Artist: Helloween Title: “Keeper Of The Seven Keys: The Legacy World Tour 05/06 Live In Sao Paulo” Label: SPV Records Release Date: 2/20/2007 Genre: Power Metal Rating: 4/5
Recorded on the tour for “Keeper Of The Seven Keys 3: The Legacy”; the continuing adventures of Helloween have been captured for the world to enjoy. This particular album and tour would be one that found the legendary Power Metal masters returning more to the pure format of the genre that they helped to start so many years ago. As soon as it begins the listener is knocked down with the levels of energy and drive they bring as “The King For A 1000 Years” begins. It is truly the perfect show opener and brings the audience right into the electric vibe that a Helloween show is going to deliver. The concert set is as expected loaded with standards from the Helloween back catalog that are considered anthems in most Metal circles. I found that the band sounded as fresh as they ever did as the classics “Mr. Torture” and “I Want Out” blasted by. Singer Andy Deris has really come into his own in the band after all these years, and many know this group had a number of membership changes since their inception. Musically this is tight and energetic with resounding sing along choruses that many fans know by heart after their decade’s long support. SPV Records has also made available to the public a full DVD that features this concert along with a number of other bonus features. We saw this recently with the release for Kamelot’s “One Cold Winter’s Night”. As far as live albums go this is one of the good ones. Continue reading “Keeper Of The Seven Keys: The Legacy World Tour – Live In Sao Paulo” by Helloween→
Artist: Helloween Title: “Keeper Of The Seven Keys: The Legacy” Label: SPV Records Release Date: 11/8/2005 Genre: Power Metal Rating: 7.5/10
Helloween takes their music into the future with two giant steps. The first is jumping ship from Nuclear Blast Records to join the ever expanding roster of SPV Records talent. The second is a celebration of their core history by revisiting the classic “Keeper Of The Seven Keys” tale by giving us “The Legacy”. Returning to this story might seem to be a risky move for when an album is held in such a high regard you really have to pull out all the stops to meet the expectations that surround it. I have to say that after the intro dialogue completed, I felt that the music Helloween was performing was a return to the more classic sound. It felt good to find myself blasting the high energy Power Metal style that Helloween was instrumental in making popular almost twenty years ago. The interesting part of this return would be that it is with an almost entirely different line up at this stage of the game. Singer Michael Kiske and guitarist Kai Hansen have long moved on with Kiske handling solo work and Hansen running the show in Gamma Ray. For many years Andy Deris has been handling the vocals; and while some material was on and off with fans, I think this will show them how impressive Andy can be. Continue reading “Keeper Of The Seven Keys: The Legacy” by Helloween→
Artist: Helloween Venue: The Downtown (Farmingdale, NY) Opener: Gothic Knights Date: 1/16/2004 Label: Nuclear Blast Records
I first heard of Helloween by watching MTV (it was the late 80s). While I had been a Priest and Iron Maiden fan for some time I had yet to be exposed to the world of Power Metal. Today MTV is a far cry from those days and the new metal fan will have to wait until the off chance that the “Headbanger’s Ball” will luckily show something like this. This was an interest I maintained as among my favorite music styling in the heavy metal genre is power metal. Bands like Nightwish, Avantasia, Sonata Arctica and clearly one of the founders – Helloween comprise the core of my listening nowadays. Continue reading Helloween @ The Downtown (1/16/2004)→