对于全世界甚至国内金属乐迷而言, Helloween这个乐团可说是无人不知,无人不晓, 其受欢迎的程度绝不下于Iron Maiden,早已是金属迷必备的经典团体。Helloween成军于1984年于德国,并且在Noise唱片的合辑”Death Metal Complilation” 中初发表两首曲子,次年4月首张迷你专辑”Helloween”随之发行, 1996年首张专辑”Walls Of Jericho”与单曲”Judas”已使得该团名声渐盛,而后与Overkill共同办欧周巡回演唱及为Dio暖场更为下一张专辑”Keepers Of The Seven Keys Part 1”(1997)奠下坚固的基础, 此时主唱、吉他手兼团长Kai Hansen也慧眼识英雄地找来接替他的新主唱Michael Kiske, 事后证明其高亢的音色正是该团最重要的特色之一。Helloween的乐风俗称为speedmetal, 或是称继 N.W.O.B.H.M.后所衍生的N.W.O.G.H.M. (New Wave Of German Heavy Metal),高亢的嗓音、双主奏吉他和双大鼓配上快速的旋律为当时的乐坛注入一股生命力, 往后受影响的乐团如Scanner, Heaven’s Gates, Chroming Rose, Blind Guardian与X Japan等团都相继地攻战speed metal市场, 证明Helloween的媚力之大,而说到「刺客」及「唐朝」这两岸中国人乐团也同样是Helloween的「受益者」。无论是「恐怖万圣节」或是「海洛英」,它的地位将永远地烙印在每个乐迷的心中。
80 年代末期，由Helloween所催生的德式SpeedMetal可说是首先带起新一代欧陆金属热潮的指标乐派，如今也成为最受欢迎的一种金属型式。对于意大利而言，90年代之前的金属乐历史也并非完全空白，只不过由于环境尚未成熟，多数的乐团仍处在地下乐界活动的状态，不过抬面上倒还是出现了一支意识形态极度骇人的乐团DeathSS，团员皆做尸、木乃伊、兽人或恶魔的装扮来呈现黑暗恐怖气氛，甚至连BlackMetal中贯用的符号都被采用，不过这时期其在音乐风格上则仍不脱传统重金属的范畴。
Helloween的Keeper Of The Seven Keys的扬名欧洲，为意大利金属音乐的苏醒带来了第一道曙光！接着，由Queensryche、DreamTheater所确立的前卫金属音乐型式，也对意大利乐团产生强烈冲击，两种乐派的相互交击之下，使得意大利的金属洪流逐渐开始高涨，而终于一发不可收拾！
Helloween以更流畅的乐曲旋律、壮阔的金属大合唱、充满爆发力的德式速弹风格技压群雄。
风格类型： Heavy Metal（重金属) Power Metal (力量金属)
组建时间: 1983
现在成员: Andi Deris (1994-) - Vocals (ex-Pink Cream 69, ex-Kymera)
Michael Weikath (1983-) - Guitars (ex-Powerfool)
Sascha Gerstner (2002-) - Guitars (ex-Freedom Call, ex-Lanzer)
Markus Grosskopf (1983-) - Bass (Avantasia, Shock Machine, ex-Traumschiff)
Dani Lle (2005-) - Drums (ex-Rawhead Rexx, Glenmore, ex-Blaze (UK))
历史成员: Guitars: Kai Hansen (+ vocals until 1986, 1983-1988) (ex-Powerfool, Iron Fist (Ger), Gamma Ray, ex-Iron Savior) Roland Grapow (1989-2001) (Kotipelto, Masterplan, MVP, as guest Locomotive Breath, Rampage (Ger)) Vocals: Michael Kiske (1986-1993) (Supared, Place Vendome ex-Ill Prophecy) Ralf Scheepers (1986, live only) (ex-Tyran' Pace, ex-Gamma Ray, Primal Fear, ex-Roland Grapow (Guest)) Drums: Ingo Schwichtenberg (1983-1993) (R.I.P. March 8, 1995, suicide) Richie Abdel Nabi (1993) Uli Kusch (1994-2001) (ex-Masterplan, Shock Machine, Sinner (Ger) (guest), ex-Gamma Ray, ex-Holy Moses, Mekong Delta, ex-Roland Grapow, Beautiful Sin, Axe La Chapelle) Mark Cross (2002) (ex-Metalium (Ger), ex-Winters Bane, At Vance, ex-Nightfall (Grc), God's Army, The Supremacy, ex-Casus Belli (Grc) (guest), Firewind) Mikkey Dee (session drums 2002) (Mothead, ex-King Diamond, Geisha) Stefan Schwarzmann (2003-2005) (ex-Paradox, ex-Running Wild, ex-Accept, ex-U.D.O., ex-Voice, ex-Cronos Titan, ex-X-Wild)
