helloween tour 1985

How Helloween buried the hatchet and returned with one of the best albums of their career

With differences sorted, a new-look seven-piece Helloween followed a successful world tour with a fruitful trip to the studio. But will the love last?

Within the world of power metal, the return of Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske to Helloween was as surprising as Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan kissing and making up with Status Quo ’s Frantic Four. Or Iron Maiden readmitting Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith. Or even Led Zeppelin’s internet-busting comeback at the O2 Arena . As unexpected news goes, it was that big. 

Helloween were formed in Hamburg in 1984 by guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen, guitarist Michael Weikath, bassist Markus Grosskopf and drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg, although it wasn’t until lead singer Michael Kiske joined for their Keeper Of The Seven Keys albums – Part One in 1987, a follow-up 12 months later – that the big time really beckoned. 

Then, in 1989, a war of words erupted when Hansen quit to form power-metallers Gamma Ray. Despite the subsequent firing of Kiske and hiring of his replacement Andi Deris – and Schwichtenberg’s exit due to drugs and mental health issues – Helloween and Gamma Ray each carved out comfortable, if unbalanced, careers. 

Five years ago it was announced that Hansen and Kiske were returning as part of the seven-man Pumpkins United line-up, which also included Weikath, Grosskopf, Deris, current guitarist Sasha Gerstner, a member since 2002, and drummer of 16 years standing Dani Loeble. Following a triumphant world tour, Pumpkins United decided to make an album together. Now, that album has finally been released . 

“It was a long ride to make this happen,” Kai Hansen begins. “Whenever Gamma Ray played with Helloween we drank some beers, and I felt it would be sad if we never did something before we got too old. What we had was too good to ignore.” 

With the release of Helloween , Classic Rock is getting the lowdown from the returning Hansen and the one who never left, Michael Weikath. Weikath (or Weike, as he is mostly known) is an interesting guy with a quirky sense of humour. In conversation he uses the word ‘the’ in relation to his bandmates, as in “The Deris” and “The Sasha”. Hansen, by contrast, is more quietly spoken, although his words ring with forceful determination. 

“Kai was a proponent of doing this, and the idea was discussed a lot before it happened,” Weikath says. “Hellish Rock [a 2007 tour on which Gamma Ray were ‘special guests’ to Helloween] helped to make it possible.”

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Further back still, Weikath and Hansen had forged a verbal cease-fire during a lengthy discussion at the bar at a UFO concert in Hamburg. Today Weikath observes that it wasn’t helping anyone, and that “false narratives” were sometimes created by comments from reporters. Time, it appears, has proved to be a healer. 

“I always paid attention to what Helloween did, and there was a healthy competition between the two bands,” Hansen admits. “Before I left, Weike and I had some issues. He was happy that I went because I was in his way, but time buried those feelings. We are very different as people, but I always respected Weike as an artist. The guy is a genius, he writes great stuff. After a while I really missed the squaring up to each other and what it created.” 

The return of the equally strong-willed Kiske represented another huge question mark. Never much of a metalhead in the first place, after being sacked from Helloween he had dabbled in various sub-strands of rock. In 2000 he was snapped up for work with operatic metal supergroup Avantasia. Ultimately, it was this that began to steer him back towards Helloween. 

“He had become a bit of a hermit and got away from doing live music, metal especially,” Hansen says. “But then Tobi [Sammet] got him out on an Avantasia tour. I was there too, and we talked a lot about the past and a possible future. It led to me jumping in on [Kiske’s band] Unisonic [in 2011].” 

“Michael has become a very different guy,” Weikath considers. “He’s developed a sense of clemency. Back then, the same as me, he was a hard head who would never let anything go. We have come to realise that neither will do the other harm, and there’s a sense of trust.” 

Still, the perils of ‘lead singer disease’ are all too well known, and with Kiske, Deris and Hansen competing for the microphone, Helloween have a potential triple-case scenario. 

“None of that stuff is going on, and I’m surprised,” Weikath admits. “It helps that we have an effective management team that knows all of the characters. If necessary we turn to them. I wish we had had that before.” 

There aren’t just multiple singers in Helloween. Being a seven-man band with three guitar heroes must present problems? There’s an English phrase: ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth.’

“We have the same idiom in German”, Weikath remarks. “Sure, there are times when it becomes too much, but things work fine. Leatherwolf have three guitarists, so do Iron Maiden.” 

“Many bands have one lead animal and the rest just follow. With Helloween we have a bunch of alphas, and that can cause problems, but luckily we are older and wiser now,” Hansen notes. 

