So Covid-19 may have delayed the release of this album by about 12 months, and it has certainly put a stop to any touring to promote it, but the album arrived as promised, and that is something I don’t think any fans of the band thought they would ever hear – Hansen and Kiske back in the band that they helped to create the major success of. Along with the initial tour to celebrate their reunion the band released a new single, “Pumpkins United”, that was written by Deris, Weikath and Hansen, and featured all three vocalists in capacities during the song. And when it was announced that a new album was to be recorded, it was announced that it would be helmed by this writing trio. Well, for whatever reason, that isn’t what happened.As it turns out, the writers are pretty much as they have been for the last 17 years for Helloween, with Deris and Gerstner doing the lions share, Weikath adding his 2-3 and Grosskopf 1-2. In fact, the only difference with the writers here is Kai Hansen’s 12+ minute monster “Skyfall” which concludes the album. Of course, that doesn’t mean that band members weren’t involved in the song writing process in other ways, but those being credited with the songs are the same as always. And perhaps that becomes a problem for some fans, as they could suggest that means the songs won’t be any different to what they have produced over recent albums.
But the songs they were writing on this album had lots more variables. Firstly, the addition of an extra guitarist, which opens up how the songs could be constructed. That of course could be done anyway, but with three different guitarists all adding their own flavour or style to the mix it was always going to improve what came out. And of course, the biggest change of all was the addition of not one, but TWO extra vocalists, all with their own style and their own way of interpreting how a song of a portion of the song should be sung, and of course the magnificence of their layered harmony vocals throughout. If for nothing else, that is what people should be coming to this album for.
And this may well beg the question – why would this album be any better than the last half a dozen or so released by the band? Some people either didn’t enjoy them, or didn’t listen to them. My own point of view of those albums is that I liked them all, and consider all of them around 7.5 to 8 out of ten. So musically, even if they were on a similar path I was always going to be okay with it.
I can give you a few reasons as to why this album is probably the best the band has released since Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy back in 2005, but the one, outstanding, fully fledged reason is the one that is the most obvious – from the very first note that is sung by Michael Kiske, this is already a winner. And it is hard to convey the joy of hearing Michael Kiske singing again for Helloween. I do enjoy both of the Unisonic albums, but they don’t match this. This is pure unadulterated Helloween.
And look… I am not taking anything away from either Andi Deris or Kai Hansen, or the great backing vocals of all of the other members of the band. Truly. Because they are tremendous. But it is Kiske that is the star turn. Because – after Keeper 1 and 2 – he was the voice of Helloween. Yes, I LOVE Kai’s singing on those early albums and on everything he has done with Gamma Ray, and I love Andi’s vocals on all of the albums since. But Michael is the pure voice, the one that dominates in different keys, that soars where it needs to, and is still and always will be the major factor in Helloween’s vocals. No matter what other elements have made this the album that it is – and there are, don’t get me wrong – as soon as you hear Michael you know it is Helloween. This reunion would not have worked without him.
But the combination of the three main Helloween vocalists here is superb. In the main it is Michael and Andi who share most of the lines, but Kai has his moments as well, and that is superb that he is. Many people don’t know just how good Gamma Ray is, but they are as awesome a band as Helloween, and Kai has been their lead vocalist for most of their albums, so it is great that he still holds a place in getting his shot here too – obviously along with his guitaring. And Andi Deris is again superb. As the man holding down the number one spot in the band for 25+ years, he had the most to lose by the return of these two former members, and yet he seems to have not only taken it in his stride, but thrived on it. He risked losing his profile, but I think he has only strengthened it because he has been so accommodating in the whole process. When they played live he had to accede those older songs back to Michael and Kai to be the major vocalists, but he did so stylishly. And here, he and Michael combine and mesh seamlessly, each taking their turn on the microphone and making every song a moment in time to remember.
