Helloween – Helloween
Release Date: 18th June 2021
Label: Nuclear Blast
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Genre: Heavy Metal, Symphonic Power Metal.
FFO: Rhapsody, Blind Guardian, Axel Rudi Pell, Gamma Ray.
Review By: Ian Sky
Opening remarks: I’ll save you the paperwork and just confess… The last Helloween album that I listened to was Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II! Yea, their third album.
Go ahead and laugh.
Therefore, I had no idea what to expect from their self-titled, 18th full-length studio release! And well, this Helloween must have put their collective hats on and turned them around like a switch because ‘over-the-top’ doesn’t even begin to describe what these ears have heard! Now, it may be all the concussions, both in and out of the pit, but the Helloween that I remember this sure ain’t. I would have likened them more to Judas Priest, Accept and Dio in those bygone days of yore. And rest assured, those familiar sounds are definitely present and accounted for, and the first few seconds of the album sound similar to the old SLAYER favorite ‘South Of Heaven’… seriously. Instead, this record rapidly begins to conjure mental images of Rhapsody and Axel Rudi Pell with heavy dashes of Artillery and Avantasia but down to the core they definitely still sound like Helloween.
Essentially this sounds like the soundtrack to Robo-Pegasus piloting a UFO at the forefront of an army made up of extras from Conan The Barbarian as they ride jet-bears equipped with laser-cannons in perfect formation and synchronization toward the greatest battle of all time while high on all the cocaine that Yngwie Malmsteen did back in the ’80’s! It is a supersonic alien journey through mysticism and misery to a shining brilliant future… or something very similar… I think. In any event, I was more than a bit surprised by Helloween’s latest effort to say the least!
Cross examination: In all seriousness, the flawless production of HELLOWEEN incredibly showcases each of the instruments and voices while almost seamlessly weaving them together. The drumming of Daniel Loebel is uniquely complex and expertly performed. Michael Kiske’s vocals are as vibrant as ever and mix perfectly with those of Kai Hansen and Andi Deris. The layering and harmonization between the three of them is, and I apologize for the cliché terminology… but, well, it’s so epic. Likewise Kai Hansen, Michael Wiekath and Sascha Gerstner’s guitar work is tantamount to controlled insanity across the fretboard. And Markus Grosskopf’s bass playing both thunders and shines through brilliantly. I’m glad to say that the band members who performed on the last album I heard have lost none of their inspiration, skill or intensity over the 14 albums that I missed!
Closing statements: The whole of Helloween’s new album is ri-goddamn-diculous! It’s like an extra-terrestrial robot opera reboot during the Ninth Renaissance Space War of Mecha-Europe 65,000! Which is not to say that the musicianship doesn’t totally impress but again, it’s not what I was expecting. If the aforementioned description makes sense to you and is also what you’re looking for then go ahead and break out the spiked wizard robes, .50 caliber semi-automatic battle axes and mechanized loin cloths because this album is definitely for you! And according to the internet, if you put it on in the background of the Regional Finals of Dungeons and Dragons, you’ll instantly gain +100 to your Power Metal stats!
Verdict: For the complexity and execution of HELLOWEEN the band deserves full marks. And Eighteen albums with, more or less, the same core group is a truly great accomplishment. However, the album isn’t really something that I’m after in terms of Metal. Although I did enjoy parts of it and I respect the hell out of their abilities and longevity it’s just outside of my normally preferred realms. That being said, if Symphonic Power Metal is what gets you sweaty then I strongly recommend you break out those Magic The Gathering cards or the Cosmic Orc cosplay suit that you still haven’t finished and dive, face-first into this album!
(3.5 / 5)
