Helloween - Pumpkins United

Well it had to happen I guess. Everyone in Helloween past and present buried the hatchet and not in each others back! Well at least put the hatchet away for another day and took the money and had a lot of fun for two and a half hours of happy happy Helloween.

No support, just a whole night's worth of happy metal at the Brixton Academy. The venue was rammed pretty solid with easily over 3k people at a guess but could be way more. There were a lot of people on stage as the curtain goes up and the band launches into the epic Halloween with both Kiske and Deris handling vocal duties.

The sound took a while to settle down and was a little incoherent at first but once our ears had adjusted it was a pretty decent sound with both vocalist's booming voices piercing the sky. Let me be honest here. Old school Helloween never really floated my boat at all. I came on board with The Dark Ride. I liked some songs here and there but never a full album and to be even more honest I don't really even recall half of these classics. Whilst I love the new material.

However I am far in the minority judging by the huge sing along's the classics muster up among the happy Helloween faithful. I guess seeing Kai, Michi and Weiki and Marcus all on stage together is the stuff of legend and the fans were lapping it up with a big spoon.

There was plenty of on stage banter with the boys with especially with Kai and Andi joking and taking the piss out if each other's age and ability to still perform. But perform well they did and Kai even sang one song, namely Ride The Sky. They played a very long time but had lost of short little intermissions with a cartoon video backdrop to entertain us. Two characters by the name of Seth and Doc with Pumpkin heads doing inane stuff. The videos during the songs were actually really funny and cool. Especially the character during Dr Stein was hilarious!

Each song had an effective video back drop to suit the song with even lyrics at times for these that fancied a sing along but had forgotten the words. Both Andi and Miki sang great to be honest with Andi more than holding his own. The rumours had been that Kiske had been having vocal trouble but he seemed great to me. Of course his warbling falsetto is the stuff of legend and he tested it to the max on a couple of ballads.

Believe it or not I actually missed the last two songs Future World and I Want Out as I was feeling dead after more than 3 hours of straight standing and bailed out. Even walking was preferable to standing at that point!

So the Pumpkins were United but I don't know if their heart was fully in it but they played with a lot of smiles apart from Weiki, he mostly never smiles of course. The cash was too good to turn down no doubt and the tour has been doing great business around the world. Oh and Kai's look is something else. Looks like a washed up glamster from the 80s still trying hard to be very 80s! You're not in Motley Crue dude!

Anyway an enjoyable night of classic Helloween material interrupted with the odd newer song. Good stuff if not amazing and for long time fans of the band, just a must see really.

Helloween - My God-Given Right - A Review

I've listened to the album 3 times now and it's another really solid latter day Helloween record in its own right but it will take a few listens to catch on. On first listen I was a bit dubious but it's growing on me quite a lot now although some songs don't really excite me I will do a quick song by song review.

Heroes - An ok song but it doesn't wow me to be honest. It starts off really quite heavy and well but the chorus is quite predictable. 7/10

Battle's Won - Better! Musically unadventurous but typical Happy Helloween chorus. This actually reminds me of some Freedom Call song. 8.5/10

My God Given Right - Mid tempo song with a nice feel. I dunno about the chorus. It's not amazing me I must admit. I like the verses actually and feel the chorus is a bit average which is really strange for a Helloween song. There are some nice guitar melodies in it though. 7.5/10

Stay Crazy - Starts off like a Maiden epic and then goes headlong into an awesome guitar riff and melody. My fave song so far! The chorus is hugely catchy with counterpoint vocal arrangement with Andi answering his own calls. This is a nearly perfect Happy Helloween song and it also sounds fresh and cool. 9.5/10

Lost in America - Starts off bright and breezy with cool guitar melodies but Andi's thick German accent and goofy lyrics are a bit lame IMO. The chorus however is very catchy however much you try to hate it you can't. It's catchy and memorable. Goofy but happy tune. 8/10

Russian Roule - Ok going for a different and heavy feel this time with this thick grooving tune. The Russian style melody in the guitars is a cool touch. I really like that. The chorus Come out and play! Russian Roule is a bit boring but the ahhhhh sung by Andi is quite cool. The song is ok and will probably have its fans and splitting opinion. 7.5/10

Swing of a Fallen World _ Something un-Helloweeny. Broodng and pretty dark. Wouldn't have been that outta place on The Dark Ride. I am not too moved by the song to be honest. The mid section is better when it speeds up then it broods again till the finish line. 6/10

Like Everybody Else - Slow brooding ballad that heavies up slowly. The chorus is quite cool but it's not wowing me either. Too dark and dreamy. 6.5/10

