I still remember the impact Helloween’s debut album ‘Walls of Jericho’ made back in 1985, and when they followed it up with the ‘Keeper’ albums the world literally was their oyster. They may have produced one of the worst album titles and covers of all time, ‘Pink Bubbles Go Ape’, but they have been incredibly consistent in both output and line-up (although they did misplace two key members in Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen). When this album was released in 2015 it still featured two founder members, and everyone involved had been in the band for at least 10 years. This is one of those Helloween albums when it does exactly what it says on the tin, namely one expects cheesy over the top commercial power metal with plenty of fast passages, strong vocals and an impression that the band and the fans are sharing the same joke. It is as if grunge never happened, with black, thrash and death metal all taking themselves way too seriously and instead they are going to repeat “We’re going to stay crazy” (in “Stay Crazy”) until everyone else finds themselves doing exactly the same thing.

It is comic book, commercial, and everything one expects from Helloween. Will it set the world alight like their first three albums? No. Will it gain them any new fans? Only if they have not heard anything else so newbies use this as an introduction and work backwards. Will it please their fanbase? Oh yes, this is Helloween through and through. After playing it, I can’t remember any of the songs, but while it was on I was smiling and it was an enjoyable romp. If I am going to choose any Helloween from the groaning racks it will be the early albums as opposed to this, but it certainly sits in well with their output over the years.

Rating: 7/10

Links:
https://www.helloween.org/
https://www.nuclearblast.de/en/