专辑介绍：
HELLOWEEN这支以万圣节南瓜鬼脸而闻名于世的德国速度金属乐队的历史要追溯到1979年。当时两名吉他手Kai Hansen和Piet Sielck组成了一支名为GENTRY的乐队，乐队经过多次人员的变动后更名为IRONFIST，这时还有鼓手Ingo Schwichtenberg，贝司手Markus Grosskoph。不久Piet因为一些原因离开了乐队，后来他成了一名录音师，与多支乐队合作过，包括BLIND GUARDIAN，GRAVE DIGGER和GAMMA RAY，目前他还有自己的一支乐队IRON SAVIOR。Piet离开之后POWERFOOL乐队的Michael Weikath加入了进来，从此乐队定名为HELLOWEEN，这时是1983年。 在这个阵容下，乐队于1984年在德国厂牌NOISE出版的合辑Death Metal中录制了两首歌：Oernst For Life和Metal Invaders。1985年乐队录制了第一张EP，Helloween，也叫The Mini LP。一共有5首歌。同年晚些时候，乐队推出了第一张专辑Walls Of Jericho。第二年乐队发行了单曲Judas。由于主音歌手兼吉他手Kai感觉难以弹唱兼顾，所以乐队决定再招募一名主唱。当时乐队考虑的第一人选是TYRAN PACE的前任主唱Ralf Scheepers，不过最终的幸运者是当地一支小乐队ILL PROPHECY的主唱Michael Kiske。 1987年，乐队本来打算发表一张双专辑，不过Noise公司没有同意，所以乐队把计划中的双专辑的上部拿来发表——这便是著名的Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 1。这张专辑的成功使乐队开始为世人所注意，并且在包括美国等地的排行榜上节节攀升，几家金属杂志也纷纷给予好评。专辑由Tommy Hansen制作，大多数歌曲都由Kai Hansen创作，录音效果比上一张要好。Michael Kiske的演唱非常出色，对歌曲的诠释恰到好处，成功的融入了乐队之中。相对于乐队其他的专辑而言，Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 1的长度比较短，只有37分零5秒，要知道，第一张Walls Of Jericho可是足足录满了72分钟，甚至在专辑的封面上都写着“extra long playing CD”。 凭借Keeper Of The Seven Keys Pt 1的成功，乐队于1989年趁热打铁推出了Keeper Of The Seven Keys Pt 2，这是乐队最为著名也是最畅销的一张专辑，直到今天，Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 2还是CD架上的畅销品。与上一张专辑不同的是这回另一名吉他手Michael Weikath负责了大部分创作，主唱Michael Kiske也写了两首歌。专辑中的March Of Time，Eagly Fly Free，Keeper Of The Seven Keys，Dr Stein以及Rise and Fall都是Helloween不朽的经典（后来还有一种双CD版本，收录了这两张专辑的全部歌曲），遗憾的是专辑推出不久，乐队的元老Kai Hansen离开了乐队（1989年，他组建了另一支非常著名的速度金属乐队GAMMA RAY）。为了能够保证巡演的顺利进行，乐队挖来了RAMPAGE的吉他手Roland Grapow，完成了巡演，并于1989年推出了一张现场专辑，欧洲版名为Live In The UK，日本版叫Keepers Live，在美国则称做I Want Out Live。 在这张现场里我们还能看见Kai Hansen的身影。 此时的Helloween已经是如日中天的大乐队了，对他们来说，Noise现在只能算是个小公司了。为了能更宽的拓展自己的事业，乐队于1990年签约EMI，不过Noise也不是好惹的，他们随即以违约为名一纸诉状将Helloween告上法庭。面对诉讼，乐队解释说他们之所以违约是因为Noise在他们身上发了大财，而乐队却一分钱都没有。但是法院最终裁定乐队不得在除德国，英国以及日本外的任何国家地区发行专辑。 1991年，乐队先是出版了精选集The Best，The Rest，The Rare，然后又推出了新专辑Pink Bubbles Go Ape，但是总体反映不佳。在专辑巡演之后，传出了乐队要解散的消息，据说乐队成员之间产生了矛盾：Michael Kiske和Ingo是一边，Roland和Weikath是另一边，而Markus则站在中间充当和事佬。 更糟糕的事情出现在1993年，专辑Chameleon更加不成功，甚至被认为是乐队历史上最差劲的专辑。乐队成员之间的矛盾也更为激烈。在巡演途中，鼓手Ingo因病退出。 1994年，乐队签约到Castle Communications旗下，加入两名新成员：来自PINK CREAM 69的主唱Andi Deris，和GAMMA RAY、德国著名极端激流金属HOLY MOSES的前任鼓手Uli Kusch。