Incorporating all three singers from their long and storied history has proved to be an extremely successful venture for German power metal pioneers Helloween. The band’s eponymously titled previous album yielded great results using this formula so continuing down the same path is a no-brainer for now. So, with egos firmly in check, all seven members (now just two away from being a power metal Slipknot) appear to be having an absolute blast. But most importantly, the fans are too.Continue reading
Tag Archives: Kai Hansen
Conservationist Band Savage Lands Share a New Single and Video for “Black Rock Heart” ft. Heilung and Chloé Trujillo
Just in time for Earth Day, Savage Lands have released a new single and music video for the track “Black Rock Heart!” Thrack features Kai Hansen, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist for global sensation Heilung, and artist, singer, and activist Chloe Trujillo (wife of Metallica’s Robert Trujillo) for the track! All three artists share the same values and have committed much time towards the cause. The musician-run non-profit will play the main stage at Hellfest 2024 this summer! Using royalties from their first ever single, Savage Lands recently protected 60,000 square feet of Costa Rican rainforest from getting chopped down. But on their new single, “Black Rock Heart”, these angry metalheads are warning us that if we don’t listen up, the world as we know it might not be around much longer. Watch the video for “Black Rock Heart” featuring Kai Uwe Faust from Heilung and Chloé Trujillo on Season of Mist’s YouTube channel.Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Helloween – Helloween
Sometimes, even for grumpy middle-aged metal fans, wishes can come true. So when it was announced in 2017 that former Helloween members Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen were to join the current incarnation of the band there was much, much rejoicing. The Pumpkins United (Nuclear Blast) single which followed swiftly dispelled any initial concerns about musical overcrowding, the band now consisting of seven members including three vocalists plus Hansen adding a third guitar, and the path to Helloween (Nuclear Blast) was clear.
Helloween Shares New Single and Lyric Video – “Fear Of The Fallen”
Fotograf, Photographer, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Heidelberg
Helloween has shared their second single from their upcoming new self-titled album, due out June 18th via Nuclear Blast! You can listen to “Fear Of The Fallen” at the link below! The current lineup of Helloween is the “Pumpkins United” group featuring Andi Deris, Michael Kiske, Michael Weikath, Kai Hansen, Markus Grosskopf, Sascha Gerstner and Dani Löble. Watch the clip now and pre-order the album below!
Helloween Shares Their New Single and Video for “Skyfall”
Fotograf, Photographer, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Heidelberg
Helloween has shared the first single and video from their upcoming new album, Helloween, due out on June 18th via Nuclear Blast Records. “Skyfall” is out now and features with the current lineup of Andi Deris, Michael Kiske, Michael Weikath, Kai Hansen, Markus Grosskopf, Sascha Gerstner, and Dani Löble, the Pumpkins United World Tour lineup. Pre-orders are also live at the links below!
Helloween Announces New Album, Teases New Single
Fotograf, Photographer, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Heidelberg
Helloween has announced they will release a new album, Helloween, due out on June 18th via Nuclear Blast Records. and the first single, “Skyfall” is due out on April 2nd, 2021. 35 years in the making and with the current lineup of Andi Deris, Michael Kiske, Michael Weikath, Kai Hansen, Markus Grosskopf, Sascha Gerstner, and Dani Löble, the Pumpkins United World Tour lineup, they are as excited as the fans are for new Helloween songs! Watch the teaser trailer here:
Blind Guardian – 1988 to 2003 Reissues
Remastering albums is a tricky business. For every perceived mistake or fault which gets cleaned up, smoothed over, or completely erased; for every tweak or alteration to the mix, there will always be listeners who prefer the original, no matter what. Trying to improve a recording can often lead to losing the charm of the original, and so as much as record label Nuclear Blast have given a significant portion of Blind Guardian‘s discography a deserved facelift here, the results will lie purely in the eye (or in this case, the ear) of the beholder.Continue reading
Helloween Announces The First Pumpkin United Tour Dates
Helloween recently announced that they will be rejoined by vocalist Michael Kiske and guitarist Kai Hansen for a world tour in 2017 and 2018. Continue reading
Michael Kiske And Kai Hansen To Rejoin Helloween For A World Tour
Civil War – Gods and Generals
It has been three very quick years since one of, if not the biggest, power metal acts Sabaton released their crowning glory Carolus Rex (Nuclear Blast), a bastion of bombastic brilliance, and one of the best Euro Metal albums. However, guitarist Rikard Sundén, drummer Daniel Mullback and keyboardist Daniel Mÿhr departed shortly after its release to establish Civil War with Astral Doors’ vocalist Nils Patrik Johansson.
Power Metal is an odd genre. Everyone is a strong, clean technician and there are so many competent acts, though it is very hard to be exceptional and damn near impossible to be distinctive or unique. Sabaton achieved that latter feat, and not just through having a characteristic vocalist in Joakim Brodén. Considering their contributions, the trio of ex-‘ton’s have done well to try and strike out and find their own voice again and while there are moments, such as ‘USS Monitor’ where you can imagine Brodén’s voice enhancing the chorus (Johansson, with a higher pitched Kai Hansen meets Biff Byford reedy voice, doesn’t have half the charisma of the Sabaton man), in the main they have managed to clear enough space to pitch their own towel on the crowded beach of Power Metal.
So, half the battle won, and Gods and Generals (Napalm) begins well enough with a rapid fire pairing of ‘War of the World’ and ‘Bay of Pigs’. However, things quickly go downhill, with the duo of ‘Braveheart’ and ‘The Mad Piper’, which it has to be said are simply fucking naff and frankly embarrassing; keyboard led, nursery rhyme melodies, (not to mention the dog-shit bagpiping) and lyrics that can’t have taken more than five minutes to write. Fortunately things do pick up and by the time the more epic ‘Schindler’s Ark’ comes around, a track with a vocal nod to legendary David Coverdale, and a musical tip to Angra, the early missteps are nearly forgotten, if not forgiven.
But, as I said, it’s easy to be a decent power metal band, but it’s hard to standout; one, because these are narrow lines we’re trapped between, and two, because the very best prove how big the gulf in class is. Civil War has a heritage to hook people in, but they need to improve the music to get them to keep coming back.
6.0/10
STEVE TOVEY