When Classic Rock asks how the band share out the guitar solos these days, the response is a classic Weike-ism. “Hansen and I do the puppet theater,” Weikath replies with a straight face, “and Sasha has no problem playing like a rhythm guitarist underneath the whole thing.” 

But what about the egos? 

“It’s much less of a problem. Everyone has grown up,” he believes. “We will never be mature, but for somebody to throw a tantrum now would be considered bad behaviour. There were none of those old situations.” 

Hansen explains that any baggage from the bad old days was jettisoned before the ‘go’ button got pushed: “Issues from the past were talked about between the older members, some controversial things that had to be addressed.” 

However, for Hansen the excitement and joy of being back in Helloween were tinged with sadness. “I agreed to carry on with Helloween with a tear in my eye,” he says. “I was sad to leave Gamma Ray, but I had to close my personal circle.”

Helloween’s current incarnation (and new album) can be traced back to the first Pumpkins United gig, which took place in Monterrey, Mexico in 2017. 

“We had rehearsed a lot but… man, we were shitting our pants,” Hansen says with a chuckle. “The first show of any tour is always shaky. But I won’t forget the sense of acceptance and happiness that came back from that South American audience. We went into things with no idea of what would happen or whether we might kill one another, but it became evident we could get along.” 

The show’s success left them with a question: would they make an album with the Pumpkins line-up, or go back to the way things were before? The ensuing world tour, which included a spectacular show at London’s Brixton Academy, was so well-received that Helloween knew the stakes had been raised. They say the pressure acted as an incentive. Maybe even a challenge. Work began on a new album, with Hansen and Kiske re-inducted into the fold. 

“As Mr Super-Critical, I annoy myself and others, and there’s no doubt that tension existed,” Hansen says. “We have a few songwriters here, all with slightly different styles. How do you pull everything together without sounding like a fucking samba band?”

Instead, Helloween interwove a flavour of each stage of the group’s career into the finished product. 

“Yeah, but it was done intuitively,” Weikath claims. “We agonised over whether or not to include a ballad [it was eventually saved for the next album], and the final running order was actually put together by Markus Staiger, the boss of our record company, who really got involved.” 

The songwriting credits are fairly evenly split, with Weikath, Hansen, Andi Deris, Sasha Gerstner and Markus Grosskopf all getting involved. It was a fruitful process. 

“The Deris and me had an avalanche of ideas,” Weikath says, smiling. “We would discuss replacing a part of a song and ‘bam!’, another idea! They felt heaven-sent. When everybody submitted what they had, it was clear we were going to have an amazing album.” 

Weike admits to feeling tension while working in the studio (with producer Charlie Bauerfeind and mixer Dennis Ward), but adds that it was a positive sort of tension. “There were a lot of silly jokes and breaking up with laughter, often at very serious moments.”

In a lovely symbolic reference, Loeble recorded his drum parts playing Ingo Schwichtenberg’s original kit. 

“That was pretty intense, because we wanted Ingo to be sitting there,” Hansen says. “But during the tour, everybody had reached the conclusion that this was a new configuration of Helloween.” 

The band dug out vintage equipment including an old Marshall stack last used on Walls Of Jericho , their full-length debut from 1985, and a Vox AC30 amplifier featured on 1998’s Better Than Raw . “We used old-school equipment but very modern technology to get the best of both worlds,” Hansen says proudly. Helloween has lots of hidden detail. Each repeated listen revealing something new… 

“That was the intention,” Weikath says with a smile. “We tried hard for those magic moments. It felt like providence, as though there was some sort of divine guidance.” 

Amazingly, the album’s 12-minute finale, Skyfall , was pretty much an after-thought. The band believed the record was a done deal until Hansen told them about his alien-themed epic, which doffs its hat to David Bowie . 

“When I wrote Skyfall I wasn’t thinking of him at all, but when I took the demo to the producer he said: ‘I like the Major Tom thing’,” says Hansen. “It’s great to be compared to somebody so fantastic.” 

The chasm between the personalities of Weikath and Hansen is highlighted by their individual responses to hearing the completed, almost 65-minute-long album for the first time. 

“It was relief, really,” says Weikath. “But also pride. A lot of pride.” 

“I’ll be honest, at first I couldn’t listen to it,” admits Hansen. “I didn’t like the sound or the mix. But gradually I found some distance. And now I’m happy that it doesn’t have that stereotypical modern production; we didn’t want to sound like everybody else.” 

