reviews

"Deadly Fairytales", the debut album by GANDALF was released 18th of October 1998 in Europe by Earache/Wicked World and in March 1999 by Earache USA in the United States and Toy's Factory in Japan.

"The Cradle" — 1995 Demo

• Metal Curse (USA) — 9/10 — Ray Miller: "The songwriting is superb, the playing flawless."
• More Than Music (USA) — 8.5/10 — Gery Nible: "Easily the best demo I've received this year."
• Terrorizer (UK) — 5/5 — Gregory Whalen: praised as classy melodic death/heavy metal in the vein of fellow Finns Sentenced.
• Soundi (Finland) — Jukka Junttila: "plainly the best metal-demo that has been reviewed in at least a year."
• Screams From The Gutter — Dave Rohrbach: singled out for "aggressive songwriting where intensity combined with catchiness isn't a forgotten tool."
• Decibels Storm (France) — "The Cradle is a killer demo."
• Voices From The Darkside (Germany) — Frank Stöver: "absolutely great groovy death metal."
• Heavy Oder Was (Germany) — 9/12 — Detlef Dengler: "The technical abilities are impressive."
• Ablaze (Germany) — noted the Gandalf logo was drawn by Taneli Järvä of Sentenced.
• Metal-Core (USA) — Chris Forbes: "some of the best riffs this side of New Jersey."
• Underground Scene Report — praised the band's "excellent playing & songwriting."

"Snakebite" — 1996 Promo Demo

• Terrorizer (UK) — 5/5 — Gregory Whalen: called it "even better than 'The Cradle.'"
• Metal Shock (Italy) — 5/5 — described as an extraordinary, technical, and original release.
• More Than Music (USA) — 9/10 — Gery Nible: credited the "awe-inspiring guitar play" between Timo Nyberg and Santtu Sierilä.
• Rock Hard (Germany) — Frank Stöver: said it "exceeded the standards of its predecessor easily."
• Scream (Norway) — Asgeir Mickelson: called it "one of the best demos I've heard in a really long time."
• Aardschok (Netherlands) — Anthony van den Berg: praised a sound that "explodes of aggression and melody."
• Ill Litterature (USA) — Dave Rohrbach: likened the songs to "moving statues — solid as the marble they're made of."
• Metal Curse (USA) — 9.5/10 — Ray Miller: "exceptionally well-produced, written and played."
• Rumba Rock Magazine (Finland) — singled out closing track "Marionette" as "a horse of another color."
• Nordic Vision (Norway) — Melankol: noted strong potential in a "groovy and melodic" sound.
• Inwolfment (Germany) — Markus [name unclear in source]: "Gandalf let lightning strike again."

"Deadly Fairytales" — 1998 Debut Album

• Freelance Review — 9/10 — Jakke Kaurinki: "great kick butt death metal with character!"
• Perkele! (Finland) — 8.5/10 — Petteri Knuuti: praised production that was "really rich and full of flavour."
• Metal Hammer (UK) — 7/10 — Dave Ling: "a quality release from a band with potential."
• Soundi (Finland) — 4/5 — Antti Mattila: "Gandalf strikes a vein."
• Powerplay — praised as "full of melody without losing aggression."
• Scream Webzine — 4/6 — Asgeir Mickelson: described as "a mix between In Flames and Dimmu Borgir."
• Drunk + Disorderly — called it the "second best debut of the year."
• Firefight — noted the record's driving rhythm section throughout.
• Metal Maniacs (USA) — Chris Maycock: an "impressively solid and professional" debut.

"Rock Hell" — 2001 Album

Reviewed by MetalReviews.com, Tartarean Desire, PowerMetal.de, Rockezine.com, Deadtide.com, and Metal-Archives.com.

For full reproductions of these reviews visit the GANDALF "Rock Hell Revisited" tribute site.