全面更新之后，乐队重整旗鼓，发表了专辑Master Of The Rings。这张专辑让人感觉到HELLOWEEN又重新回到了Keeper I的时代，无论演唱，演奏还是编曲都极为出色，一扫前两张专辑的颓势。专辑的日本版有一本乐队的相册，多了两首歌Can't Fight Your Desire和Grapowski's Malmsuite 1001；德国版有一张采访的录音，另多一首Cold Sweat；欧洲其他地区版则是附送一张两首歌的CD，这两首歌是I Stole Your Love，Closer To Home；美国版在1995年发行，也有一张附送CD，包括7首B面歌曲。 1996年的HELLOWEEN同时迎来了欢乐与悲伤：概念专辑The Time Of The Oath发行，故事取材于诺查丹马士的预言。比起Master Of The Rings来，专辑显得更重更阴暗，整体感觉非常好，浑然一体。另外在日本版中，有两首附送曲，也是相当优秀的作品，而且，这两首歌只在日本版的专辑中出现，没有以其他任何形式，诸如单曲，EP等形式发行。同年还有一张双CD现场面市，名为High Live。前任主唱Michael Kiske也推出了反响不错的第一张个人专辑Instant Clarity。而不幸的则是鼓手Ingo Schwichtenberg的自杀——他跳向了一列迎面开来的火车。 1997年，吉他手Roland Grapow发表了他的第一张个人专辑The Four Seasons of Life。主唱Andi Deris也推出了他的第一张个人专辑In From The Rain。 1998年初，Helloween发行了4CD精选套装The Pumpkin Box，收录了自1985年到1993年的经典作品。随后在三月份新专辑Better Than Raw出版。这又是一张经典的专辑，在乐队官方网站上，洋斑竹这样评价它：This is one of those albums that you buy an extra copy of to keep in your car so you can listen to it whenever possible. 1999年对于HELLOWEEN来说是繁忙的一年，不仅乐队的专辑Metal Jukebox出版，而且乐队的成员们也纷纷制作发行了个人专辑。吉他手Roland Grapow为个人专辑Kaleidoscope在欧洲和巴西进行了一次成功的巡演；贝司手Markus Grosskopf也推出了个人专辑Shockmachine，并且请了队友Uli Kusch来打鼓；而鼓手Uli Kusch则制作了一张致敬专辑Catch The Rainbow - RAINBOW tribute，参与录制的都是德国金属界一些著名的乐队；主唱Andi Deris的专辑Done With Mirrors也在日本上市，另外乐队前任主唱Michael Kiske的第二张个人专辑Readiness To Sacrifice也于这一年面市。 2000年，乐队转签Nuclear Blast Germany，千禧专辑The Dark Ride已录制完成，这张专辑融合一定的时髦元素，不过制作得非常精细，可听性仍然很高。不过在巡演过程中鼓手Uli Kusch的肘部受伤而导致巡演半途而废；不久后。吉他手Roland Grapow和鼓手Uli Kusch离开了乐队，Uli加入了SINNER乐队，而Roland则组建了MASTERPLAN乐队。 2001年乐队在招募了新鼓手Stefan Schwarzmann和吉他手Sascha Gerstner（FREEDOM CALL）加入乐队。2003年乐队的新专辑Rabbit Don't Come Easy发行后大获好评，看来尽管乐队的人员在不断更换（目前阵容和最初阵容相比较只有吉他手Michael Weikat和贝司手Michael Weikath没变），但乐队还是保持了一向的高水准。 历史的车沦迈进21世纪后欧洲的前卫力量金属风格成为了重金属音乐世界的主流，90年代后期的HELLOWEEN风格也逐渐向这类比较大众化的音乐风格靠拢。2005年高产的HELLOWEEN发行了新专辑Keeper of the Seven Keys - The Legacy，也就是他们传奇作品Keeper of the Seven Keys系列的第三部，经典的主题加以时髦的表现手法，没有不成功的理由。
Helloween is a German heavy metal band known as one of pioneers of power metal .[1] Helloween was founded in 1984 by members of Iron Fist and Powerfool.
Biography
The original line-up featured Kai Hansen (Vocals/Guitars), Michael Weikath (Guitars), Markus Grosskopf (Bass) and Ingo Schwichtenberg (Drums). In 1984 the band had signed a deal with Noise Records (see 1984 in music) and recorded two songs for a Noise compilation record called Death Metal with bands Hellhammer, Running Wild and Dark Avenger. The two tracks were "Oernst Of Life" by Weikath, and Hansen's "Metal Invaders" which later on was featured in a faster version on the band's first full-length album.