Both men also have different views on whether the album might prompt some non-Helloween fans to now get on board. 

“Maybe,” Weikath replies optimistically. “This is one of the strongest albums we’ve ever done. We are guilty of being a classic heavy metal band, but it is freakin’ mature.” 

“I cannot say. It could go either way,” Hansen shrugs. “We might attract some new people, but maybe it will scare away those that like the Keeper albums and nothing else.” 

Nevertheless, from this point onwards Pumpkins Reunited is Helloween. 

“We are going on forever, together,” Weikath predicts. “It’s the most suitable thing to do.” 

Helloween is out now via Nuclear Blast .

Dave Ling was a co-founder of Classic Rock magazine. His words have appeared in a variety of music publications, including RAW, Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Prog, Rock Candy, Fireworks and Sounds. Dave’s life was shaped in 1974 through the purchase of a copy of Sweet’s album ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’, along with early gig experiences from Status Quo, Rush, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Yes and Queen. As a lifelong season ticket holder of Crystal Palace FC, he is completely incapable of uttering the word ‘Br***ton’.

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Helloween (formed in 1984) is a German power metal and speed metal band, who are extolled by many for pioneering the power metal genre introduced by their 1987 album “Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 1”, hailing from Hamburg, Germany.

Originally comprised of vocalist and guitarist Kai Hansen, guitarist Michael Weikath, bassist Markus Grosskopf, and drummer Ingo Schwchtenberg, in 1984 Halloween signed with Noise Records. The group’s recording debut came with a pair of tracks for the Noise Records compilation “Death Metal”, featuring label-mates Hellhammer, Running Wild, and Dark Avenger. Halloween’s debut self-titled EP was released in 1985 earning a spread of positive reviews. Featuring the intensity of speed metal and introducing the band to a wide audience, the record was followed by the full-length album “Walls of Jericho” in October 1985. Once again proving popular among fans, the album would be the last before Helloween took the reigns of a new power metal genre, becoming pioneers of a new sound.

A subsequent EP “Judas”, released in 1986, marked the removal of Kai Hansen as vocalist, who had been unable to fulfil both singing and guitar duties. Hansen moved to playing just guitar and vocal responsibilities fell to 18-year old Hamburg local Michael Kiske, who recorded on Helloween’s sophomore album “Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 1”. Dubbed the album that invented power metal, the record earned widespread critical acclaim and peaked at No. 15 on the German Album Chart. A year later the album’s follow-up “Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 2” was released, with which the single “I Want Out” was generously featured on MTV in support of its “Headbager’s Ball”. The group subsequently supported Anthrax on the Headbanger’s Ball Tour, exposing the group to a U.S. audience, and ultimately paving the way for worldwide success.

Guitarist Hansen left the band following the European leg of the “Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II” tour and was replaced by Roland Grapow. The live album “Live in the U.K.” arrived in 1989 after which Halloween experienced difficulties with Noise Records, which resulted in the band not putting out any new material until 1991’s “Pink Bubbles Go Ape”. Spawning the singles “Kids of the Century” and “Number One”, the record was most popular in Scandinavia but also found modest success in Austria, Japan, and the UK. Adopting synthesisers, horns, and acoustic guitars for their next release, 1993’s “Chameleon”, peaked at No. 8 in Japan despite performing poorly elsewhere. The band’s supporting tour highlighted a tumultuous period for the group and by 1993 Helloween were without singer Kiske and drummer Abdel-Nabi. A year later, with vocalist Andi Deris and drummer Uli Kusch, Halloween reappeared to release “Master of the Rings”, marking a return to form for the band. Following the suicide of former drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg, the band issued the tribute album “The Time of the Oath” which saw Halloween return to the heights of the European metal hierarchy. The full-length “Better Than Raw” followed in 1998, supported by a relentless world tour including dates in Europe, Japan, Brazil, and the U.S.

An album of Scorpions, Jethro Tull, Faith No More, and ABBA covers appeared in 1999 entitled “Metal Jukebox”, following which the band released their ninth studio album “The Dark Ride” in 2000. Guitarist Grapow and drummer Kusch were let go after the release and were replaced by Sascha Gerstner and Mark Cross respectively, who recorded on “Rabbit Don’t Come Easy” in 2003. The full-length “Gambling with the Devil” hit the shelves in 2007, followed three years later by “7 Sinners” in 2010. 2013’s “Straight Out of Hell” was led by the single “Burning Sun”, and suceeded by the full-length “My God-Given Right” in 2015.

