Kingcrimsonprog Wow, what a dream come true. After the fan fantasy Pumpkins United tour, the astounding live-album United Alive and the killer one-off single “Pumpkins United” it is finally time for the long-awaited new full-length studio album from the German Power Metal icons Helloween.

Helloween are one of my all-time favourite bands, and I like all eras of the band. They started off in the early ‘80s on their early EPs and first album Walls Of Jericho as a heavier and thrashier proposition, fronted by Kai Hansen (who would later take a back seat but stay on guitar for the following two albums, before leaving and forming the equally excellent band Gamma Ray). After the early EPs and debut album, world-class singer Michael Kiske joined the band in the late ‘80s and helmed their two most beloved albums, the genre-defining Keeper Of The Seven Keys Parts 1 & 2, which are utter indisputable classics of the Power Metal genre and form much of the band’s live setlist even to this day. Kiske also presided over the next two less-popular, increasingly commercial and increasingly un-metal albums before leaving the band. In the early-mid ‘90s after a period of turbulence, declining popularity and declining band morale, singer Andi Deris joined the band and has been with the band ever since as they rebuilt, endured and produced some of their finest work along the way.

Each singer has their own fans. Kai is the original and heaviest, Kiske is the most popular and best technical singer, and Andi is the longest-serving and best showman/performer. This new album, like the wicked live album that precedes it, features all three singers on it, sometimes alone or usually mixed together. They are cleverly blended on this record; without a proper analysis it feels broadly like about Andi probably doing 55%, Kiske doing about 40% and Hansen doing about 15% which seems appropriate given their relative longevity in the band, and their relative commercial appeal. Interestingly too, as a tribute to the late Helloween drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg, current drummer Daniel Löble actually recorded his drum parts using Ingo’s old drumkit. Nice touch!

Although there must have been some temptation to just dive back into a retro ‘80s sound musically and sonically now that Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske back in the fold and Ingo’s old kit is being used, the results are actually decidedly more modern. While there is clear influence from the ‘80s it is not a simple rehash or retreading of old ground. Shameless fan service is in low supply and they’ve made a concerted effort to blend modernity and nostalgia in a classy way. The production (courtesy of Charlie Bauerfeind & Dennis Ward) is slick and modern, feeling much more like the most recent Derris Era Helloween albums, My God Given Right and Straight Out Of Head in terms of actual sonics. Even album art evokes simultaneously their classic Walls Of Jericho, Keeper Of The Seven Keys and Time Of The Oath album artworks all at once, which again feels like a clever blending of the three eras.

The song-writing does sound like recent Helloween albums first and foremost, not too much like the ‘80s and not overly like Hansen’s work in Gamma Ray or Kiske’s work in Unisonic. This is not a rejection of all the progress the band have made over the years, this isn’t just the Helloween of the ‘80s back in an anachronistic inappropriate revival cash-in. The three singers, numerous guitar players dynamic does help it stand apart from recent albums too though. It isn’t just business as usual with a cheap gimmick on the top either. What this actually is, is a new hybrid-Helloween, bringing a best-of-both worlds approach, injected with extra energy and enthusiasm. It is a good record, in fact a very good record, and a brilliant payoff for fans who like more than one era of the band. I highly recommend it.

However; while it would be tempting to get carried away for the sake of the story and say that it is their best album to date, or even their best album since 1990 or whatever, that would be incredibly unfair to some of the amazing albums the band have been releasing all along. It is a good album, easily in the top half or even top third of their discography, but to say it tops everything since the Keepers’ would be an inaccurate nonsense. This album is good, but let’s not forget some of the other great work they’ve made for the sake of a good hyperbole-filled headline. I genuinely hope people who come back to the band because of the reunion vibe now go back and check out killer albums like 7 Sinners and especially Time Of The Oath and see how strong the band can be without Kai or Michael as well.

Ok. Soapbox moment done. Album highlights include the 12-minute album closer “Skyfall,” (varied and triumphant), as well as the majestic 7-minute album opener “Out For The Glory” and the shorter/punchier “Cyanide” (both premium modern Power Metal) and the more Hard Rock number “Mass Pollution” which has some of the most memorable guitar moments.

Overall; 2021’s Helloween is a very noteworthy album that manages to live up to its potential, with killer songs, killer sounds and a killer premise. I’m pretty over the moon about this album and I hope you will be too.

PS. I’ve already got tickets to see them live, postponed due to the pandemic from before the album was out, and now I really hope they drop a few tunes from this album into the set too.

LightningRider How many bands on this earth have a long-awaited reunion of the old legends like Helloween did? They hadn't even broken up, just shifted line-ups, and their legend made their reunion with old buds as eagerly awaited as Metroid Dread. After a 3-hour live album recorded in Madrid with seven bandmates (three singers included: Kai, Mike and Andi), the wait for the studio album was met with worldwide impatience. Was that impatience worth it? Let's put it this way: it's a fallacy to say that reunion albums never work. And these guys are 60.

The driving force of this reunion is not just old friendships and nostalgia, but the passion that evolves from it. You can tell that Helloween are putting crazy amounts of effort into this piece. Pieces like "Fear of the Fallen" and "Down in the Dumps" are the mightiest of mighty headbangers as far as this classic power metal band is concerned. Normally it bothers me when a band sticks with one or two genres and keeps writing songs based on that, especially when the album is close to an hour. Helloween makes it work, though. People love the two Keeper of the Seven Keys albums for their anthemic energy. Honestly, there's so much of that in this album that if you scratched the CD you'd be blasted with a Kamehameha. And of course, they have to end it with a 10+minute epic. The only real problem one may have is that it doesn't start out feeling like one of their epics, using the same 10-beat a second tempo that defined so many of their early hits. This doesn't stop the song from being unique and progressive, though. And I have to add that this is their heaviest album since the release of Better Than Raw, and the influences range from the speed thrashing of Walls of Jericho, the jovial cheese of the Kiske era, the heavier sounds of Raw and Time of the Oath and the nocturnal feeling of The Dark Ride. But it's not too much of any one. I mean, Keeper Pt. 2 is a bit simple of a metal album, sometimes acting like a pop one, though rightfully so.

A common criticism is that the album is a little too long. If you ask me, that's flat-out WRONG. I just got done listening to Better Than Raw and Keeper Pt. 2. Better Than Raw is essentially flawless, and it still felt like the hour that it was. Keeper Pt. 2 was consistently entertaining, but I was always aware of the length of the album and I almost felt it by the end. Almost. The 50 minutes felt more like 42. But the self-titled feels like a 45 minute epic, and it's a 65-minute piece of work. Why? Energy. More energy than the band ever had, like they just told double espresso coffee to fuck off. These guys are still 60, people. That is the MOST impressive part of the album. And I'll be honest. Even after 65 minutes, I wanted to spin it again. So not only does this album have a crazy amount of replay value, but it can also act as a great intro album for anyone wanting to get into this kind of music.

And now that they've had such critical and financial success with their reunion, how can they avoid making another album with this modern classic hybrid line-up? They just effing can't. With this new line-up working way too well, it's quite clear that this album is the heart and soul of power metal itself, and only the pioneers of the genre can create such a monster of an album. I give the eponymous Helloween album the highest recommendation I can to anyone willing to listen.