Earlier this year, the reunited expanded classic lineup of German power metallers HELLOWEEN signed with Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM) for the release of their next studio album. The band entered the studio this past summer to begin work on the follow-up to 2021’s acclaimed self-titled effort, with plans to issue the LP in 2025.
HELLOWEEN singer Michael Kiske spoke to Australia’s The Rockpit about the progress of the new LP recording sessions, saying (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):
“We’re working on it. We’re right on it. We’re getting this done. I will be flying to Tenerife [Spain] 3rd of January to start working on vocals [at Mi Sueño Studio, owned by HELLOWEEN co-vocalist Andi Deris], trying to figure out vocal parts. Sometimes they still have to do lyrics, but then figuring out who does what and trying things out. I’m looking forward to it, because it’s really cold and gray and dark here [in Germany] at the moment. So I don’t mind flying over there for a couple of weeks.”
Earlier this month, Deris was asked by The Metal Command how the material for HELLOWEEN‘s next album compares to that on “Helloween“. He said:
“I’d say it’s much more easy listening, because there’s less constructed stuff on it. It’s more flowing with the wind, so to say. It’s very, very positive, so I would rather say it’s more happy, happy HELLOWEEN than the other album. I think it’s a bit more… yeah, the flow is, for my taste, not as edgy as the last album, which was cool — I like edgy stuff — but we should have more or less some counterpart to edgy, more exhausting things. The last album, for me, was great to listen through — it was edgy, it was heavy, it was complicated here and there — but after listening to it, then I needed a pause. It was exhausting. After [listening to ‘Helloween‘], I needed some break, put it that way. I loved it, and I still love it, but it’s demanding. I think the next album will be much more easy listening, I think much more enjoyable to sing along [to]; there are lots of parts in there. So I would rather describe it as a more happy, happy HELLOWEEN album. That would be the best description.”
Andi continued: “It’s hard to describe, because there are lots of speedy and heavy things on it. But when I listen through it, I feel good. I mean, that’s a good sign. Not that I felt bad when I listened to the last album — that’s not what I mean. It’s fun. I listen to it, and it’s fun. Definitely.”
Regarding what he and his HELLOWEEN bandmates learned from the making of “Helloween” that they improved upon this time around, Andi said:
“Yeah, I think the main keyword would be confidence. The last album, we had to get to know each other in that new setup, lineup, how to work with [each other], how to work here and blah, blah, blah, and this time we just realized, okay, actually everybody has such great ideas; just don’t control each other. We don’t need to actually stick in a studio for pre-production for two months because everybody did it for himself. Let’s just listen to it and say, ‘Wow, cool.’ So this time we’ve been some lazy backs, actually, and just said, you know, pre-production we just do ourselves back at home, everybody in his own studio, and we just take the technique we are given. Internet is great, and you can have live sessions online, and that made life so much easier because everybody is just relieved that you [are] still at home. You still work hard, but you’re at home. And as we all know, when you’re at home, work doesn’t hurt that much as being back in the studio again somewhere in the world, but not with your family. And nowadays you can actually have your family life, you have your eight, nine hours per day in the studio, you yourself decide when you make a break or when you go and have a meal with your lady or go down to the beach, in my case. That makes life so much easier and much more enjoyable than sitting in a fricking studio again and again and again, each and every day for two months, just for a pre-production, which you could easily do at home together. So this time, I have to say there’s confidence that we earned for each other that helped a lot to make things even more easygoing. And I think that’s exactly what you listen, when you go through the songs and you listen to them — you feel that easiness: ‘Wow. Wow. Okay, cool.’ I love it. So that’s the way to go.”
He then clarified: “I don’t wanna say that I want to be back at home when I’m on tour. So I hate the idea of laser shows or something like that. As long as I can walk, I want to be on stage. But production-wise, I have to say I love the technique we have nowadays.”
Regarding how HELLOWEEN has managed to pull off the seemingly impossible by keeping all seven members of the band happy — returning singer Michael Kiske and guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen along with Andi Deris, guitarists Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner, bassist Markus Grosskopf and drummer Daniel Löble — Andi said:
“I think the only thing you need to accept [is] that you are different people. I think that’s the main problem we had back in the days because everybody actually expected the other to be and react and have the same opinion [as] yourself. And when you are realizing, okay, we are all different people, so you have to accept that everybody probably has a different point of view, at least a millimeter to the left or millimeter to right. And you have to sit down and actually find a compromise. If you accept that everybody is different, that’s not a bad thing. You just have to accept that you yourself may fail here and there, and maybe the other one is right. And when you’re getting older, you have decades of comparisons, and you realize, ‘Okay, here I fucked up, there I fucked up, here I wasn’t right, here I wasn’t right.’ You need that experience, and when you have that, you are a little bit more humble, because you know you did things wrong or you know you haven’t been right back in the days here and there and blah, blah, blah. So, if you take that at a base, everything works out fine. And you just sit down with that knowledge and try to find a solution, which is good enough for all here in the room. And, yeah, that went down super the last few years, I mean, no problem at all. Even if somebody was pissed off, completely pissed off for whatever reason, again, that somebody did not react like he did back in the days, like with aggression or something like that, but in normal words and said, ‘Hey, I have a little problem here. You said this and that and blah, blah, blah. And how did you mean that?’ And then here comes the explanation and you go, like, ‘Oh, okay, all good. Thanks.'”