Live reviews

Helloween was phenominal. From the first song "Helloween" through the final encore song "I Want Out" Helloween gave the crowd a heavy dose of German Power Metal that one could only hope to experience. Andi Deris and Michael Kiske worked the crowd and were fantastic vocalists sharing the same stage as Kai Hansen, Sascha Gerstener, and Michael Weikath pounded the crowd with unyeilding guitar work. Markus Graosskopf (bass) and Daniel Loble (drums) were the same. The stage show was very good as well.

My only complaint is the the venue, Concord Music Hall. It may be a fine venue for smaller crowd, but fans showed up in droves and filled the Hall to capacity to the point where no one could barely move (because we were packed in like sardines). The stage certainly appeared to be way undersized for Helloween's band members to move around and the video effects were almost rendered inneffective. I certainly am not blaming the Concord Music Hall for these woes, but management for underestimating Helloween's popularity in the States. Only a few shows were booked for North America to the point where my son and I drove the 500 miles to Chicago (beautiful City by the way) from Pittsburgh to see the band. I am sure tha there are other fans who did something similar.

All in all though, I would do it all over again because the band was that great and as I said earlier, simply phenominal. The Pumpkins United Tour was a success in so many ways and it is a shame that more fans could not be exposed to it.

If you happen to have the chance to see the Pumpkins United tour, and are even a casual fan of Helloween, I would advise that you take advantage of attending their show if possible!

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Great show delivered with enthusiasm to an appreciative audience. Helloween has been delivering power metal since the '80s. In fact, I saw them back in '89 when they warmed up for Queensryche on the Operation Mindcrime tour. Of course, that was back when Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske were still around.

Anyway, Andi Deris does a fantastic job with the vocals these days and quite frankly, the albums that have come out since 2000, including Dark Ride, Gambling with the Devil, 7-Sinners, Straight out of Hell, and the namesake of the current tour My God-Given Right are the hardest rocking the band has made.

Well, the band dipped into all of those albums and more on Tuesday at the Playstation in NYC. The dual guitarist fronted metal is lick filled and in your face. Like Jack Black said, it's a face melter.

The crowd was a mix of old guard Helloween fans (you could tell by the thinning hair and 20 year old tour jackets) and young brash headbangers looking to be kicked in the teeth. No one should have left disappointed. The band rocked for the better part of two hours and was able to enlist the crowd's help on several sing alongs.

The venue has decent acoustics and sight lines. Drink prices are typical of NYC bars.

If you get a chance to catch Helloween on this your, get it done. They're not going to be able to continue at this level for ever. I for one am glad I caught them this time around and sincerely hope the crew has a couple more albums in them.

Power metal has been an integral genre to the musical landscape of Germany and one of the country's most internationally recognised groups is Helloween. If only for their incredible band name, this group of performers have been tearing a blistering trial since they formed way back in 1984. The lineup has gone through a variety of alterations yet fortunately for fans the musical identity and intense live show has remained the group's incredibly strong constant.

Michael Weikath stomps out onto the stage tonight and raises his hands in command for larger cheers before he allows guitarists Markus Grosskopf and Sascha Gerstner to rip into the introducing strings of 'Wanna Be God'. With almost a thousand appearances around the globe, this group's seem completely at home onstage and they know their discography inside out yet this does not mean that the show is static in any way this evening. There is a deep pulsating darkness running through all their tracks and an instrumental extremity tying everything together which is in turn fuelled by the huge enthusiasm of the fanbase. They cheer one final rapturous time as the final beats of 'Power' fade and stop rippling the battered speaker system.

What’s better than metal you ask? Why, I think this audience would say. THRASH METAL, their hands raised in the horn position as they make an excruciatingly painful face, but hey, each to their own. This band has been doing what they’re doing for almost thirty years. Formed in Germany in 1984, they have released four EPs, and 15 studio albums. All of which are on sale tonight, in this pretty cool metal flight case. The distortion is set to high, with the gain turned up to eleven as they deliver their thrashing guitar riffs, complete with blast beats on the drums. Tonight they perform a slew of some of their biggest singles such as “Sole Survivor” which has people with their horns up in the air throughout the song from start to finish. “Mr Ego” follows. One of the things that I wonder with this band is why they released so much material; maybe they’re more of a studio band than a live band. Their peers Metallica have seen a career the same length as theirs but with half the amount of albums. Fair play to them.

