Greetings all you witches and
wizards out there, and welcome back to Rave Up Music’s month long Halloween
celebration. As always, I am Barius, and it is time for a pumpkin pie helping
of A Little Slice of Metal!
This time around, we are heading
back across the Atlantic Ocean to look at a long running power metal band that
have had their share of issues with maintaining a steady band line-up, drug
problems, but have maintained a near 30-year career. Boy, does that not sound
like a lot of fun for Halloween? Anyway, today on A Little Slice of Metal, we are looking at the German power metal
band Helloween!
BAND
HISTORY:
Similar to the history of Iced
Earth, Helloween has been around since 1984, and has had a sort of revolving
door of members, with guitarist Michael
Weikath and bassist Markus Großkopf being the only two consistent members.
Helloween was formed out of three different German metal bands: Iron Fist,
Gentry, and Powerfool. The original line-up also included guitarist/vocals Kai
Hansen and drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg. Shortly after forming, the band
was signed to Noise Records, and released two tracks for Noise’s compilation
album called Death Metal, which has
been described as a good representation of metal in Europe during the 1980s.
Fun fact: This is the only album to
feature material from the band Dark Avenger.
In 1985, Helloween released a
self-titled 5-track EP, as well as their first full-length album Walls of Jericho. Soon, Kai Hansen
developed difficulty singing and playing guitar at the same time. After
releasing the EP Judas, Hansen
stepped down as vocalist, and passed the job onto then 18 year old vocalist
Michael Kiske. With Kiske in the band, Helloween released back-to-back albums, Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part I and Part II, which were met with commercial
success, with the single “I Want Out” receiving heavy rotation on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball.
Back when Ricky Rachtman had some
relevance…
After the European leg of Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II tour,
Kai Hansen left the band due to ill-health, problems with Noise International,
and his own issues with life on tour. He was eventually replaced by guitarist
Roland Grapow while in the middle of the tour, and after being released by
Noise International, Helloween released Pink
Bubble Go Ape on EMI Records. The album featured less epic power metal
sound, and had more of a humorous approach, which it and the follow-up album Chameleon were commercial and critically
failure.
Tension among band rose,
splitting the group into three factions: Kiske and Schwichtenberg on one side,
Weikath and Grapow on another side, and Großkopf
trying to keep peace between the four men. In the middle of the Chameleon tour, Schwichtenberg was fired
due to mental and drug-related issues. Soon, conflicts arose with Kiske and the
rest of the band, and he was booted out as well. Since then, Kiske has never
said a positive thing about Helloween. By the end of 1993, the band had no
drummer, no vocalist, and was let go by EMI after the two previous albums
failed commercially.
In
1994, the band came back with new vocalist Andi Deris and drummer Uli Kusch,
and released the album Master of the
Rings. It was a return to their power metal roots, and vocals and
enthusiasm of Deris rejuvenated both Weikath and Grapow and brought many of
the fans back, as well as many new ones.
However, their new found success
was met with tragedy. After being
dismissed by Helloween, Ingo Schwichtenberg’s drug and mental issues worsen and
in 1995, he committed suicide when he jumped in front of an oncoming subway
train. Helloween dedicated their 1996 album and tour, The Time of the Oath, to Schwichtenberg’s memory. Helloween continued
to tour extensive, and released their eighth studio album Better Than Raw, which is considered to be one of the band’s
heaviest album to date.
Ingo
Schwichtenberg: 1965-1995
After
the release of 2000’s The Dark Ride,
both Grapow and Kusch parted ways with Helloween to focus more on the side
project Masterplan. This began the various line-up changes, with Deris,
Weikath, and Großkopf remaining a part of the band to this day. To this day, the
band has released 14 studio albums, with the latest album, Straight Out Of Hell, being released in 2013. The band continues to
tour all over the world, with sold out shows at nearly every venue.
Style/Genre of
Metal:
Helloween
is one of the bands that helped to create the genre of power metal music. The
band utilizes riffs of thrash metal, but with multiple guitars playing at the
same time, giving the music a bit of an “epic” feel to it. This sound is
further emphasized by the occasional use of synthesizes keyboards and some
orchestral instruments, particular brass instruments, as demonstrated in the
title track from the debut album, Walls
of Jericho.
The
vocals of Helloween have followed several genres of metal: high register male
vocals, often layered to create unique harmonies. Kai Hansen’s vocals would
often enter into the falsetto range, but still having a lot of power to it.
When Mike Kiske joined Helloween, he brought with him the vocal styles of
several of his contemporaries, including Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford. When
Kiske left the group and Andi Deris took over, Deris brought with him a new
energy to the sound of Helloween. Though his vocals did not have the range of
Kiske, he brought a new melodic approach to vocals of Helloween, as heard in
the tune “If I Could Fly,” is one of the best musically for the band as a
whole.
