Jutta Weinhold is somewhat of a legend in the German hard rock scene. Performing with original casts in Hair (1969) and Jesus Christ Superstar (1972), she went on to front two very popular hard rock bands namely Zed Yago in the 80's and Velvet Viper in the early 90's. After becoming disillusioned with the whole hard rock scene, she changed her musical direction in the late 90's and did mostly R and B as well as blues flavored material. After a couple of self titled albums where she strayed a bit from her hard rock roots, Jutta is back with a new project simply titled Weinhold. From Heaven Through The World To Hell sees Jutta roaring back with a vengeance; returning to her roots with a new band and a great hard rocking sound.

I've read several reviews of this album and like myself, they tend to agree that if Ronnie James Dio were female, then this is what he would probably sound like. Not only does her vocal style resemble the great elven one but even the music has the same mid-tempo groove and heaviness as classic Dio and even Black Sabbath. This is evident right from the first track, Strike which is moody, plodding and heavy and is spiced up by some flashy Malmsteen style fast scale runs by guitarist Kai Reuter. Jutta'a penchant for the dramatic is shown in her two-part musical interpretation of Shakespeare's Macbeth. Part One features a narrative in the German language whereas Part Two features a 9 minute epic complete with solid pounding riffs and an amazing operatic style and feel. The Dio/Sabbath influences are ever present on this track as well. Heaven, sees Jutta venturing more into commercial hard rock territory with a more laid-back and bluesy track that gets heavier for the chorus sections. With a great strong and powerful vocal performance and soaring lead guitars, it's a great example of classic melodic hard rock. The Dio/Sabbath influence once again is in full force with the tracks Blues Metal and My Own Sister. Blues Metal, with it's plodding and heavy de-tuned guitars, is moody, dramatic and with heart-wrenching vocals by Jutta, creates a style that can be best described by the title of the song.....Blues Metal. If ever there were such a genre then this track would be as fine an example as you could find. My Own Sister has a solid mid-tempo groove with very "busy" guitar riffing and lots of fills. Jutta's vocals are passionate, bluesy and fit the overall feel of the song perfectly. As a bonus we get a live version of Zed Yago's Black Bone Song from their 1989 album Pilgrimage.

Most tracks have a certain catchiness to them which can be attributed to Jutta's vocal performances and the great guitar playing. Excellent and melodic choruses are all accompanied by flashy and fast scale runs but there's also an expressive element to the lead guitar and even some Queen-like guitar orchestrations. The whole album has a feel of classic 70's and 80's hard rock and influences by other bands such as Deep Purple and Rainbow can be heard with some of the guitar riffs and overall style.

This album comes just at the right time to lift my spirits after being a little disappointed with the new Dio album. It is very much in the same vein as Dio's music but is much better than his latest offering Master Of The Moon. If you're a fan of Dio, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath and love the 70's and 80's classic hard rock sound, check this album out. With a voice that has the power of Doro but with a little of the grittiness of Allanah Myles and Sass Jordan, she has a great voice for this sort of music. Female fronted bands are now represented in most genres of metal and hard rock these days but on this album, Jutta Weinhold virtually puts on a clinic as to how a female voice should sing Dio/Rainbow/Sabbath style hard rock. It takes a while to grow on you but what a wonderful surprise.....one of the best classic hard rock sounding albums I've heard yet this year.