1. Halloween

2. Dr. Stein

3. I'm Alive

4. If I Could Fly

5. Are You Metal?

6. Rise and Fall

7. Waiting for the Thunder

8. Perfect Gentleman

9. Starlight / Ride the Sky / Judas / Heavy Metal (Is the Law)

10. Forever and One (Neverland)

11. A Tale That Wasn't Right

13. Drum Solo

15. Livin' Ain't No Crime / A Little Time

16. Sole Survivor

18. How Many Tears

19. Eagle Fly Free

20. Keeper of the Seven Keys

21. Future World

22. I Want Out

Fantastic! Amazing! No words to describe a dream concert with the classic line-up and a big enthouasmic from the band. In Madrid, at least, it was very special, with more than 12.000 people waiting for them, waiting for this reunion.

This is the review that I write for my own web -> http://www.alvarolamela.com/2017/12/helloween-cumple-el-sueno-de-los.html

I highly recommend any fans to see them. They put on a great show, everything sounds beautiful. They are great to watch and listen to, seeing them enjoy playing and the vibe they send is so welcoming and warming. I am so glad I got to see them live. I wont forget seeing them.

The Concert was .... as A Helloween Concert always is... Brilliant..... It was epic.. and a 2hr 43 minute set was unreal and pure brilliance... :)

Only question i have is were can i get a Helloween Leather Jacket...( As two lead singers were wearing them...

Absolutely unforgettable experience!! The best vocals and music from a live concert that I've ever heard! Seeing Helloween live is the opportunity of a lifetime!! They are The very Best!

It was a long time coming for me as I've loved Helloween since I was a kid.. They were absolutely amazing and performed brilliantly on stage. Cannot wait to see them again live :)

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Helloween [1985]

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• November 14, 1985 Setlist

Helloween Setlist at Komm, Nuremberg, Germany

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• Starlight Play Video
• Warrior Play Video
• Reptile Play Video
• Ride the Sky Play Video
• Gorgar Play Video
• Victim of Fate Play Video
• Metal Invaders Play Video
• Heavy Metal (Is the Law) Play Video

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3 activities (last edit by matt01 , 23 Sep 2018, 10:46 Etc/UTC )

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• Heavy Metal (Is the Law)
• Metal Invaders
• Ride the Sky
• Victim of Fate

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• Jul 20 1985 Unknown Venue Uelzen, Germany Add time Add time
• Nov 13 1985 Music Hall Würzburg, Germany Add time Add time
• Nov 14 1985 Komm This Setlist Nuremberg, Germany Add time Add time
• Nov 15 1985 Stadthalle Mainburg, Germany Add time Add time
• Nov 16 1985 Alte Festhalle Tuttlingen, Germany Add time Add time

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"TOUR GUIDE" - PART 1 (1985 - 1998)

This "tour guide" is taken from several bootlegs lists and other tour guides that I´ve found.

This is a fans to fans based list, if you know any more dates, please send in to: [email protected]

Helloween Mini LP Tour 1985

"Walls Of Jericho"Germany Tour 1986 Opening band for "CELTIC FROST" & "GRAVE DIGGER"

NOTE: S ome sources claim it was Bochum , Zeche Carl, Germany but according with Celtic Frost Tourography it wasn’t in Bochum

"Walls Of Jericho" European Tour 1986

NOTE: Helloween didn´t play in London at this date, correct date is May 11th 1986. NOTE 1: Other bands at festival was: King Diamond, Agent Steel, Avalon, Bad Lizzard & Laaz Rockit NOTE 2: Other bands during the concert was: Horney Arbiter, Vendetta & Wallop NOTE 3: Other bands during the concert was: Destruction & Wallop NOTE 4: Other bands at the festival was: Sinner, Grave Digger, Tyran Pace, Draxon, Iron Age, Netz & Glenmore NOTE 5: It is sometimes incorrectly noted as Munich 7/7/86 or Gelsenkirchen 7/6/86 NOTE 6: There was a mini tour in France & Belgium, with Paris, Marseille & Brussels, but I don’t have the exact dates, any help will be appreciated

"Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 1" European Tour 1987 Special Guest was OVERKILL

NOTE 1: Other bands at the festival was: Hammer, Destroyer, Turbo, TSA, Overkill, Running Wild NOTE 2: Other bands at the festival was: Dragon, Stos, Wilczy Pajak, Open Fire, KAT, Overkill, Running Wild NOTE 3: Helloween didn´t play in Paris or anywhere else at this date.

"Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 1" Festival & Special Guest Tour 1987

NOTE: Helloween didn´t play in Tilburg at this date, the correct date is March 28th 1987.