And of course the musicianship is second to none. Drummer Dani Loble is a powerhouse behind the kit and has been a revelation since coming into the band. His drumming here is exceptional, and the sound he has got going is really superb. Part of this amazing experience is the fact that one of the people involved in the band was able to find Ingo Schwichtenberg's drum kit that he used to record the two Keeper album back in the late 1980’s, and that is the kit Dani used to record this album. And to me, his genuine excitement to be using that kit just shows not only how invested he is in the band and also its history. Alongside him as the other latecomer, Sascha Gerstner again delivers. His guitaring has always been great, and his song writing particularly strong. I probably didn’t pay him enough attention until I saw him perform live with the band on two tours of Australia, but seeing him up front just proved to me what a terrific addition to the band he has been since he arrived 20 years ago. “Best Time” and “Angels” are his two tracks on this album and again they have purpose in the lyrics and strength in the music. And as always on bass guitar, the grand old man of the four string, Marcus Grosskopf, who has been there since the very beginning, playing the most immaculate and amazing bass riffs, running those enormous hands all the way along the fretboard. You can only wonder why Marcus has always felt underrated as a musician and a songwriter. He rarely seems to get a mention when it comes to the great bass players, and yet he most definitely is. Just listen carefully to his work on this album again, it is amazing. And his one track on the album that is credited to his writing, is “Indestructible”
It is interesting to look back at the debut EP and first three albums by Helloween - Walls of Jericho, Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I and Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II, and note that all but three songs were written by either Michael Weikath or Kai Hansen – Michael Kiske’s “A Little Time”, “You Always Walk Alone” and “We Got the Right” are the only exceptions. They were the guitarists, the leaders. The guys that drove the band. Take a look at the songs on those four albums. That is an amazingly incredible collection of brilliant material to come from just two people in such a short space of time. What if they had stuck it out, and stayed together in Helloween. Could they have followed that up? History shows that without Hansen the band was not able to, but that is not to say it would have worked if Kai had not gone off to form Gamma Ray and record the brilliant Heading for Tomorrow album. Michael Weikath here is credited with three songs, the wonderful opening track performed so brilliantly by Kiske, “Out for the Glory” along with “Robot King” and “Down in the Dumps”. Kai only has the one writing credit, but it is pure Kai with it being the grandiose 12+ minute closing track “Skyfall”, the hallmark epic Kai Hansen song. There is some suggestion out there that Kai did not write more for the album because it would then become too much like Gamma Ray than Helloween. Whether or not that would be true, and while I would like to have heard more songs from Kai on the album, I also hope it is because he is saving them all up for the next Gamma Ray album... whenever that may be...
I think this album is a triumph. It is everything that could have been expected from this band and this reunion of old and current members. I think they have gone about it in a very sensible and ordered fashion. They finally came together and let bygones be bygones. They then toured together, putting together a great range of hits from the past and form the current day, and not only mixed three guitarists into the setting, but three vocalists as well. And THEN, they wrote and recorded an album together. And all of that has paid off.
The opening salvo of “Out for the Glory” is magnificent, followed by the brilliance of “Fear of the Fallen”. I still get shivers down my back every time I listen to this song, just listening to those harmonic vocals of Michael and Andi. It is a triumph, just fantastic. “Best Time” reminds me of the original Helloween because it is a happy song, just like their happy guitars were the hallmark of the band in its early years. “Indestructible” against soars because of the combined vocals of Andi and Michael. And the closing track on the album, “Skyfall”, is another masterpiece.
But there are others I could quite easily have included as absolute favourites, but that would mean including pretty much the whole album! “Mass Pollution” is a great song, one of Andi’s heavy tunes he likes to pump out every album, and so is “Rise Without Chains”. In all, Andi wrote four songs for the album as well as co-writing “Best Time” with Sascha. So much for ‘reducing his visibility’ with the arrival of the other two, hey!
