The Scheepers era (1989–1995)
The original line-up released the album Heading for Tomorrow in February 1990 and, later that year, the Heaven Can Wait EP, with new guitarist Dirk Schlächter and new drummer Uli Kusch.
In February 1991, the band began rehearsing for the recording of their second album in a small, remote house in Denmark. With some brand new songs written, Gamma Ray entered the studio under the supervision of producer Tommy Newton and recorded their second album Sigh No More, which was released in September 1991. The style differed vastly from that of Heading for Tomorrow, featuring darker lyrics inspired by the Persian Gulf War that was raging at the time. A 50-date worldwide tour followed.
After the Japanese tour at the beginning of 1991, Gamma Ray underwent another personnel change: the rhythm section (Wessel and Kusch) left due to a personal disagreement and were replaced by Jan Rubach (bass) and Thomas Nack (drums), both from the Hamburg band Anesthesia. The band also began to build their own studio, so work on their new album did not start until 1993. The album Insanity and Genius was released in June 1993, with a style which was closer to that of Heading for Tomorrow than Sigh No More. In September 1993 Gamma Ray, along with Rage, Helicon and Conception, embarked on the Melodic Metal Strikes Back tour. The tour contributed to the release of the double CD Power of Metal, and the videos Power of Metal and Lust for Live, in December.
Land of the Free to Majestic (1995–2006)
More changes in the line-up were to follow for Gamma Ray. Vocalist Ralf Scheepers, who lived far away from the other band members hometown of Hamburg, was attempting to become the new Judas Priest singer after Rob Halford left. He felt that his position in the band had been strained due to the distance between him and the other members. Hansen and Scheepers agreed to an amicable departure. After failing to be recruited for Judas Priest, Scheepers started his own band, Primal Fear.
Hansen said in an interview 1999 about why Scheepers left: There were two main reasons. One was after the first three Gamma Ray albums we said - now we want to do a really, really good album, something really killer. But Ralf was not living in Hamburg, he was living 700km away from here. For that reason he only came up for a while for rehearsal or for the recordings. But to do an album which was really good we needed him there constantly. In years before we had been talking about him moving to Hamburg but at that time he still had a job going on...he still does and he's never going to leave it somehow. He could not really make up his mind to move to Hamburg and there was one problem with that because when we wrote the songs I was always trying to think of his voice but on the other hand it would have been a lot better if he write his own vocal lines, melodies and lyrics. When he came to Hamburg most of the times I was singing in the rehearsal room when he was not there and I was singing on my demos so it was like everything was more or less fixed and he could not really change it. We wanted that to change, therefore we wanted him to move to Hamburg, he could not make up his mind. Then we said either you do it or you die somehow you know...like putting the pistol to his chest. Well....on the other hand he had this Judas Priest thing going on. He wanted to be given a chance. I was the idiot who told him maybe for fun just try it out when it was clear they were searching for a singer because Judas Priest was always his favorite band. We were thinking about him doing the Gamma Ray album and then going to Judas Priest. All in all it led to the point where we said we'd rather split our ways at that point because it doesn't make sense to go on like that.
Hansen then began to search for a new vocalist but, due to demand from friends and fans, took on the guitar-vocal duties himself as he had done for Helloween's first EP and album.
In a 2008 interview, Hansen spoke about the importance of the Land of the Free album and what it represented: We made it exactly at a time point when this kind of metal was proclaimed to be dead as can be. Where it was almost like if a drummer came up with a double bass drum people would say 'ya dooga daga yourself out of here man.' Everything was ruled by Kurt Cobain and the alternative to the alternative and all that kind of stuff. So at that point we made an album like this and it went down very successful. That was cool, that was something special. I think it was the album that gave Gamma Ray the acceptance as being a band not only a Kai Hansen project.
In 1995 the fourth album, Land of the Free, the first to feature Hansen on vocals, was released. The album was praised by critics and fans alike. The tour following the album, Men on a Tour, brought the recording and release of the live album Alive '95 in 1996.
Soon after, there was yet another major lineup change. Jan Rubach and Thomas Nack both left in order to return to Anesthesia and in came new drummer Dan Zimmermann. Zimmerman is also known for being a founding member of the German power metal band Freedom Call. Schlächter, who was originally a bass player, as can be seen on the 1990 video Heading for the East, left the second guitar spot and took back his original instrument, being replaced on guitar by Henjo Richter.
Work started on the next album, and 1997 saw the release of Somewhere Out in Space, which marked the beginning of the band's thematic concentration on space. The album featured the hit "Valley of the Kings" and entered in the charts of many European countries. After two years of touring came the album Power Plant, which was a continuation of Somewhere Out in Space's lyrical approach, but a new direction musically. The album was highly acclaimed throughout the world and gained even more chart success than its predecessor.
For Gamma Ray's next work, Hansen decided to do things differently from the usual compilation of songs. He let the fans decide by voting on their website for their three favorite songs on each album, then the band went back to the studio to re-record the old tracks from the first three albums and made remixed versions for the songs on the later ones. Blast from the Past was the name chosen for this double album.