Creatures in Heaven - Back to faster placed typical Helloween fare after quite a slow build up. The little guitar melodies are awesome here and there. The chorus is catchy and memorable whilst the guitar behind it is very melodic. A pretty damn great track. 9/10

If God Loves Rock n Roll - Nice guitar melodies but of course goofy lyrics from Andi not that I care as when the chorus comes along the urge to bellow is hard to resist. Must be amazing to hear this live and sing a long with a big shit eating grin on your face. 8.5/10

Living on the Edge - A more serious song that pounds along so well and come chorus time goes happy helloweeny with the carry on carry on plea from Andi but the feel of the song is quite heavy and pounding. Some Maidenish guitar scales and runs here and there and a great solo as well. 8.5/10

Claws - No let up in energy and pace again with this pacily riffed affair. The riffing is quite exciting on this track actually and whips up a real storm. Actually the chorus is not that amazing but for some reason it doesn't need to be on this track. Andi's more biting vocal attack hits the spot quite well. The song is about an eagle and his claws! The song reminds me of Primal Fear - I can imagine Ralfie belting this one out. 8.5/10

You, Still of War - The longest track and most serious track on the album is left till last. To be honest after 3 listens now I've yet to fully appreciate the track. It is a slowly building track and it reminds me of a slightly progressive version of the band. It has a slight Kameloty feel even. The chorus soon arrives and Andi goes ahhhhhhh! You, Still of war... Ahhhhhh! You still of nevermore!...It's sort of aggressive and angry but doesn't sound right for Hellloween. The verses actually are slightly happier although the lyrics still paint a picture of anger at the warmongers in this world or some such. The song deserves praise and I think I will appreciate it more pretty soon but the complex nature stops me from loving it immediately. The end solo is awesome though with some melodies which remind me of Maiden's SiT era. 7/10

Bonus CD

I Wish I Were There - The song is typical Helloween speed but the chorus soon arrives and it's a bit odd. The melody doesn't seem immediately catchy. It's a slightly weird track this one. Decent guitars at least but it doesn't do a huge deal for me. 6/10

Wicked Game - One of my fave songs across the whole album. Mid paced opening riff but then a glorious melodic riff soon thunders into view and the guitars sound sweet as hell and the chorus comes and it's bloody awesome. I love the demonic "Wicked Game!!" cries from the ghoul in the background whilst Andi sings "I came into the world to play!". I love this tune. The guitars rip and the vocals and chorus are ace. Should have been on the main album no doubt! 9.5/10

Nightmare - Another cool tune on the bonus disk which has counterpoint vocals again with Andi answering his own calls and even doing that during the chorus. The melody is really pretty strong. A cool and catchy track and could have easily fitted on the main album. Nice little bass solo in the end though the song is musically unadventurous the chorus makes it a catchy humber. The lead solo reminds me of Maiden again. 9/10

More Than a Lifetime - Another typical pounding Helloween rocker. The melody reminds me of another song. I forget which but it's rather familiar. The chorus is a soaring affair and has a decent happy melody. Andi sounds a bit like Ralfie in this song, maybe it's a PF song I'm thinking of. So 3 out of 4 songs on the bornus disk are more than good enough. More Maidenish SiT era guitar acrobatics to end the song. 8/10

So there you have it. Modern day Helloween. I have a slight complaint about the guitar sound if I'm being picky. It's slightly muddy for my taste. I like it sharper and cleaner but everything is balanced pretty well, it's just a personal preference of mine. I think this album is one of those that may need a few plays although some songs will get you from the outset. Overall I rate it at 8.5/10 and possibly a 9/10 with more plays as the songs begin to sink in. So in general Helloween are still pumping out the goods as regular as clockwork and at a good enough level to keep their legions of pumpkinheads happy.

Helloween and Stratovarius Live Report

On a perishingly cold Sunday night the London power metal throngs gathered at the HMV Forum for two of the giants of the game to show us what they can do to warm us up. First of all, as I walked in the venue a third and unexpected band were on stage doing the actual warming up so to speak. I didn't have any idea about the presence of this band who were in fact Trick or Treat from Spain. I actually know these guys quite well and they are quite fun. I only caught 3 songs from the band and they sounded quite happy and fun but the singer had an extremely high voice with a rather thick Spanish accent which is a bit funny but power metal is supposed to be fun is it not? ToT were that indeed for three songs..

