Gamma Ray
| Gamma Ray | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 Gamma Ray at the Rockharz Open Air 2016 |
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| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Speed metal , power metal |
| founding | 1989 |
| Website | http://www.gammaray.org/ |
| Founding members | |
| Ralf Scheepers (until 1994) | |
| Kai Hansen | |
| Uwe Wessel (until 1992) | |
| Matthias Burchardt (until 1990) | |
| Current occupation | |
Vocals, guitar |
Kai Hansen |
singing |
Frank Beck (since 2015) |
Guitar, keyboard
|
Henjo Richter (since 1997) |
bass |
Dirk Schlächter (since 1991) |
Drums |
Michael Ehré (since 2012) |
| former members | |
Drums |
Uli Kusch (1989–1992) |
Drums |
Thomas Nack (1992–1996) |
bass |
Jan Rubach (1992–1996) |
Drums |
Daniel Zimmermann (1997–2012) |
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Gamma Ray ( engl. " Gamma-ray ") is a German speed / power metal - band . It was founded in 1988/89 by Kai Hansen after he left Helloween .
history
After spending four years with Helloween, guitarist and songwriter Kai Hansen left the band in 1988. He then did some studio work with Blind Guardian . Finally, he decided to start his own project. To do this, he recruited his long-time friend Ralf Scheepers (vocals), Uwe Wessel (bass) and Mathias Burchardt (drums) and founded Gamma Ray with them. The name of the band goes back to the biggest hit Gamma Ray by Birth Control . The title is included on the 1993 album Insanity and Genius .
With this line-up they released the album "Heading For Tomorrow" in February 1990. Shortly afterwards Matthias Burchardt left the band again. The first video clip in the band's history was shot for the song "Space Eater". In this, Dirk Schlächter can be seen for the first time as the second guitarist and Tammo Vollmers as auxiliary drummer, who also played on the album (in the song "Heaven Can Wait"). In the same year the EP "Heaven Can Wait" was released with Dirk Schlächter and Uli Kusch as the new, official drummer. The song "Heaven Can Wait" was re-recorded for this EP with the new line-up. In 1991 her second album "Sigh No More" was released. A worldwide tour with 50 dates was also on the program from October.
The third album "Insanity and Genius" came in 1993, again with two new members; Thomas Nack on drums and Jan Rubach on bass, who replaced Uli Kusch and Uwe Wessel. From September Gamma Ray went on the "Melodic Metal Strikes Back" tour together with Rage , Helicon and Conception.
Scheepers left the band during the planning for the fourth album, Hansen took over the guitar and the vocals.
In 1995 the fourth album "Land of the Free" was released - the first with Hansen as the singer. On the following tour, "Men on a Tour", Gamma Ray's first live album "Alive '95" was recorded and finally released in 1996.
Then Jan Rubach and Thomas Nack left the band and Dan Zimmermann joined as the new drummer. Schlächter decided to play bass again and Henjo Richter stepped in as the second guitarist.
In 1997 the next album "Somewhere Out in Space" was released. After two years on tour "Powerplant" followed. This was a continuation of the textual approach of "Somewhere Out in Space", but musically a new direction.
In 2000 the band released the "Best Of" album Blast From The Past . In addition, the older classics in particular were completely re-recorded in the studio.
After a one-year hiatus, during which Hansen took care of his side project Iron Savior , the band took up "No World Order". The lyrical background of the album came from the conspiracy-theoretical book "Seven: The True World Order", which was written by a fan of the band, Mark Brauneis. The CD entered the German album charts at number 23. This was followed by the “No Order World Tour”, on which the band toured numerous countries across Europe and gave a few gigs in Japan.
After a break from the band, they finally went on the “Skeletons in the Closet” tour. On this tour, songs were performed that had rarely or never been played live before. The band let their fans choose the set list on their website. Of the few appearances, two were recorded for the next live album "Skeletons in the Closet". The band completed their last tour as the opener for the first 10 appearances of Iron Maiden's European tour section. Gamma Ray called this tour "Rayzin 'Hell With The Beast".
On September 23, 2005, the eighth studio album "Majestic" was released. On this CD, Gamma Ray continue the content-related aspect of the lyrics of the “No World Order” CD, with tones critical of America being heard in some of the songs. On October 7, 2005, the CD entered the German album charts at number 39. Also in Finland, Italy, the Czech Republic, France and Sweden, the CD made the official sales charts. A European tour was completed in October.
On November 16, 2007, the album "Land of the Free - Part 2" was released as a continuation of the successful 1995 album. In addition, a live CD / DVD entitled "Hell Yeah !!! The Awesome Foursome - Live in Montreal" was released in 2008 as part of the "Hellish Rock" tour. In addition to the complete concert, the DVD also contains a bonus DVD with live recordings from Wacken Open Air 2003/06 and music videos.