While
Helloween has more or less maintained a power metal approach to their sound,
they have experimented with their sound a bit here and there, though not
necessarily with success. As mentioned in the band history, the albums Pink Bubble go Ape and Chameleon brought less of an emphasis on
epic power metal songs, and more on softer, more humorous approach. The album Chameleon also featured more progressive
rock and art rock elements. Though they were not well-received by fans and
critics, those two albums have a few good tracks, like “Kids of the Century”
and “Heavy Metal Hamsters” off of Pink
Bubble Go Ape, even though “Heavy Metal
Hamsters” was supposedly written by their previous record company, Noise
International. The track “When The Sinner” stands as a good example of the
sound that Helloween developed at the time Chameleon
was released.
Feels
like a metal band’s attempt to sound like Genesis…
Outside
of these brief excursions, the band’s only other venture outside of power metal
is added a bit of an edge to the sound, as heard on the album The Dark Ride. There are more detuned
guitars, and Deris has gruffer vocals, creating a darker sound overall.
Recommended
Albums/Songs:
With a
band like Helloween that has had a long history, there are a lot of songs to
listen to and recommend. For those of you wanting to hear more from Helloween,
the follow is just a small example of the band’s repertoire:
“Halloween” from
Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I
Since
they based their name off of the holiday, it would only make sense for
Helloween to have a song celebrating Halloween. The song demonstrates the band’s
ability to compose epic songs that flow nicely into each section. Though there
is a music video for the song, it cuts the song down by a little over a third.
I recommend check out the full 13 minute version of the song.
“I Want Out” for
Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II
This
track was help make Helloween a household name in Europe, as well as stateside
in America thanks to its consistent airplay on Headbanger’s Ball. It represents the power metal sound that
Helloween is credited for perfecting.
“Heavy Metal
Hamsters” from Pink Bubble Go Ape
Though
the album Pink Bubble Go Ape is not
that great as a whole, this track is so cheesy, I cannot help get a smile on my
face at how silly it is. Plus, the imagery of heavy metal hamsters is just too
much to get out of your head…
“I Can” from Better than Raw
A
rockin’ track from what is arguable the heaviest album from Helloween. I love
the bass in this tune, for it shows the musical skills of Markus Großkopf to
groove on the bass guitar, but still provide a nice steady beat with the
drummer.
“Are You Metal?”
from 7 Sinners
This
song represents the band as they have developed their sound with the changing
times. The keyboards are more of the power metal sound, and Deris vocals have a
bit of an edge to it. The music video has sort of a Saw movie series feel to it, giving an edge to the over appeal of
the song.
“Nabatea” from Straight Out of Hell”
The
latest single from Helloween focuses on the story aspect of the band’s sound.
The song tells the story of the Nabatean Kingdom, an ancient civilization in
what is modern day Jordan. The song focuses on the Nabatean Kingdom being one
that did not bring war to other countries, despite eventually being associated
with the ever expanding Roman Empire. This song also demonstrates how the band
has grown over their near 30-year existence: great speed guitars, driving drums
and bass, melodic keyboards, and powerful vocals.
Final
Comments/Analysis:
Throughout my time as a fan of
heavy metal music, I have always heard about the band Helloween, thanks to my siblings
who I say are a bit more into metal music than I am. Though I was aware of
them, I rarely had the opportunity to listen to them, mostly due to them being
a German band, and not having good music stores that carried them. Thanks to
the Internet, the music Helloween is a lot easier to access and listen to. Now
that I have listened to more of their music, I must say that Helloween is truly
one of the best power metal bands in existence, and are definitely one of my
favorite bands.
Helloween has developed the
perfect formula and musical structure for power metal music. Though the band did
deviate a bit from power metal music in the early 1990s, the band has proven
time and time again how to write songs with great guitar riffs, bass guitar
lines that are just as challenging as the guitars, drums add great musical
content to the song, and vocals that will pump you full of adrenaline. Even
with a few rough patches here and there throughout their history, Helloween
continues to be one of the longest standing forces of metal in Europe. With all
of that said, I must give Helloween the Metal Horn Seal of Approval!
If you would like to learn more about
Helloween, visit their website at www.helloween.org.
You can find the latest news, tour dates, and information about the band/ There
are music and videos samples, as well as shop for all of your Helloween gear.
Well, that brings us to the end
of another post here at Rave Up Music. If this review was lacking in the scary
factor, then tune next time as we wrap up Halloween Month with tribute to one
of the best part of Halloween: watching horror movies. Until then, I am Barius,
and I will leave with this image of a heavy metal hamster. Enjoy, and keep on
rockin’.
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