1985 came around and Helloween recorded its first record Helloween, a self-titled EP containing 5 tracks. The EP was successful. During that same year the group recorded and released its first full-length album titled Walls of Jericho which was well-received, with its mixture of speed and melodies redefining heavy metal. (In fact, WWE Wrestler Chris Jericho took his stage name from the album, as well as the name of his signature submission move, Walls Of Jericho). However, during the following tour, it became obvious that Kai had difficulties singing and playing the guitar at the same time. Kai's last recorded performance as the band's lead singer was in 1986 on a single EP titled Judas, which contained the song "Judas" along with some live tracks. After that, Helloween began the search for a new vocalist.
The first choice was to recruit former Tyran' Pace vocalist Ralf Scheepers, who had sung lead for the band on the short "Judas" tour; he declined. The band ended up finding an 18-year-old talent from a local Hamburg band, Ill Prophecy, named Michael Kiske. With their new lead singer in tow, they approached record labels Noise International and RCA and floated the idea of releasing a double-LP to introduce the new line-up. They were turned down. As a result, they recorded Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part 1, which was released in 1987. It established Helloween as one of the most successful heavy metal bands in Europe. In 1988 Helloween released Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II, the companion album and their most famous release featuring the classic line-up. Fortune smiled on the German quintet when MTV put their single "I Want Out" into heavy rotation. Additionally, in support of its "Headbanger's Ball" show, MTV presented the inaugural Headbanger's Ball Tour and invited Helloween as special guests, joining Bay Area thrash-metal band Exodus in support of headliners Anthrax. The band was slotted in the more-prestigious second spot, right before Anthrax's set. On the heels of this exposure to US audiences, the band achieved worldwide success, and things were looking extremely well.
