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(8/10) I would not have thought in my wildest dreams about a comeback from German speed metaliacs Scanner. The band from Gelsenkirchen, Germany had two pretty good records in the end of the 80's. In 2002 their latest record "Scantropolis" was published before the band disbanded.
And now the unforeseen new album "The judgement" is now in the starting blocks; waiting to be released during January via Massacre Records. It is a bit of the same question as it was with the new Stormwitch longplayer: What to expect?
Compared to the guys from Swabia, Scanner's "The judgement" became a real surprise. The new record contains 10, mainly fast, power metal anthems and one intro. The sound of the album is powerful and the big gain is singer Efthimios Ionnidis. His voice fits very good to the German speed metal from Scanner and he is doing a great job.
But also the riffs of bandleader Axel Julius are remarkable. One of those is the base for the heavy "Warlord". The song has an enormous punch and the high vocals of Ionnidis remind to old days in power metal. "Warlord" is a definite highlight on the album.
Looking back on "Hypertrace, the debut, and "Terminal earth", Scanner was known for their outer space passion. This comes back in "Eutopia", which is a mid pace rocker that grooves very well.
Looking on the seven minutes of "Battle of Posedon" you might expect an epical metal anthem. But Scanner pushes the pedal to the metal and here and there the early Helloween is shining through. This was actually a thought I had a few times while listening to the album. Scanner brings back this typical German speed metal from the 80's. Listen to "The race" and you know what I mean.
That Scanner can also reduce the pace without losing the heaviness is what they show with "Known better". It's a slower track that has an gloomy chorus and the riff reminds very much to Dream Theater. Pretty cool stuff.
"The judgement" was a big surprise to me. Scanner added an album to their discography that at least can live up to the first two records of the band. I personally think, that it's even their best one so far. Welcome back.
(8/10)
Tracklist:
- Intro
- F.T.B.
- Nevermore
- Warlord
- Eutopia
- The judgement
- Battle of Poseidon
- Pirates
- Known better
- The race
- The legionary
Label: Massacre Records
Genre: Speed Metal
