HELLOWEEN — Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II (review)

HELLOWEEN — Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II album cover

Album · 1988 · Power Metal

5/5 · 2012-09-06
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Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II is the third album by German power metal act Helloween. The second of the two classic Keeper of the Seven Keys albums, like Part I (1987), Keepers II is considered a groundbreaking release for the power metal genre. Originally the two were planned as one album, so it should be no surprise that the sound and direction of the album is a natural continuation where the previous album left off. Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II does however have the perhaps dubious distinction of being the final album Helloween would release with Kai Hansen as a member of the band. Widely considered as the godfather of power metal, although the band would eventually go on to release some more top quality albums, it would take many years before they put something out again that rivalled the quality of the two Keeper of the Seven Keys releases. Contrary to that though Keepers II is a mostly Michael Weikath penned album so on that count it is difficult to attribute Hansen’s departure for this.

Like Part I Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II contains many Helloween classics, such as Eagle Fly Free, Dr. Stein and I Want Out. However overall I don’t find the album to be quite as consistent as Part I. Both albums follow a similar pattern of starting with an intro track, delivering shorter songs which build up to a thirteen minute plus epic, in this case the title track, Keeper of the Seven Keys. Both albums are top tier classics, but if I had to pick one over the other, I have to say that Part I is very slightly superior to Part II. Part II on the other hand does have that title track going for it. Even Halloween from Part I, a perfect power metal album overall in my book, doesn’t even begin to rival this one track. Helloween hasn’t done anything on quite this level since and it remains to this day, over twenty years later, Helloween’s finest achievement, and a true work of power metal art with vocalist Michael Kiske on absolutely top form. Epic doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Overall while I may not regard the album as much as Part I, if you can call such a minute difference in score not having an as high a regard for it, Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II remains one of the essential power metal releases in terms of both historical significance and compositional quality. In a way it is also one of the first forward thinking power metal albums containing parts that could even be considered progressive, such as Dr. Stein’s organ solo, or the epic length of Keeper of the Seven Keys that takes some twists and turns away from power metal. Helloween’s music would move away from power metal for a little while after this, resulting in a couple of albums that have never been able to hold the same regard of the two Keeper albums or the Walls of Jericho debut, but every metal fan at least should have this classic pair in his or her collection.

9.8/10

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org))