The euphoric highs experienced by the band would quickly lead to one of the darkest periods in its existence. Guitarist Kai Hansen unexpectedly left the band soon after the European leg of the "Keeper 2" tour due to conflicts within the band, troubles with record company Noise International, and a growing dissatisfaction with life on tour. He was quickly replaced by former Rampage guitarist Roland Grapow, who finished the rest of the "Keeper 2" tour with the band.
In 1989 the band released a live album called Live In The UK, featuring live material from their 1988 European tour, entitled "Keepers Live" in Japan and "I Want Out Live" in the U.S. The remaining members continued on, but ran into label problems with Noise, and, after litigation which kept them from touring and releasing new material, were eventually released from their contract. A new album would not appear until 1991 when, after several rumors about the band breaking up, they released the comically entitled Pink Bubbles Go Ape for their new record company, EMI. The album was less heavy, and with song titles such as "Heavy Metal Hamsters"; "I'm Doing Fine, Crazy Man"; and "Shit and Lobster", showed a shift towards, and an emphasis on, humor rather than the epic feel present on previous releases. As a result, Pink Bubbles Go Ape failed both commercially and critically, and soon tensions started to build up amongst the band members.
The pop-influenced follow-up Chameleon, released in 1993, cost the band what hardcore fans they had left. Instead of taking a heavier approach, as fans had clamored for, the band ventured into new territory, eschewing their signature double-guitar harmonies for synthesizers, horns, acoustic guitars, a children's chorus, country music, grunge and swing. As with the previous album, Chameleon failed commercially and critically. Tensions within Helloween worsened, and the band split into three factions, with Michael Kiske and Ingo Schwichtenberg on one side, Michael Weikath and Roland Grapow on the other, and Markus Grosskopf in the middle, trying to keep an uneasy peace between the four men.
Shortly afterwards, the band would begin to disintegrate. During the Chameleon tour, the band would routinely play to half-filled venues, the fans staying away in droves when faced with the prospect of having to sit through a set of nearly all songs off the new album. Worse yet, drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg fell ill due to mental and drug-related issues, and was eventually fired, replaced by session drummer Ritchie Abdel-Nabi. Meanwhile, the conflicts within the rest of the band had reached critical mass, with Michael Weikath refusing to work any longer with Michael Kiske. The decision was made to fire Kiske. In hindsight, it is clear that the move away from power metal to pop was Kiske's idea; he had taken on a more vocal role in the band, and did not hide the fact that he disliked Helloween's style of power metal, instead favoring a softer, pop style of music. Since his firing, Kiske has not spoken positively about Helloween, and still claims to hate the whole heavy metal scene. Kiske would return with a solo album, 1996's Instant Clarity. The album was, for the most part, pop and soft rock, except for "The Calling", co-written by Kiske and Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith, and the Smith-Hansen-Kiske collaboration "New Horizons", the only "heavy metal" songs on the album. Since his first solo effort, Kiske has reinvented himself musically and relegated himself to eclectic-sounding albums such as Readiness to Sacrifice, SupaRed, and the self-titled Kiske; Kiske will also occasionally be a guest singer on other artists' albums, but refuses to be credited by his given name in an effort to prevent being associated with the metal genre. In May 2008 Kiske released Past In Different Ways, an album that featured some of his old Helloween songs, albeit rearranged and re-recorded acoustically.
In addition to the firing of Kiske, Abdel-Nabi, whose inability to replicate Schwichtenberg's machine-gun style of drumming hindered Helloween's ability to play fan-favorites like "Eagle Fly Free" and "How Many Tears" live, was given his walking papers as well. 1993 would come to a disastrous close as, in short, the band had no singer, no drummer, no record contract (EMI let the band go after the horrible returns for Pink Bubbles Go Ape and Chameleon), and seemingly no future.
