Year : 1984 (Metalizer Records Edition 2013)
Style : Heavy Metal
Country : Germany
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 160 mb
Bio:
Band formed in 1982 in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany.The pre-Steeltower rock band String Eyes was around since the late '70s.They released 7" record and cassette pressings (the latter limited to 1,000 copies) around 1981, with the songs "Night Mare Over You" / "Practice or Die." While under that moniker the bands members included what would be the original Steeltower line-up, as well as keyboardist Bernd Manthey.In 1984, Axel Thubeauville, founder of the "Earthshaker Records", got their tape from 'Horus Sound Studio' owned by Frank Bornemann, he liked it and bought the rights.Steeltower's first album, Night of the Dog, was released in 1984 on Mausoleum Records.In 1987 the band changed their name to Heavens Gate.Heavens Gate was a German heavy metal band from Wolfsburg, Germany.They started out as a band called Steeltower in 1982, releasing their first record Night of the Dog in 1984.Before signing with No Remorse records, they were known under the name of Carrion and several of their songs ended up re-worked on their debut album In Control. They changed their name to Heavens Gate in 1987.Their first record as Heavens Gate was released in 1989. They were, together with German bands Helloween, Gamma Ray, Grave Digger, Running Wild, and Rage, the pioneers in German power metal, taking their influences mainly from Helloween as well as from Judas Priest.Heavens Gate were taken under the wing of Frank Bornemann (Eloy) and soon after releasing In Control, they were embraced by the German metal audience and had an enthusiastic response in Japan.They also did a metal cover of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" by Monty Python, from the movie The Life of Brian, for the Hell for Sale! album.
Album:
Llegendary german metal highlight from 1984 on CD remastered and with 9 bonustracks from demo recordings.Comes with 12-page booklet, history and some rare photos.With the fantastic voice of Thomas Rettke who joined later HEAVENS GATE and is now on tour with AVANTASIA. Great german metal from the early years in the vein of HEAVENS GATE, GRAVESTONE and NOISEHUNTER. Essential for every fan and collector!Get your STILL SEALED copy of this GERMAN METAL CLASSIC, this one is historic. Really last copies of this limited edition!Towers of steel were built on the German metal arena in the early/mid-80’s; towers from where one could get a good grasp of what was going on around, and could get a good idea of what styles were being spawned, and in which direction the entire circus was going. For this youthful batch from Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony the name of the game was the good old classic heavy metal, think Scorpions, Accept, Faithful Breath (later Risk), but it was whole five years later when they were going to walk on this avenue of the finest, or rather up this stairway to heaven, under the name Heaven’s Gate.Yes, this is the first incarnation of the relatively short-lived heavy metal sensation, and everyone seems to be doing a decent job at this early stage, with Thomas Rettke an already accomplished vocalist, pitching it quite high on the lively speedy opening title-track this one a well-deserved winker at Running Wild’s and Living Death’s first. Later on such rowdiness isn’t encountered as the album settles for a steady homogenous mid-paced stride (“Hell & Fire”, “Break the Law”) not far from what Judas Priest (check the song-titles again) were practicing at around the same time, only that here the urge to try something mellower and more welcoming (the blasé hard rockers “Powerdrive” & “Save My Life”) is stronger, and although the guys come chasing those benign ghosts away (the lively more intense “Devil’s Dreamer”), the overall impression isn’t exactly about bar brawls, street fights, and drunken confrontations the more serious epic “Bring up the Night” walking away with the winner’s prize for the highlight, a template the band explored more fully later on the Heaven’s Gate works.Unpretentious light stuff that didn’t quite shoot the guys into the spotlight, but this fact didn’t dishearten them as they persevered by also changing their name to Carrion (one demo (“Heavy Metal”), 1987), and very shortly after to… well. And they did rule, for about a decade, with their effective unflinching brand of old school heavy metal, overcoming in-vogue temptations (the shaky trendy “Hell for Sale”) to end their career in a high note. The new millennium saw Rettke and the guitar player Sascha Paeth trying something rowdier and power metal-ish under the Redkey moniker, also bringing the original Steeltower axeman Andrè "Ace" Borawski (not a Heaven’s Gate member) to the fore. A decent if not downright extraordinary hesitation between the old and the new school, it failed to convince the fanbase that this project would be a distinguished sequel to the Heaven’s Gate legacy.Well, the dog reached paradise once; it came, it saw, it conquered… it ruled for a bit… sure it can get another shot at glory; after all, these long-since completed towers still hold.
Line Up:
Thomas Rettke - Vocals (1982-1986) - See also: ex-Heavens Gate, ex-Redkey, ex-Carrion, ex-Avantasia (live), ex-String Eyes
Manni Jordan - Bass (R.I.P. 2023)
Bernd Kaufholz - Guitars
Ingo Millek - Guitars (1982-?) - See also: ex-Carrion, ex-Heavens Gate, ex-String Eyes
Thorsten Müller - Drums - See also: ex-Heavens Gate, ex-Carrion, ex-The Gents
Production:
Recorded At – Horus Sound Studio
Mixed At – Horus Sound Studio
Cover – Detlef Braun
Engineer – Jan Nemec
Layout – Bernhard Kreitmeyer
Photography By – Jürgen Karolek
Photography By [Booklet Pics] – Axel Seligmann
Producer – Jan Nemec, Steeltower
Remastered By – Sasch Menschl
Recorded and mixed at Horus Sound Studio, Hannover, Germany, between Jan.-Sept. 1984
Tracklist:
01. Intro / Night of the Dog 03:55
02. Hell and Fire 03:42
03. Save My Life 03:27
04. Angel's Devil 03:15
05. Gotta Believe No Angel 03:08
06. Break the Law 03:50
07. Powerdive 04:43
08. Bring Up the Night 05:27
09. Devil's Dreamer 03:24
10. Bleed the Night 03:49 (Bonus Track)
11. You Turn Me Out 03:40 (Bonus Track)
12. Black Hearted Woman 03:30 (Bonus Track)
13. Into the Fire 03:23 (Bonus Track)
14. Steeltower 04:13 (Bonus Track)
15. Victim of the Tiger 03:24 (Bonus Track)
16. Way Back to Hell 02:51 (Bonus Track)
17. Now I Do Believe 04:13 (Bonus Track)
18. Dirty Child 04:15 (Bonus Track)
*Tracks 10 to 18 are demo bonus tracks
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