After a break of one year, when Hansen concentrated on his side project Iron Savior, the band was ready for the recording and release of the album No World Order!, which was stylistically similar to NWOBHM bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Again, the album was highly praised and the No Order World Tour saw the band visiting dozens of European countries and Japan. After resting from the tour, the band went on with the Skeletons in the Closet tour, which saw the band performing songs that they never or rarely played live before. Once again, the setlist was voted by the fans on the band's website. Only a few shows were played on this tour but two of those were recorded for the live album Skeletons in the Closet.
Kai Hansen and Henjo Richter also participated in Tobias Sammet's project Avantasia, on both The Metal Opera and The Metal Opera Pt. II, along with various other musicians including Hansen's former bandmates from Helloween, Markus Grosskopf and Michael Kiske.
A live DVD, Hell Yeah The Awesome Foursome Live in Montreal was recorded on 6 May 2006 at Le Medley in Montreal, Quebec. The setlist contained songs drawn from all of their albums up to Majestic (excluding Insanity and Genius) and also a cover of the Helloween hit "I Want Out". The DVD finally saw release on 4 November 2008. It entered the German media control charts at No. 9 and the Swedish charts at No. 1, according to the band's official website.
Land of the Free II to Empire of the Undead (2007–2014)
In recent years, Gamma Ray have made use of touring keyboard players to fully augment their sound in a live environment. Axel Mackenrott of Masterplan fulfilled these duties in the past and was followed by Eero Kaukomies, a Finn who also plays in a Gamma Ray tribute band named Guardians of Mankind. His bandmate Kasperi Heikkinen also played on part of the Majestic tour in 2006 following an injury to Henjo Richter. On their most recent "To The Metal" tour, Kasperi Heikkinen replaced Henjo Richter once again for shows scheduled in Germany and Czech Republic in March 2010. Richter was hospitalized on 16 March 2010 due to retinal detachment. Heikkinen also shared stage with fellow axemen Hansen and Richter making "a three guitar special" for the encore numbers at the Nosturi club in Helsinki, Finland on 29 March 2010.
Land of the Free II was released in late 2007 as a sequel to the hugely successful Land of the Free album. To promote the album, Gamma Ray were the "very special guest" on Helloween's Hellish Rock 2007/2008 World Tour, on some shows along with the band Axxis. For the final encores of the evening, Hansen and members of Gamma Ray joined Helloween to play a couple of songs from when he was in the latter band. Hansen would also regularly join Helloween co-founder Michael Weikath at center stage to the delight of fans of both bands.
To the Metal! was released as the tenth studio album by the band. It was released on 29 January 2010 to modest critical praise, but disappointed some fans, who felt that it was uninspired and a weaker effort than Land of the Free II. On 31 May 2011, Gamma Ray released an EP entitled Skeletons and Majesties. It contains newly recorded, rarely played material (Skeletons) and acoustic versions of other older songs (Majesties). Hansen stated in an interview in February 2012 that he expected the next Gamma Ray album to be released in January 2013. On 1 September 2012, the band announced Michael Ehré as their new drummer, replacing Daniel Zimmermann who chose to retire after 15 years of band activity.
Kai Hansen revealed, in an interview with Metal Blast in April 2013 that their eleventh album, Empire of the Undead would have a "more thrashy" sound. In the same interview, Dirk Schlächter announced that the band would do a headlining tour following its release. Empire of the Undead was released in March 2014, despite Gamma Ray's studio being completely destroyed by a fire.
Additional vocalist and new album (2015–present)
In October 2015, it was announced that Frank Beck would be a new lead vocalist of Gamma Ray, in addition to Hansen. This was due to Hansen's degrading vocals due to lengthy tour schedules, as well as Hansen's desire to have more freedom onstage. On 10 August 2017, the band announced that they would be releasing a 25th anniversary edition of Land of the Free. In June 2021, on the Scars and Guitars podcast, Kai Hansen stated that despite his reunion with Helloween, he is not letting Gamma Ray die, and that he is preparing material for a new album to be tentatively released in 2022.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_Ray_(band)
Studio albums
Heading for Tomorrow (1990)
Sigh No More (1991)
Insanity and Genius (1993)
Land of the Free (1995)
Somewhere Out in Space (1997)
Power Plant (1999)
No World Order! (2001)
Majestic (2005)
Land of the Free II (2007)
To the Metal! (2010)
Empire of the Undead (2014)
Empress
Gamma Ray Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The heat is rising now, the master's calling
Into the night I thunder, into the dead of night
And I will head the calling and leave it all behind
The holy man has lost the grail, signs of love from yesterday
The eyes of god have turned away, the dream became alive
All my life I've waited for the yearning in my heart
Right out there I see a star, the sun is going down
Kiss the princess, Empress of the dark
Drink the poison, listen to your heart
Feed the Princess, Empress of the dark
All shall feel the fire
My heart is crying out, the fever rising
No one can stop me now, it's mesmerizing
I break the chains that bind me, the chaos in my life
I leave the world behind me and live in my own mind
A holy land, another shore, no more pain and no more war
She's calling me from far away, makes me feel alive
Here I stand in front of her, losing my disguise
No regrets, I'm standing there, waiting for the bite
Kiss the princess, Empress of the dark
Drink the poison, listen to your heart
Feed the Princess, Empress of the dark
All shall feel the fire
Kiss the princess, Empress of the dark
Feel the poison, flowing through your heart
Kiss the Princess, Empress of the dark
All shall feel her fiery Love
Another life, a different way, signs of life from yesterday
The memory will fade away, the dream became alive
Here I stand in front of you, tearing off the lies
No regrets, I'm standing tall, I now am free to bite
Kiss the princess, Empress of the dark
Drink the poison, listen to your heart
Feed the Princess, Empress of the dark
All shall feel the fire
Kiss the princess, Empress of the dark
Drink the poison, listen to your heart
Kiss the Princess, Empress of the dark
All shall feel the fiery Love
The song "Empress" by Gamma Ray is a powerful and intense track dealing with themes of liberation and empowerment. The lyrics describe a person who has reached a breaking point in their life and decides to abandon everything in order to pursue their own desires. The repeated call to "kiss the princess, Empress of the dark" represents a desire to embrace the darkness within oneself as a means of being true to one's own desires. The "poison" that is referred to is likely a metaphor for the risks that come with pursuing such a life, but the singer is willing to take these risks in order to feel truly alive.