What comes across best about this album is that it does successfully reintegrate the familiarity and love of the past with the solidity and finely tuned machine that is the band that has been playing for the last 20 years. It is the best of both worlds, but there was no certainty that it would work. But it has, and for all of the right reasons. None of the current five members has been overlooked or pushed out of the way. Indeed, they have retained their place in the structure as main songwriters and as performers. And Michael and Kai have not just been brought in as window shopping and to bring in the money. Michael’s vocal contributions, as I have already gushed over, make this immediately feel like we are back in the Keeper days, and it is both comforting and tremendously exciting to hear. And Kai’s vocal presence is also wonderfully succinct, while hearing his guitar solos in the mix once again also helps to regain that nostalgic presence.
I know not everyone will appreciate it, but for me, this lived up to all the hype, and lived up to everything I could have hoped for and imagined in a reunion of these members. Now let's get this pandemic behind us and get these guys back out on tour and showing us just how good these songs sound live!
And this may well beg the question – why would this album be any better than the last half a dozen or so released by the band? Some people either didn’t enjoy them, or didn’t listen to them. My own point of view of those albums is that I liked them all, and consider all of them around 7.5 to 8 out of ten. So musically, even if they were on a similar path I was always going to be okay with it.
I can give you a few reasons as to why this album is probably the best the band has released since Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy back in 2005, but the one, outstanding, fully fledged reason is the one that is the most obvious – from the very first note that is sung by Michael Kiske, this is already a winner. And it is hard to convey the joy of hearing Michael Kiske singing again for Helloween. I do enjoy both of the Unisonic albums, but they don’t match this. This is pure unadulterated Helloween.
And look… I am not taking anything away from either Andi Deris or Kai Hansen, or the great backing vocals of all of the other members of the band. Truly. Because they are tremendous. But it is Kiske that is the star turn. Because – after Keeper 1 and 2 – he was the voice of Helloween. Yes, I LOVE Kai’s singing on those early albums and on everything he has done with Gamma Ray, and I love Andi’s vocals on all of the albums since. But Michael is the pure voice, the one that dominates in different keys, that soars where it needs to, and is still and always will be the major factor in Helloween’s vocals. No matter what other elements have made this the album that it is – and there are, don’t get me wrong – as soon as you hear Michael you know it is Helloween. This reunion would not have worked without him.
But the combination of the three main Helloween vocalists here is superb. In the main it is Michael and Andi who share most of the lines, but Kai has his moments as well, and that is superb that he is. Many people don’t know just how good Gamma Ray is, but they are as awesome a band as Helloween, and Kai has been their lead vocalist for most of their albums, so it is great that he still holds a place in getting his shot here too – obviously along with his guitaring. And Andi Deris is again superb. As the man holding down the number one spot in the band for 25+ years, he had the most to lose by the return of these two former members, and yet he seems to have not only taken it in his stride, but thrived on it. He risked losing his profile, but I think he has only strengthened it because he has been so accommodating in the whole process. When they played live he had to accede those older songs back to Michael and Kai to be the major vocalists, but he did so stylishly. And here, he and Michael combine and mesh seamlessly, each taking their turn on the microphone and making every song a moment in time to remember.