Upon its release in June 2021, “Helloween” landed in the Top 10 in more than 10 countries, including Germany, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria. The cover artwork for the LP was painted by artist Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with HATEBREED, SOULFLY, TESTAMENT, ICED EARTH and SODOM, among others.
Produced by Charlie Bauerfeind and Dennis Ward, the last HELLOWEEN LP was recorded in part at the H.O.M.E. Studios in Hamburg (where everything started in 1984). The same recording console used for such HELLOWEEN albums as “Master Of The Rings“, “Time Of The Oath” and “Better Than Raw” was utilized to record the band’s new material. The effort was mixed at the Valhalla Studios of Ronald Prent (IRON MAIDEN, DEF LEPPARD, RAMMSTEIN).
“Helloween” saw the legendary German power metallers going “back to the roots,” with the band recording fully analog and Löble playing the drum kit previously used by HELLOWEEN‘s original drummer, the late Ingo Schwichtenberg, on the legendary “Keeper Of The Seven Keys” recordings.
The triumphal procession continued live throughout 2022/2023 with 60 emotional concerts in 30 countries, leaving nothing to be desired. Among others at shows in Los Angeles, New York, the “Monsters of Rock” festivals in South America, headlining Wacken Open Air as well as the first sold-out gig at the legendary Budokan in Tokyo, tears of joy flowed from over 800,000 fans and the reunited band members – which can be experienced on the live CD/Blu-ray/DVD “Live At Budokan,” to be released on December 13, 2024 (RPM).
Pre-Order “Live at Budokan”:
https://helloween.rpm.link/liveatbudokanWE
With these highlights, HELLOWEEN are heading into their anniversary year, celebrating 40 years of band and metal history. While Andi Deris, Michael Kiske, Michael Weikath, Kai Hansen, Markus Grosskopf, Sascha Gerstner and Dani Löble are working intensively on the successor to their sensational reunion album, they are now announcing an anniversary tour of superlatives at the same time, as bassist and founding member Markus Grosskopf explains:
“We came up with some great surprises for the fans. Besides the brand new songs to be performed live for the first time, we will also play tracks from the band’s history that you haven’t heard live for a very long time or even never before. The shows will be a fantastic experience for all of us!”
Frontman Andi Deris adds:
“We’re having a lot of fun working creatively in the studio and the album promises to become an absolute highlight – but nothing compares to a HELLOWEEN live concert: The energy of our audience is simply indescribable and we can’t wait to finally go full throttle with our fans again. The upcoming tour will be bigger, better and more impressive than ever!”
The live dates will start on October 17, 2025 in Luxembourg and take HELLOWEEN all over Europe for six weeks. Besides the brand new songs of their still untitled new long player, they will bring along BEAST IN BLACK from Finland as their ‘very special guests’ – and this guarantees a metal party to be out of this world.
2026 will be starting with dates in Asia, South and North America, before Germany’s No. 1 metal ambassadors will make it to Europe’s biggest festivals in the summer of ’26.
“40 Years Anniversary Tour” – Europe 2025
Very Special Guests: BEAST IN BLACK
17.10.2025 LU Luxembourg – Rockhal
18.10.2025 NL Tilburg – 013
20.10.2025 UK London – Eventim Apollo
22.10.2025 FR Paris – Zénith (Le Villette)
24.10.2025 CZ Prague – O2 Arena
25.10.2025 SK Zvolen – Tiposbet Arena
26.10.2025 HU Budapest – Papp László Sportaréna
28.10.2025 PL Katowice – Spodek
31.10.2025 DE Bochum – RuhrCongress
01.11.2025 DE Hamburg – Barclays Arena
03.11.2025 NO Oslo – Sentrum Scene
04.11.2025 NO Oslo – Sentrum Scene
06.11.2025 FI Helsinki – Helsingin Jäähalli
08.11.2025 SE Gothenburg – Partille Arena
13.11.2025 PT Lisbon – Campo Pequeno
15.11.2025 ES Madrid – La Cubierta de Leganés
19.11.2025 IT Milan – Forum
20.11.2025 CH Zurich – The Hall
22.11.2025 DE Stuttgart – Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
Tickets & info: www.helloween.org
HELLOWEEN 40 Years Anniversary Tour:
“Eagle Fly Free (Live)” Official Music Video :
Source:
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https://reigningphoenixmusic.com