The lyrics also contain references to religion, with mentions of a holy man and the eyes of god turning away. This suggests that the singer is rejecting traditional religious beliefs in order to find their own truth. The repeated phrase "All shall feel the fire" emphasizes the idea that this journey is not just for oneself, but for all who are willing to embrace it.
Line by Line Meaning
The sun is going down, the curtain's falling
The end is near and darkness is approaching
The heat is rising now, the master's calling
The intensity is growing and there is a strong urge to follow someone or something
Into the night I thunder, into the dead of night
I charge ahead fearlessly and decisively into the darkness
And I will head the calling and leave it all behind
I will answer the summons and leave everything else in my past
The holy man has lost the grail, signs of love from yesterday
The religious figure has lost something significant, and remnants of affection from the past remain
The eyes of god have turned away, the dream became alive
It seems that the divine has abandoned us, and our wish has come true
All my life I've waited for the yearning in my heart
I have been waiting my whole life for this intense desire in my heart
Right out there I see a star, the sun is going down
There is hope in the darkness as I see a star shine, but the end is still coming
Kiss the princess, Empress of the dark
Embrace the embodiment of the darkness, the powerful Empress
Drink the poison, listen to your heart
Take the risk, follow your instinct even if it leads to danger
Feed the Princess, Empress of the dark
Nurture and serve the Empress of darkness
All shall feel the fire
Everyone will experience the intense passion and desire
My heart is crying out, the fever rising
My heart is full of emotion, and the intensity of it is increasing
No one can stop me now, it's mesmerizing
I am unstoppable and captivated by the power of the situation
I break the chains that bind me, the chaos in my life
I liberate myself from what holds me back, the disorder and confusion in my existence
I leave the world behind me and live in my own mind
I abandon the reality around me and exist only in my thoughts and imagination
A holy land, another shore, no more pain and no more war
A sacred place, a different world, where there is no more suffering or conflict
She's calling me from far away, makes me feel alive
The Empress is beckoning me from a distant place and giving me a sense of vitality
Here I stand in front of her, losing my disguise
I am in front of the Empress, and I am shedding my facade
No regrets, I'm standing there, waiting for the bite
I have no remorse, I am standing firm, waiting for whatever she has in store for me
Feel the poison, flowing through your heart
Experience the toxin coursing through your veins, embracing the potential danger
All shall feel her fiery Love
Everyone will feel the scorching passion of the Empress
Another life, a different way, signs of life from yesterday
A new life, a distinct path, remnants of life from the past
The memory will fade away, the dream became alive
The past will disappear from my mind, and my vision has become a reality
Here I stand in front of you, tearing off the lies
I am facing you, and I am peeling back the falsehoods
No regrets, I'm standing tall, I am now free to bite
I have no remorse, I am confident, and I can now fully embrace whatever she has to offer
Contributed by Asher O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Diego Cobo
One of the most underrated songs and band in all power metal history. Kai Hansen still as a truly genius for this and all his work with Helloween.
Victor AK
This particular song was written by Daniel Zimmerman :) and it is the best song ever written or cooperated with him
Diego Cobo
@Victor AK yeah, but was played by him
Dely Rivera
I freaking adore this song!!!
MinaSagas
I fucking love this song.
Velezarius Velezarius
Полюшко-поле... Русская военная песня. Да.
Nemanja Živojinović
S ljubalju iz srbije. Neka se dopisuju sami
Nemanja Živojinović
Javim se kad ostanem bez cigaretta a ona neka doji
Nemanja Živojinović
Ne zelim da prisluskujem. Veceras ste slobodni, nadam se zauvek
Nemanja Živojinović
Treba nam sedmi da mogu jos da se dopisuju. Psovka? Nije. Kradja onog sto nam je najdraze