Gamma Ray

In 1984 Kai Hansen launched the speed metal group Helloween, contributing guitar and vocals to its opening four studio releases. He departed the lineup at the start of 1989 and launched Gamma Ray together with vocalist Ralf Scheepers, formerly of Tyran Pace. The pair set out to document a single project that Hansen had begun developing during his Helloween years, enlisting bassist Uwe Wessel, drummer Matthias Burchardt, and additional musicians for the effort. Their debut album, Heading for Tomorrow, appeared in 1990 and resonated strongly with both listeners and reviewers, prompting Hansen, Scheepers, and Wessel to assemble a touring unit that added guitarist Dirk Schlacter and drummer Uli Kusch. The Heaven Can Wait EP surfaced while the road dates were underway. Gamma Ray delivered a follow-up studio album, Sigh No More, in 1991. After 1993’s Insanity & Genius, vocalist Scheepers exited to audition for Judas Priest; although unsuccessful, he chose to form Primal Fear rather than rejoin, so Hansen assumed lead-singing duties for 1995’s Land of the Free. Subsequent releases with Hansen handling vocals included 1997’s Somewhere Out in Space, 1998’s Valley of the Kings, and 1999’s Power Plant. Blast from the Past arrived in 2000. The band revisited a vigorous New Wave of British Heavy Metal approach on 2001’s No World Order and issued the live album Skeleton in the Closet soon afterward. Gamma Ray resurfaced in 2005 with Majestic and supported the record with an extensive world tour. In 2007 the group released the sequel album Land of the Free II and joined Helloween for a co-headlining trek. Three years later the band issued its tenth full-length studio effort, To the Metal! Drummer Daniel Zimmermann exited after fifteen years in 2012 and was succeeded by Michael Ehre. The eleventh studio album, Empire of the Undead, surfaced in spring 2014 and steered the band’s sound toward a stronger thrash direction.