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Following up to the highly acclaimed "Powerplant" release, Gamma Ray had quite a release to top with "New World Order". Well, good news, once again the German power metallers have delivered the goods. This album is not much of a departure from Gamma Ray's previous material but does have some fresh sound to offer the listener. While it's obvious that this is Gamma Ray, we find here some Priest influences (the 3rd track, "The Heart Of The Unicorn" has a Painkiller-era Priest ring to it), mostly in the guitar riffs on some songs. This album is also not as light as "Powerplant", with an overall heavier sound (especially the guitars.) I found the song "Heaven Or Hell" to be by far the catchiest on the album. The ensemble remains pretty "happy sounding" (for lack of a better term), just like we've been used to by this band. Some bands really suck at this, but those Germans here just know how to do it right.

Out of 11 tracks there are 10 actual songs, the first track being just a one minute spoken intro. Overall the songs are pretty fast, except for the closer, "Lake Of Tears", a 6:48 ballad. It sounded a little weird at first to have a fast album end on a ballad, it takes some time getting used to - still a pretty good ballad (albeit maybe a little too long) and it does have an "ending" sound to it so it does fit there in some way.

Extremely well done cover art and booklet complete the package. Gamma Ray elected not to steer too far away from their usual sound and I'm not about to complain about that. Those who like the band's previous stuff will most likely love this. Hansen & Co. have once again delivered an excellent album. One of my favorites so far this year.