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Heavenly is a band that was actually quite famous before they even started recording their debut album "Coming From the Sky". They were the winners of the "Be your own label boss" competition at the Noise Records website. The contest allowed fans to pick their favorite songs and vote for which band should be signed based off of listening to an MP3 track. After receiving the overwhelming support of the fans they were signed to Noise and went into the studio with Piet Sielk and Kai Hansen as guest musicians and recorded the debut.

Fast forward to 2001 and Heavenly returns to the studio to record the follow up album entitled "Sign of the Winner". I truly have to admit I was not overly impressed by the debut. Even with the help from Piet and Kai a lot of the songs were actually quite forgettable. There were some good moments here and there but the album felt as if it were a little forced. I figured that didn't really bode well for this album considering there would be no help. I think after listening to this I can say it may have been Piet and Kai holding them back on the first album because the second one is excellent from start to finish. This is your basic power metal romp from the galloping bass drumming to the speed rhythm playing on the guitar and finally the high-pitched vocal style. The songs on this release are what really stand out. There is a lot of variety and really good hooks all over the album that really get your attention. If there is one complaint I have it is the abundance of the keyboards. They are not really overpowering the album but I think they could have been lightened up a bit more without losing too much.

The biggest hurdle I can see for this band and this album is unfortunately being released right after some really excellent power metal albums such as Avantasia (Tobias Sammet), Karma (Kamelot) and Mandrake (Edguy) and then it certainly doesn't help to be released at the same time as the new Gamma Ray disc. I can see this album being lost in the shuffle and that would really be a shame as this is an excellent disc. Highly Recommended.