North America Hell On Wheels Tour 1987 Helloween did the American tour with Armored Saint and Grim Reaper. Helloween started as the opener band of this tour but after five shows the band played as second, and ended being the headliner in the last shows.

"Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 1" Japanese Tour 1987

"Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 2" Monsters Of Rock & Special Guest Tour 1988

NOTE - For some reason "Helloween" didn´t play in Drammen as Support to Iron Maiden. A band from Norway did it instead.

"Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 2" European Tour 1988

NOTE - Helloween didn´t play in Winterthur at this date, the correct date is Oct. 29th 1988.

"Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 2" European Tour 1989

"Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 2" USA Tour 1989 Headbangers Ball 1 st Tour As Opening Band For "ANTHRAX" & "EXODUS"

"Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 2" Japanese Tour 1989

"Pink Bubble Go Ape" European Tour 1992

"Pink Bubble Go Ape" Japanese Tour 1992

"Chameleon" European Tour 1993

"Chameleon" Japanese Tour 1993

"Master Of The Rings" European Tour 1994

"Master Of The Rings" Japanese Tour 1995

"The Time Of The Oath" European Tour 1996 Special Guest was "Bruce Dickinson" and at some shows "Skin" was opening band

"The Time Of The Oath" European Festival & Special Guest Tour 1996

"The Time Of The Oath" South America Tour 1996

"The Time Of The Oath" Japanese Tour 1996

"Better Than Raw" European Tour 1998 Special Guest to: "IRON MAIDEN", Opening band was "DIRTY DEEDS"

"Better Than Raw" European Headline, Special Guest & Festival Tour 1998

NOTE 1 - Other bands that played at the festival was: Primal Fear, Stratovarius , Blind Guardian, Kreator NOTE 2 - Special Guest to Black Sabbath. Other bands that played was: Coal Chamber, Iced Earth , Gamma Ray, Stratovarius & Pantera NOTE 3 - Special Guest to Black Sabbath. Other bands that played was: Neurosis, Coal Chamber

"Better Than Raw" Japanese Tour 1998

"Better Than Raw" European Tour Pt. 2 Tour 1998 Special Guest to: "IRON MAIDEN", Opening band was "DIRTY DEEDS"

"Better Than Raw" North & South American Tour 1998

HELLOWEEN signs contract with Reigning Phoenix Music - new studio album announced

Hamburg (Germany), Los Angeles (California), February 2024 - Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM) announces the signing of legendary power metal institution HELLOWEEN for their upcoming studio album! Since their formation in 1984 and the spectacular reunion in 2017, HELLOWEEN is undoubtedly one of the world's outstanding representatives of the genre.

RPM proudly comments on the signing: "It is a true milestone for Reigning Phoenix Music to welcome HELLOWEEN to our family of artists. HELLOWEEN is not just a band, they epitomize the energy and passion of power metal. Their music has inspired generations, and we are proud to collaborate in order to reach new heights."

HELLOWEEN themselves are equally enthusiastic about the new partnership: "Sven Bogner and his team have convinced us with their ideas and enthusiasm. They live and love metal, and this is what connects us - we look forward to be working with them!" explains Andi Deris from HELLOWEEN. 

The combination of HELLOWEEN and Reigning Phoenix Music promises a powerful synergy between one of the world's most influential power metal bands and a label that is passionate about promoting up-and-coming talents as well as established artists. Fans can look forward to thrilling musical experiences and innovative projects.

Specifically, HELLOWEEN will start working on new material from the summer and are planning to release a new studio album in 2025. 

THANK YOU TO ALL HELLOWEEN MANIACS WORLDWIDE!!!

Pics & photo collage: Franz Schepers

The world tour everyone longed-for since over two years took us to 26 countries on 3 continents. After several pandemic related postponements the UNITED FORCES TOUR finally ignited in England May 2022 and brought together more than 800.000 fans, catapulting you into an euphoric orbit for a year and a half!

Sold out headline shows in Los Angeles, New York and Sao Paulo, legendary highlights like the show at the Prague O2-Arena, the Schleyerhalle in Stuttgart, or in front of 14.000 metalheads in Santiago de Chile and our first ever sold out concert at the iconic Budokan in Tokyo – the Holy Grail and the ultimate accolade for every rock band! 

Without a doubt there were tears in our eyes at the bombastic Hell & Heaven Festival in Mexico City, which closed the tour.  

Waving the UNITED FORCES flag, we opened a new live chapter after more than 35 years of band history: all seven of us rocked the stages, side by side with colleagues like Kiss, Scorpions or Deep Purple and, for the second time we headlined the Wacken Open Air!