And of course the musicianship is second to none. Drummer Dani Loble is a powerhouse behind the kit and has been a revelation since coming into the band. His drumming here is exceptional, and the sound he has got going is really superb. Part of this amazing experience is the fact that one of the people involved in the band was able to find Ingo Schwichtenberg's drum kit that he used to record the two Keeper album back in the late 1980’s, and that is the kit Dani used to record this album. And to me, his genuine excitement to be using that kit just shows not only how invested he is in the band and also its history. Alongside him as the other latecomer, Sascha Gerstner again delivers. His guitaring has always been great, and his song writing particularly strong. I probably didn’t pay him enough attention until I saw him perform live with the band on two tours of Australia, but seeing him up front just proved to me what a terrific addition to the band he has been since he arrived 20 years ago. “Best Time” and “Angels” are his two tracks on this album and again they have purpose in the lyrics and strength in the music. And as always on bass guitar, the grand old man of the four string, Marcus Grosskopf, who has been there since the very beginning, playing the most immaculate and amazing bass riffs, running those enormous hands all the way along the fretboard. You can only wonder why Marcus has always felt underrated as a musician and a songwriter. He rarely seems to get a mention when it comes to the great bass players, and yet he most definitely is. Just listen carefully to his work on this album again, it is amazing. And his one track on the album that is credited to his writing, is “Indestructible”
It is interesting to look back at the debut EP and first three albums by Helloween - Walls of Jericho, Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I and Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II, and note that all but three songs were written by either Michael Weikath or Kai Hansen – Michael Kiske’s “A Little Time”, “You Always Walk Alone” and “We Got the Right” are the only exceptions. They were the guitarists, the leaders. The guys that drove the band. Take a look at the songs on those four albums. That is an amazingly incredible collection of brilliant material to come from just two people in such a short space of time. What if they had stuck it out, and stayed together in Helloween. Could they have followed that up? History shows that without Hansen the band was not able to, but that is not to say it would have worked if Kai had not gone off to form Gamma Ray and record the brilliant Heading for Tomorrow album. Michael Weikath here is credited with three songs, the wonderful opening track performed so brilliantly by Kiske, “Out for the Glory” along with “Robot King” and “Down in the Dumps”. Kai only has the one writing credit, but it is pure Kai with it being the grandiose 12+ minute closing track “Skyfall”, the hallmark epic Kai Hansen song. There is some suggestion out there that Kai did not write more for the album because it would then become too much like Gamma Ray than Helloween. Whether or not that would be true, and while I would like to have heard more songs from Kai on the album, I also hope it is because he is saving them all up for the next Gamma Ray album... whenever that may be...
I think this album is a triumph. It is everything that could have been expected from this band and this reunion of old and current members. I think they have gone about it in a very sensible and ordered fashion. They finally came together and let bygones be bygones. They then toured together, putting together a great range of hits from the past and form the current day, and not only mixed three guitarists into the setting, but three vocalists as well. And THEN, they wrote and recorded an album together. And all of that has paid off.
The opening salvo of “Out for the Glory” is magnificent, followed by the brilliance of “Fear of the Fallen”. I still get shivers down my back every time I listen to this song, just listening to those harmonic vocals of Michael and Andi. It is a triumph, just fantastic. “Best Time” reminds me of the original Helloween because it is a happy song, just like their happy guitars were the hallmark of the band in its early years. “Indestructible” against soars because of the combined vocals of Andi and Michael. And the closing track on the album, “Skyfall”, is another masterpiece.
But there are others I could quite easily have included as absolute favourites, but that would mean including pretty much the whole album! “Mass Pollution” is a great song, one of Andi’s heavy tunes he likes to pump out every album, and so is “Rise Without Chains”. In all, Andi wrote four songs for the album as well as co-writing “Best Time” with Sascha. So much for ‘reducing his visibility’ with the arrival of the other two, hey!
What comes across best about this album is that it does successfully reintegrate the familiarity and love of the past with the solidity and finely tuned machine that is the band that has been playing for the last 20 years. It is the best of both worlds, but there was no certainty that it would work. But it has, and for all of the right reasons. None of the current five members has been overlooked or pushed out of the way. Indeed, they have retained their place in the structure as main songwriters and as performers. And Michael and Kai have not just been brought in as window shopping and to bring in the money. Michael’s vocal contributions, as I have already gushed over, make this immediately feel like we are back in the Keeper days, and it is both comforting and tremendously exciting to hear. And Kai’s vocal presence is also wonderfully succinct, while hearing his guitar solos in the mix once again also helps to regain that nostalgic presence.
I know not everyone will appreciate it, but for me, this lived up to all the hype, and lived up to everything I could have hoped for and imagined in a reunion of these members. Now let's get this pandemic behind us and get these guys back out on tour and showing us just how good these songs sound live!
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