On January 29, 2010 Gamma Ray's tenth studio album was released under the title "To the Metal". This was followed by a European tour lasting several months.
Before the Wacken Open Air 2012, Daniel Zimmermann left Gamma Ray after 15 years of band activity and was replaced by Michael Ehré, the drummer of the power metal band Metalium , which dissolved in 2011 . He had already been on the drums as a temporary help at some gigs since 2011.
Empire of the Undead , the next studio album, was released on March 28, 2014.
On the Best of the Best anniversary tour in 2015, Gamma Ray announced that Kai Hansen will now be supported in vocals by Frank Beck, who has often supported the band in the past. Gamma Ray confirmed this on October 31, 2015 on their Facebook page.
Current members
Kai Hansen (guitar and vocals)
Band founder and only remaining founding member. See Kai Hansen
Henjo Richter (guitar)
Henjo Richter joined Gamma Ray in 1996 and is not only the lead guitarist, but also partly takes over the keyboards. Furthermore, Richter himself is also significantly involved in the production of individual songs. Among other things, he wrote the song "Send Me a Sign" and appeared on all three albums of the Avantasia project. He was also responsible for the layout of the last gamma ray outputs. In addition to Gamma Ray, Henjo also plays in the Uriah Heep cover band "Easy Livin".
Dirk Schlächter (bass)
Dirk Schlächter met Kai Hansen while studying music. On the first Gamma Ray album he was used as a session musician and then took over the position of second guitarist. Since the "Somewhere out in space" album he played the bass again and gave the guitar to the then newcomer Henjo Richter. Schlächter also plays the piano and has composed longer piano passages of some Gamma Ray songs.
Michael Ehré (drums)
Michael Ehré joined the band in 2012 for Daniel Zimmermann, who gave up his position at Gamma Ray after 15 years. Michael was previously the drummer for Firewind and Metalium .
Frank Beck (vocals)
In April 2014 Frank Beck was on the guest list as a spectator for the concert in Aschaffenburg. During the tour, Kai Hansen suffered from bronchitis and was severely restricted as a result of this. On the same day Frank Beck received a call from Dirk Schlächter asking if he would be coming to the concert that evening. When he said yes, he was asked to help out as a singer. During the trip he studied the most important pieces and performed with Gamma Ray for the first time that evening. He is now part of the regular line-up and both singers take turns in the vocal parts.
Membership development
Discography
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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Albums
- 1990: Heading for Tomorrow
- 1991: Sigh No More
- 1993: Insanity and Genius
- 1995: Land of the Free
- 1997: Somewhere out in Space
- 1999: Powerplant
- 2001: No World Order
- 2005: Majestic
- 2007: Land of the Free Part II
- 2010: To the Metal!
- 2014: Empire of the Undead
Live albums and best-ofs
- 1996: Alive '95 (Live)
- 1997: The Karaoke Album (Japan)
- 2000: Blast from the Past (best of with newly recorded songs)
- 2003: Skeletons in the Closet (live double CD)
- 2003: Ultimate Collection (6 CDs, remastered, digipack)
- 2008: Hell Yeah - The Awesome Foursome (And the Finnish Keyboarder Who Didn't Want to Wear His Donald Duck Costume) Live in Montreal (Live double CD parallel to DVD)
- 2012: Live-Skeletons & Majesties (Live-Double-CD)
- 2015: The Best (Of)
Singles and EPs
- 1990: Heaven Can Wait (EP)
- 1990: Who Do You Think You Are?
- 1993: Future Madhouse
- 1995: Rebellion in Dreamland
- 1996: Silent Miracles (EP)
- 1997: Valley of the Kings
- 2001: Heaven or Hell
- 2011: Skeletons and Majesties (mini-album)
- 2013: Master of Confusion (EP)
Video albums
- 1990: Heading for the East (VHS)
- 1993: Lust for Live (VHS)
- 2003: Heading for the East (DVD)
- 2003: Lust for Live (DVD)
- 2008: Hell Yeah - The Awesome Foursome (And the Finnish Keyboarder Who Didn't Want To Wear His Donald Duck Costume) Live in Montreal (DVD) (Originally released Fall 2007)
- 2012: Gamma Ray - Skeletons & Majesties Live (DVD and Blu-ray )
Others
The song Space Eater was the inspiration for the band name for the Serbian thrash metal band of the same name in 2004.
Early live versions of Heading for Tomorrow , which was only played in full on the debut album tour, spanned over 24 minutes.
swell
- ↑ a b Archive link ( Memento of the original from October 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/gamma-ray-empire-of-the-undead-cover-artwork-track-listing-revealed/
- ↑ Chart sources: Germany / Austria / Switzerland
