Masterplan is the new band formed around guitarist Roland Grapow, who’s better known from his days with the renowned heavy metal band Helloween. Other Masterplan members are drummer Uli Kusch (Helloween), bass player Jan S. Eckert (Iron Savior), keyboarder Axel Mackenrott and vocalist Jorn Lande (Ark). Quite an impressive list of names one might say.

This is the first heavy metal album of the year that has made it to my CD-player, and it is already a classic. Contrary to what one might believe Masterplan is not a Helloween clone. The music on this album is more classic heavy metal orientated, and bands like Dio, White Snake and Deep Purple have clearly influenced Masterplan’s music. Sure, there are parts where the band reminds you of Helloween, but Grapow’s overall guitar work is more subdued and diverse. Add to that the excellent raw vocals of Jorn Lande (no he doesn’t sound like his pants are too tight), and one can only conclude that Masterplan is an excellent new band that has a lot to offer.

Parallels can be drawn with last year’s Finnish power metal revelation: Thunderstone.

Masterplan’s music is in some ways comparable, and especially the vocals are of the same excellent level of quality that so many other bands in the scene seem to lack. Especially the song structure of the third song on the album, “Kind Hearted Light”, sounds a lot like Thunderstone. The biggest difference between the two bands, however, is the fact that this CD predominantly contains classic melodic heavy metal, while Thunderstone is more power metal orientated.

I can highly recommend this album to every heavy metal fan, because it simply won’t let you down. Oh, did I mention there’s a duet with Michael Kiske on the album? Yes, you heard it right, you’ll be able to hear Kiske in the song “Heroes”. This combination makes the song sound like a true Helloween classic. Do you need any more reasons to buy this album? No, I didn’t think so. The best songs on the album are “Crystal Night”, the White Snake-like “Soulburn”, my personal favorite “Crawling From Hell”, the melodic “Kind Hearted Light”, the dark and Nevermore-like “Bleeding Eyes” and of course “Heroes”.