It is my first time in this venue and I found it to be a really nice place to hold a gig of this size. The upstairs was actually shut off completely as the attendance obviously did not warrant said opening. The crowd slowly built in anticipation for Stratovarius and finally at 8pm they took to the stage with an 800 or so crowd ready to welcome them to London once again. I must admit the sound was pretty excellent all night although I had trouble hearing Timo's vocals on occasion. It was rather strange to see only two long term Strato members on stage - namely Timo and Jens of course. However the new guitarist is really a top notch player and nailed his parts to perfection although he's not the most expressive guy facially.

Timo tried hard to get the crowd going and to begin with it was a bit of a struggle but slowly the crowd was warming to the task. Timo announced that Jorg Michael was ill and would rejoin the band in January but they had a very suitable replacement by the name of Alex something or other I forget what. Anyway the band is very tight indeed replacement drummer or not. I must admit I don't recognise quite a lot of the set list although I've heard them in the past, I'm just not enough of a Strato fanboy to be singing along to the tunes but there were plenty of people present who were obviously! My favourite song of the night was Speed of Light which was played lightning last and sounded very good indeed. Kiss of Judas was also a recognisable highlight. Winter Skies was also excellently played and sung. The song of the set however was the furiously catchy Hunting High and Low. The last song was Black Diamond of course one of theie most famous. I actually don't like this song much oddly enough but people loved it of course. At 9pm Stratovarius finally left the stage to long applause. They pleased me but I wasn't overly excited by them to be honest but like I said I am not a huge huge Strato fan or anything but I respect them as one of the power metal biggies in Europe. I sometimes wonder how Stratovarius would sound if they were a twin guitar band but that's for another day. The only thing I would repeat is that it's rather odd for the founder of the band to not be up there on stage with them not that I care or anything though. I guess it's better for the band that he's not though as the new album Elysium could be very special..hopefully!

1. Phoenix
2. Legions
3. Darkest Hours
4. The Kiss of Judas
5. Against the Wind
6. Winter Skies
7. Speed of Light
8. Deep Unknown
9. Paradise
10. Hunting High and Low
11. Black Diamond

Finally at around 9.40pm Helloween took to the stage with a blisteringly heavy version of Are You Metal? blaring out of the speakers. The song sounded much better live than it does on record as well. The band looked and sounded on tip top form by all reckoning and this after just one song. The sound was crystal clear more or less instantly which I am not used to happening in London gigs, as normally it takes the sound guys a couple of songs to sort things out but this time there was no such problems.

Andi Deris was really into it in a rather big way I must say and got the crowd well pumped who were much more vociferous than they were for Stratovarius. Eagle Fly Free saw full crowd participation on the chorus and most of the song actually and Andi often turned the mic to the crowd and was met with loud singing. Andi's vocals were top notch all night and he nailed the highs even though he did make one funny quip before one song with rather too many high notes! He said something to the affect that he has his "predecessor to thank for that!" referring to Kiske of course.

I must admit I had seen recent helloween setlists which were personally speaking much better for me , featuring newer songs which are more in line with my personal taste. However what they did perform, they did with flawless abandon. Markus' bass playing was awesome to say the least and he sounded crystal clear in the sound mix which helped no end. I was hoping to hear World of Fantasy from the new album or If I Could Fly which I have seen on recent set lists as I said but it wasn't to be. The Keeper medley of their longest songs was rapturously received although I must admit that part dragged a touch for me although I should say I was probably alone in that respect in the whole crowd hehe!

The end of the set saw the band play songs that they obviously must play otherwise they'd be lynched probably! The songs being the usual suspects that you can see below in the set list. I beat a hasty retreat after the first encore and missed Dr. Stein but I've heard it enough now I think don't you? :-)

My overall feeling is that Helloween really are the grandfathers of this genre now and most bands look up to them as reaching the pinnacle of European power metal and although the set list did not quite meet with my expectations personally speaking, I can't deny that they are probably stronger as a band than they've ever been. The songs I did hear were executed flawlessly and with great enthusiasm by all on stage even Weiky who is not the happiest of fellows on stage at the best of times, looked to be having lots of fun. The funniest guy was definitely Markus though and he's actually a very talented bass player and I think people sometimes forget that. More new songs next time guys!

1. Are You Metal?
2. Eagle Fly Free
3. March of Time
4. Guitar Solo
5. Where the Sinners Go
6. Steel Tormentor
7. Drum Solo
8. I'm Alive
9. Handful Of Pain
10. Keeper/The King for A 1000 Years /Halloween Medley
11. I Want Out

Encore

1. Ride the Sky
2. Future World

2nd Encore

1. Dr. Stein