After a very successful tour with Hammerfall, Edguy presents us with some new material in the form of a 6 song E.P. entitled Superheroes. Hellfire Club was a big album for them and for most fans, the best one yet. Rather than make the fans wait for another album, they decided to record and release some new material to keep the momentum going. Stating that these are not B-sides or throw away tracks, Tobias Sammet has even hinted at performing a few of these new tracks live someday even though only the title track Superheroes will actually appear on their new album due next year sometime. Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween) who appeared on the Avantasia albums also makes a guest appearance here as well. Five songs of solid Edguy melodic power metal and one cover tune (Magnum's The Spirit) make for a great little E.P. and one that I just can’t seem to get enough of!!.

The title track Superheroes is a mid tempo melodic heavy metal track that has sprinkles of the Peter Gun theme throughout and a great soaring chorus. Not really a riff-based song, the guitars weave around the vocal melodies; a style that Edguy uses a lot in their song writing approach. Spooks In The Attic sounds more like Hellfire Club material and is both speedy and powerful with another very catchy chorus. Blessing In Disguise is an epic power ballad but with a mix of quiet orchestration and heavier segments, it doesn't come off sounding sappy at all. A very atmospheric track, this one avoids the trappings of most of Edguy's other power ballads all the while still retaining the catchy quality. Michael Kiske does a vocal duet with Tobias on the epic and operatic track Judas At The Opera. With crazy tongue-in-cheek lyrics, a huge Helloween style speediness and Queen inspired vocal ensembles, this one has more of the feel and style of the Avantasia material. Great speedy guitar melodies and melodic leads along with lots of double bass are infused throughout, making this track a very special one and a one-of-a-kind one at that. A cover of Magnum's The Spirit is included here and is essentially a power ballad with a mix of acoustic and heavier segments; all combining to produce a very "spirited" track (pardon the pun....). Lastly, we are treated to an "epic" version of Superheroes which is basically a stripped down version with just piano and Tobias' voice with some orchestration. A very different arrangement, it offers a very impressive and more "pure" vocal performance by Tobias which is devoid of any backing vocals or vocal layering and is much more emotional in quality. Although the vocal melodies are essentially unchanged, the tempo is much slower and this alternative treatment of this track actually works quite well.

I've noticed a change in Edguy's music going from the soaring and majestic quality of Vain Glory Opera and Theater Of Salvation to the more straight ahead melodic power metal sound of Mandrake and Hellfire Club. I prefer the older Edguy material myself but there's no denying that the quality song writing is still ever present. The Avantasia project allowed Tobias to expand his musical boundaries over what was the norm for Edguy and I think it was a great experience for him. Elements of the Avantasia sound and style are starting to show up in the Edguy sound but I think that was inevitable. Say what you will about this band but they are still hands down one of the best melodic power metal bands in existence right now. Every track on this E.P. is solid with no weak tracks and you'll find segments of just about every song getting stuck in your head on a never ending and rotational basis. There's also a DVD version of Superheroes that includes some live footage from Brazil, backstage antics as well as interviews and a photo gallery all for the same price (allegedly) as the CD single. It's too bad that we didn't get a whole album with this but there's lots here to keep Edguy fans more than happy until their next album.