We want to send our thanks to all of you, our loyal fans in Europe, the United States, Canada, Central & South America and Asia. We are incredibly grateful that you kept your tickets even with all the ongoing postponements and, that you stayed true fans, waiting patiently to finally see us live. 

As well, we would like to thank our friends in HAMMERFALL for accompanying us the majority of the dates and spicing up the tour with their pure Swedish metal, ensuring a sweaty, energetic and bombastic package. 

Andi: „What a ride! This world tour was something special for all of us – to get together with all our fans after the long waiting – a feeling we all missed so much! We enjoyed all the shows: our fans were superb and gave us only strikingly happy moments that led to an even stronger cohesion of the band! Personally, I can’t even imagine doing this without Michi and Kai anymore! And now we are looking very much forward to our next studio album with the crazy Pumpgang we´ve got!

Markus: "Hi Helloween folks all over the globe: you were the ones who welcomed us with open arms and hearts all over the world and you turned our world tour into an unique, euphoric party! We love you all and we are very much looking forward to continue this party with you, our Helloween family in 2024 – right after we are done with the new record. 

Sascha: "Wow, what an incredible tour once again! I've met so many wonderful people, and the atmosphere during our concerts has been filled with love and energy. Each tour gives me a steady growing and fulfilling experience! Much love to all the fans out there, our hard working crew, dedicated management, and my talented bandmates!"

After 60 extremely emotional shows, we are now going directly into the songwriting process and follow up production for the successor of HELLOWEEN - it will be the second release of a new era, the new time calculation for us!

"BEST TIME": NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO OUT NOW! 

HELLOWEEN would like to celebrate again with their fans – with "BEST TIME", THE party song of their 2021 album "HELLOWEEN".   

The sunny and straight hymn by Sascha Gerstner and Andi Deris revives the good times and shows with their drifty guitars and top form front men a song full of the joys. About the songwriting of "BEST TIME" Sascha Gerstner states: "I had an '80’s Neo Noir-Vibe' in my head. The riff was originally a synth-riff, which we arranged later for guitars. The wording 'I will have the best time of my life' was pretty spontaneous because I had this strong feeling to leave the past behind and Seize the day! Andi instantly loved the idea as well as the refrain and together we created the track as it is now!" "BEST TIME" comes with a terrific 80’s retro-artwork by cartoonist and HELLOWEEN fan Marcos Moura in a 2,000 pieces limited edition of a 12-inch vinyl, available in three colors as well as a bundle: vinyl single and t-shirt.  BUY YOUR EXCLUSIVE „BEST TIME“ VINYL EDITION AND SHIRT NOW! BUY HERE

Dear fans,  due to the sad and tragic event of this war, we are sorry to have to cancel our shows in Russia for 2023. We have amazing fans in Russia and Ukraine - music unites us all. Our thoughts are with all the innocent and good people, that have to take the unbelievable suffering from this insanity. We hope and pray for the wellbeing of all and a UNITED good time, with Ukrainian and Russian fans alike sometime soon, in a world that has finally come to peace and reason. Love to all!

"OUT FOR THE GLORY“  

MUSIC VIDEO RELEASED!

No reason to sit back: with the clip for “OUT FOR THE GLORY“ the next exciting coup is coming as the successful year is ending. "I had an idea for a video where all band members are depicted as dinky, odd noble courtiers and ministers" Michael Weikath explains. „All of us should be floating in the clouds, Deris as a nutty emperor…and after a while more and more details came up and at one point in time we wrote everything down and sent the video concept to the Australian animation team“. Aaron McLoughlin, Senior Lecturer at the University of Melbourne, who has already been involved in several projects with Atomic Fire Records CEO Florian Milz (e.g. for Children Of Bodom, Alestorm, Tankard) mentioned: „When I heard that HELLOWEEN is interested in a collaboration I was totally gobsmacked. The boys are my absolute heroes since I was a teenager and I was sure that my students would love to work on a song by this band.“

And typically HELLOWEEN  - the creativity was so outrageous that it was impossible to feature everything in one music video. „Seven and a half minutes might not sound like a lot but in animation terms it is a marathon. We had so much great stuff that the production of “OUT FOR THE GLORY“ was a real challenge. Weiki wanted the video to look as cute as possible and we immediately knew: A legendary band from the other side of the planet wants us to create a medieval epic full of cuteness? You bet!" McLoughlin recollects.

