Helloween

One of the loudest, fiercest European metal acts of the 1980s, Helloween's breakneck shredding and thunderous riffs helped define the sub-genre of power metal and won the adoration of hard rock fans across the world. Formed in Hamburg, Germany in 1984, the band took inspiration from Judas Priest and Black Sabbath and created a bombastic sound based on Michael Weikath's blistering guitar playing and Michael Kiske's high-pitched, melodic voice. Early albums Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part 1 (1987) and Part 2 (1988) won support from MTV and took the group from a cult audience in their home country to world tours, support slots for Anthrax and Iron Maiden and a triumphant performance at the UK's Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. They were signed up by major label EMI, but the departure of guitarist Kai Hansen, a lengthy legal battle with their former record company and the suicide of drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg halted their progress. When Kiske was replaced as front man by Andi Deros, the band returned to form for the acclaimed The Time of Oath (1996), Better Than Raw (1998) and The Dark Ride (2000). The band underwent numerous line-up changes but starting with 2005’s Keeper fo the Seven Keys: The Legacy, the band kept the same quintet for over a decade and that line-up would record hit albums like 2007’s Gambling with the Devil, and the a pair of top 10 albums, 2013’s Straight Out of Hell and 2015’s My God-Given Right. Thirty-five years after their first LP, the band continued into 2021 with the single “Skyfall’.

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