son of a distant future
I'm the last of the seven troopers
And I came here for the seventh war
I'm a child of the stars
The blaster of the gods
Ad I have seen it all before
Before the war
Cold-hearted earth
I'm the master of the universe
And I have seen it all before
Before the war
Mind the seventh war - mind the seventh war
Yes I came here for the seventh war
7. A Million to One 05:12
Born into somewhere unseen and unknown
Just like a wonder so small and alone
Take me away into your innocent dreams
Maybe I'd see what it all means
A million to one
You will lose it all
A million to one
You'll be falling
Down to where I am
An unholy man
A million to one
You'll be falling
It's so sad and so true but what can I do
Only a few years then it's up to you
To care for yourself, I hope I gave good advice
For all your life, how to survive
A million to one
You will lose it all
A million to one
You'll be falling
Down to where I am
An unholy man
A million to one
You'll be falling
8. Anything My Mama Don't Like 03:47
I'm no believer
I just listen to my own head
I'm no believer
I just call you liar instead
Keep all your sorrows
Words might be pathetically vain
Life is a fire
Light it and you can read your name
I'm the king of the night generation
I'm anything my mama don't like
I'm a slave of perverted nation
Anything my mama don't like
I am a flyer
Rising in the wake of my dreams
I am a tumbler
Life can be as good as it seems
I'm a child playing chess with tomorrow
I'm anything my mama don't like
I'm a clown and I beg, steal and borrow
Anything my mama don't like
I'm the king of the night generation
I'm anything my mama don't like
I'm a slave of a perverted nation
Anything my mama don't like
9. Kings Will Be Kings 05:09
All you have said is still in my ears
You must have thought you're infallible
Oh no oh no
You're not gonna say that much anymore
Welcome to my peculiar dream
Fact is that here
I'm the master of reality
Hard to see?
But it's real and you will read me
So many ways to go
Before we're sanctified
Few will be chosen ones
Until we fade and die
Kings will be kings
Pawns will be pawns
Aeons of tears
Wild and severe
Blessed be the young
Strong enough to bear
What before long
Will come, will be, will never disappear
I know that pride's before the fall
How can I fall if there's none left at all
Tell me tell me
How far can one fall from down below?
It's either time or everyone round
To show us what or who might be exchangable
Disposable
In the game of life we're playing
Close to eternity
I spread my wings and fly
Like from a distant age
I reign and you obey
Kings will be kings
Pawns will be pawns
Aeons of tears
Wild and severe
Blessed be the young
Strong enough to bear
What before long
Will come, will be, will never disappear
10. Mission Motherland 09:03
So far from our system we came here through space
To leave poisoned spheres for your race
Our knowledge we trade for the time shared on earth
To take and give for what it's worth
On, our screens we've been shown your world
Plead for your welcome, you won't get hurt
Mission motherland
Another chance
With sunlit soil and air to breathe
Is there any place for us to live
To grow descendants to be free
You gave us resources
You gave us advice
To deal with the unknown
To get humanized
We've shown you dimensions
And brought you on ways
You've never seen yesterday
Hand in hand we will march through time
So much more to research and find
Mission motherland
Another chance
With sunlit soil and air to breathe
Is there any place for us to live
To grow descendants to be free
When you hear these words
We've taken cold refuge
In freezers to keep us alive
What we didn't know
Your central star called sun
Sends lethal rays to earth
Say how many of us died
In the streams of light
Faceless bodies, morbid cries
Doomed our colonies
Wake us when you've healed the world
Save our souls
When will we be as one again
And fulfill what we understand as
Mission motherland
Another chance
With sunlit soil and air to breathe
Is there any place for us to live
To grow descendants to be free
11. If I Knew 05:31
Loneliness seems like an evil dream
Bur reality is life and life is here
Once my heart was ruled by emptiness
Harmed because of being too sincere
But now that you've crossed my way
Could it be found it again
If I knew that I'm your only one
I could live and make it through time
But if one day you'd just be gone
I wouldn't know how to ever get by
How can I make you feel secure
We're both the same, I'm king and you are queen
Understand, you make me breathe again
Tell me all your thoughts and I will see
Take my hand and we'll be there
Together, someday, somewhere
If I knew that I'm your only one
I could live and make it through time
But if one day you'd just be gone
I wouldn't know how to ever get by
If I knew that I'm your only one
I could live and make it through time
But if one day you'd just be gone
I wouldn't know how to ever get by
I wouldn't know how to ever get by
I wouldn't know how to ever get by
I would simply break down and cry
12. The Time of the Oath 06:59
In a circle of fire
On a cold winter night
I spoke out my desire
Made a promis
I couldn't hide, no!
In a dream
He came along and told me
"Your time has come
Your mind belongs to me"
It's the time of the oath
My sweetest memories
Die in the cold
It's the time of the oath
See me covered with sadness
And I'll soon wish to die
When that overcoming madness
Is eating up my mind
Here and now
I look back at a good time
No more lie - I slowly say goodbye
It's the time of the oath
The time of the oath
My sweetest memories die in the cold
It's the time of the oath
In a dream
He came along and told me
"Your time has come
Just slowly say good-bye"
It's the time of the oath
The time of the oath
My sweetest memories die in the cold
It's the time of the oath
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for any of this material!
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and Raw Power Recordings!
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