Band
Helloween
Title
The Time Of The Oath (Expanded)
Type
LP/EP
Company
Sanctuary Records
YOR
2006
Style
Power
Popular Reviews
Helloween - The Time Of The Oath (Expanded Edition) - 2006 - Sanctuary Records
Track ListingDISC ONE
1. We Burn
2. Steel Tormentor
3. Wake Up The Mountain
4. Power
5. Forever And One
6. Before The War
7. A Million To One
8. Anything My Mama Don't Like
9. Kings Will Be Kings
10. Mission Motherland
11. If I Knew
12. The Time Of The Oath
DISC TWO
1. Still I Don't Know
2. Take It To The Limit
3. Electric Eye
4. Magnetic Fields
5. Rain
6. Walk Your Way
7. Light In The Sky
8. Time Goes By |
As we continue our coverage of the Castle Music "Expanded Edition" series, we look at Helloween's "The Time Of The Oath", which coincidentally is probably my least favorite Deris era release of the band's career. Following on the footsteps of what is a monumental achievement in "Master Of The Rings" comes a rather dull, uninspired venture. This material never quite had enough stamina or momentum to carry the band to new heights musically. Vocally Deris is still quite a force, really rallying behind cuts like "Steel Tormentor" and "A Million To One". The band really showcase their hard rock character on the blues styled "Anything My Mama Don't Like". I've never quite understood why this album has this dirty, unpolished sound originally. You can listen to the albums before and after this and hear that vibrant, colorful sound just lift right off of the disc. This release from the very beginning just never had great sound, that fantastical, Earth shattering sound you normally hear from these Germans is completely vacant.
This re-issue is completely remastered and does sound quite better than the original. It seems like that much sought after polish has been draped over the tracks themselves. Along with that is, of course, the expanded liner notes, additional photos, and a full disc worth of material that includes a cover of Judas Priest's "Electric Eye" as well as B-sides from singles like "The Time Of The Oath" and "Power".
Note - Michael Weikath says in the liner notes, "...it struck me that "The Time Of The Oath" was a fucking brilliant, well-made record. There was nothing wrong with it at all".
What do I know? I'm just a lowly metal scribe.
--EC 05.25.06
