It’s quite worrying how time flies. This year is the fortieth anniversary since the ground-breaking The Walls Of Jericho debut album was released on Noise Records.
Next year in 2026 it will have been a full decade since Helloween announced the Pumpkins Reunited tour, which saw the then current line up re-joined by the man who started it all (Kai Hansen), the vocalist who oversaw their 80’s commercial peak (Michael Kiske) returning to the fold alongside Andi Deris, who had kept the lights for the two intervening decades of the nineties and noughties.
It could have gone very wrong, but fortunately both Hansen and Kiske had spent time supporting collaborative Tobias Sammet’s Rock-opera project Avantasia (a project in its original incarnation arguably formed entirely to bring these big guns back together).
It could have gone very wrong, but fortunately both Hansen and Kiske had spent time supporting collaborative Tobias Sammet’s Rock-opera project Avantasia (a project in its original incarnation arguably formed entirely to bring these big guns back together).
Both in addition had already dipped their toes in collaborating together with Unisonic, and were able to argue to the lineup that had been working quite happily keeping the brand alive since 1994 could become its own tribute act by splicing all these elements together and packing some arenas out for the first time in twenty years.
It was an astounding success, as indeed was 2021’s self-titled opus and tour, which saw this hybrid line-up hit the studio and cut what was quite frankly the strongest original album any incarnation of the band had ever produced to date. So, no pressure when it comes to delivering the follow-up to that album four years later…
There’s a lot of musical history in the forty years that this band has been alive, and this album bounces stylistically around the decades far more than its predecessor. From the opening title track, which sees Deris and Hansen splitting vocals for a track that follows the tone of the Helloween album.
It was an astounding success, as indeed was 2021’s self-titled opus and tour, which saw this hybrid line-up hit the studio and cut what was quite frankly the strongest original album any incarnation of the band had ever produced to date. So, no pressure when it comes to delivering the follow-up to that album four years later…
There’s a lot of musical history in the forty years that this band has been alive, and this album bounces stylistically around the decades far more than its predecessor. From the opening title track, which sees Deris and Hansen splitting vocals for a track that follows the tone of the Helloween album.
To the more classic Speed-Metal feel of Saviour Of The World, with the duelling delivery of Kiske and Deris we have come to expect delivering the goods, to the bizarrely retro 80’s movie soundtrack pop metal anthem of A Little Is A Little Too Much - which sounds like the sort of thing Alice Cooper might have been cranking out during his Trash period (but more catchy and without risking copyright infringements with Guns-n-Roses).
Within just these first three tracks it’s clear that this is a band for whom the normal rules of ‘find a style for a record and stick to it are not going to be applying this time round…
…Which is rather appropriate for a band that has been at it for four decades and is the root influence for every Euro Power Metal outfit since The Walls Of Jericho changed the world in 1985.
…Which is rather appropriate for a band that has been at it for four decades and is the root influence for every Euro Power Metal outfit since The Walls Of Jericho changed the world in 1985.
They also manage to keep it up with razor-sharp consistency throughout the record, whose ten tracks runs the gamut in a way that is clearly pure Helloween through and through, nods to every style they’ve adopted throughout their history, so fans of each period will feel acknowledged, yet delivers something new - mixing and matching unexpectedly (so a song that sounds like it might have come from the Hansen fronted period gets delivered by the other two vocalists, and so on).
The production values of Giants And Monsters match and continue the rich sound of its predecessor, but the songwriting is of a much more consistent quality throughout, whether they’re aiming for high-impact short and sweet bangers, or more thoughtful and technical songs.
The production values of Giants And Monsters match and continue the rich sound of its predecessor, but the songwriting is of a much more consistent quality throughout, whether they’re aiming for high-impact short and sweet bangers, or more thoughtful and technical songs.
To the point where there’s almost nothing on here that makes one want to reach for the skip button, although penultimate track Hand Of God is the only song on here that approaches ‘filler’ territory, not because it’s a poorly crafted song, but it just stands in the shadows of some of the musical gods and monsters that surround it.
Age seems not to have affected the vocal cords of any of the singers here, all of whom have a broad octave range and a preference for mid to top end scaling for maximum impact as songs build to a climax, all of which add to the timelessness of a record that feels like they’ve put as much effort into crafting as any other milestone recording throughout their history.
Age seems not to have affected the vocal cords of any of the singers here, all of whom have a broad octave range and a preference for mid to top end scaling for maximum impact as songs build to a climax, all of which add to the timelessness of a record that feels like they’ve put as much effort into crafting as any other milestone recording throughout their history.
Then there’s the fact that each and every one of the songs on here both stands up on its own and feels right at home in a record that is all about celebrating the past and forging the future. I can all of these songs working well in a live set, which I guess is going to make choosing the set list for the anniversary tour a little challenging. We’ve got fast and punchy speed and power belters, the inevitable power ballads, but also two lengthy and epic pieces that hold the interest and with a lot of potential to become centre pieces of a future live show.
This could have been an opportunity for coasting, for band that only had to show up to with the back catalogue to sell out the arenas for their fortieth anniversary yet have chosen to not only continue their musical journey but challenge themselves to distil the absolute heart of what the not so much new, but definitely improved Helloween is all about.
Pure Helloween, distilled from their core essences to absolute perfection without sounding derivative or nostalgic, this record is a positive triumph. 10/10
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