With a bit over 10.000 frames the iconic animation short movie is not only extremely elaborate, but also wicked and spacy, will cause a commotion and hopefully also a lot of fun and enjoyment. As Michael Weikath wishes with a twinkle in his eye: „I now expect that everyone will enjoy this and think it is funny and also that they see the signification!"

The animated music video “OUT FOR THE GLORY“ is celebrating its world premiere on December, 17th 2021 and was implemented by the students of Bachelor of Design (Animation & Interactive Media), RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia .

NEW ALBUM "HELLOWEEN" ENTERS CHARTS WORLDWIDE! 

🎃🚀 Our new album "Helloween" has now reached top positions worldwide, more than ten Top 10 entries with an incredible number #1 in Germany and Spain, as well as more #1 positions at the physical charts in Sweden, Finland and the rock charts in the United Kingdom! THANK YOU, PUMPKINHEADS AROUND THE WORLD! 

THE WAIT IS OVER!  Our new album “HELLOWEEN“ is out now! 

The album is available as 2CD - Digibook, 1CD - Jewelcase, 3LP - Hologram-Vinyl in Trifold, 2LP - Vinyl in Gatefold (picture vinyl + div. colors), 2LP/2CD - Earbook Edition, 2LP/2CD - Deluxe Boxset (black vinyl and splatter vinyl), Cassette, Digital Get it or stream it here:  HERE

“FEAR OF THE FALLEN“

Digital single & lyric video release.

HELLOWEEN are back! Their second single "Fear Of The Fallen" is a fast paced, melodic track done the way only lead singer Andi Deris can do it. Taken from the upcoming and self-titled new album "Helloween", released June 18th, 2021 and produced by Charlie Bauerfeind, the song features Deris along with his band mates Michael Kiske, Michael Weikath, Kai Hansen, Markus Grosskopf, Sascha Gerstner and Dani Löble in their prime.

SKYFALL OUT NOW + VIDEO PREMIERE

THE SINGLE HAS LANDED! "Skyfall", the first track from Helloween’s upcoming and self-titled album is now available for streaming and in various CD and vinyl formats! Go check it out! We’re so excited to hear your reactions! 

Written by Kai Hansen, "Skyfall" is a storming more-than-7-minute ride into the Helloween universe (and beyond!) The epic track describes an alien landing on earth and a dramatic chase while Michael Kiske, Andi Deris and Kai Hansen duel each other in a breathtaking manner and create a vocal broadband adventure. Produced by Martin Häusler, it is the most elaborate video clip in the history of the band. 

PUMPKINS ON TOUR

🎃 live at budokan, tokyo, japan 2023 | helloween.

THE HELLBOOK IS A SINGULAR TRIBUTE TO THE EUROPEAN METAL GODS. ON 498 PAGES IN THE FORMAT 22X28 CM, THIS TOUR DE FORCE OF SPEED, POWER AND RHYTHM INITIALLY TAKES US BACK TO THE ROOTS. WE WITNESS THEIR MOST IMPORTANT AND RENOWNED MOMENTS, AS WELL AS THEIR DARKEST AND MOST TRAGIC HOURS: THE TRUE STORY OF KAI HANSEN, MICHAEL KISKE, ANDI DERIS, MICHAEL WEIKATH, INGO SCHWICHTENBERG, MARKUS GROSSKOPF, ROLAND GRAPOW, ULI KUSCH, DANI LÖBLE, SASCHA GERSTNER AND OTHER MASTERS IS TOLD FOR THE FIRST TIME OFFICIALLY, AND ACCOMPANIED BY HIGH-QUALITY AND PARTIALLY UNRELEASED LIVE AND BACKSTAGE IMAGES. ACTUALLY, 30 YEARS OF HELLOWEEN ARE THE BEST EXCUSE TO SPILL THEIR BEST KEPT SECRETS AND MOST LEGENDARY ANECDOTES ...

With its premium artwork, designed by illustrators and designers like the mysterious frederick moulaert or marcos moura, a 350gr soft cover, and 150gr glossy paper, the hellbook is a must-have for hardcore fans  and a true treasure for collectors: the comprehensive and complete legacy of a legend, alive and necessary – and a collage of their dreams, dedicated to one of the biggest german heavy and hard rock bands of recent years. the ‚helloween-bible’ was initiated by carlos vincente leon and david lópez gómez from spain, who penned this masterpiece with blood, sweat and tears by fans for fans., order your hellbook here, pumpkins on  instagram, on face book, go to instagram and   post your helloween moment #mypumpkinsunited  and see your special moment here.

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