Power Cheese
I have a soft spot for power metal, in actual fact it's not just a spot it's more like a splodge. I picked up Edguy's last full-length album 'Hellfire Club' because they were tipped to be the next Helloween. Apart from it's obvious cheesy ballads it was a great album and I was quite excited at the prospect of hearing their new release.
Edguy don't take themselves seriously which is one of the reasons why I find them appealing. Their witty performance at this years Bloodstock Open Air festival proved you can be German and have a sense of humour. This oozes from the cover art of 'Superheroes' in which the band are drawn in cartoon form dressed up as what only can be described as Bananaman and his four campest friends. The title track kicks off the proceedings and compared to the standard of their last album it's a little lacklustre. Mid tempo in its delivery, it is neither exciting nor fist pumping. The usual bass and drum verse trick is played with the guitars growling on the bridge, or do they? The guitars arrive but they don't cut through, they just sit there and don't add anything to the song. It's not just the fact they're too quiet in the mix but the sound isn't cutting or gritty making Edguy sound like any other power metal band. 'Spooks in the Attic' improves greatly on the title track with another but more urgent mid tempo beat. The mix issue is still a problem but the song is typical Edguy and perhaps the strongest on offer with its infectious chorus and cool opening riff. With most power metal bands they feel obliged to litter their albums with tedious god-awful ballads and Edguy don't disappoint giving us 'Blessing in Disguise'. It's neither emotional nor laden with great melody. The incidental piano and background strings cannot lift tedium of this song in fact they just add to it.
The pace is turned up to full on 'Judas at the Opera' and with the golden tonsils of Michael Kiske lending a hand it doesn't disappoint. The song is great for the first three and a half minutes when the pace is kept up. Not even the dreadful lyric of '...he is a queer, he likes it into his rear', can't stop this powerhouse of a song. For some reason they slow it down taking all the fury out of the track replacing it with some horns and strings before speeding it up again. This is a shame and spoils the momentum of what could have been one of their best songs. More ballad shenanigans begin 'The Spirit' but it improves to an up beat acoustic driven song but it's a bit of a filler track and doesn't really create any response in the listener. Lastly we have a piano and string version of the title track which is just plain dull and unnecessary. I am sure another original track would have been a better idea.
Despite this below par effort I still remain a fan of Edguy. 'Superheroes' has its moments but not enough of them. These crazy Germans may have charisma oozing out of them but I think it would be better to wait until their next full-length release rather than spending money on this E.P.