Helloween returned in 1994, however, with former Pink Cream 69 frontman Andi Deris as their new lead singer, and Uli Kusch, formerly of Kai Hansen's Gamma Ray on the drums. Deris, in fact, had been approached by Weikath to join the band in 1991, but, despite being intrigued by the offer and dealing with emerging conflicts between himself and Pink Cream 69, declined. In the intervening year, however, Kiske was fired from Helloween and the issues within Pink Cream 69 worsened; faced with the inevitability of his firing, Deris accepted Weikath's offer. Despite not possessing the 4-octave range boasted by Kiske, Deris' vocal similarity to Kai Hansen, his enthusiasm, strong songwriting skills and the return of the "classic" Helloween sound in songs like "Where The Rain Grows", "The Game Is On" and "Still We Go", as well as the seeming rejuvenation of Weikath and Grapow, struck a chord with the fans. With this new and recharged lineup, and a new record contract courtesy of Castle Communications, Helloween released their successful comeback album, Master of the Rings. Oddly enough, despite the almost universal hatred toward the Chameleon album, on the Master of the Rings tour, the band played "Giants" at a handful of shows. It was quickly dropped from the setlist; in fact, Helloween has refused to play any of the tracks off Chameleon on any tours from that point forward.
The story of Helloween's return was tempered by tragedy in 1995, as the band, its members and fans were saddened by the suicide of original drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg. In the years since his departure from Helloween, Schwichtenberg had spiraled deeper into drug-use and depression; additionally, he was never able to recover emotionally after being fired from the only band he had ever known. The former drummer committed suicide by jumping in front of a train in his native Hamburg. Dedicated to his memory, 1996's The Time Of The Oath re-established the band as one of the most popular European metal bands (see 1996 in music). Following another world tour, a double live album called High Live was released.
In 1998 Helloween released Better Than Raw, one of the band's heaviest albums since the full-length debut. The subsequent supporting tour was par for the course, with the usual shows in Europe, Japan and Brazil, except for one surprise: On December 20, 1998, the band visited New York and played a show in Coney Island, the first show for Helloween in the United States in nearly a decade. Despite almost zero hype, attendance at the show was respectable, planting the seeds for a future return to the States. The band would follow Better Than Raw with a 1999 release entitled Metal Jukebox, a cover-album featuring Helloween's versions of songs from bands as diverse as Jethro Tull, Faith No More, The Beatles, ABBA and Deep Purple. The year 2000 saw the release of The Dark Ride, a more experimental and darker album than their previous releases, complete with downtuned guitars and a gruffer singing style from Deris.
Immediately following the tour, Helloween parted ways with guitarist Roland Grapow and drummer Uli Kusch. One version of events states that Weikath, Deris and Grosskopf felt that Kusch and Grapow, in particular, were spending more time on and paying more attention to their new side-project, Masterplan, and that because they were not devoted 100% to Helloween they were let go; another version states that Grapow and Kusch had pushed to continue the direction that the band had taken with The Dark Ride and that Weikath, not wanting a repeat of the Kiske situation, huddled with Deris and Grosskopf, whereby the decision was made to get rid of them. In any case, they were fired, via e-mail (with Grapow's wife finding out before he did that he had been fired), and decided to make Masterplan their full-time band, while their replacements were soon found in guitarist Sascha Gerstner (ex-Freedom Call, Neumond), and drummer Mark Cross (ex-Metalium, Kingdom Come, currently in Firewind), culminating with the recording of another studio album, entitled Rabbit Don't Come Easy, in 2003. Cross could not finish the album due to mononucleosis, completing only two tracks; the drum tracks were completed by Motörhead's Mikkey Dee. Stefan Schwarzmann, former drummer of Running Wild and Accept would shortly thereafter take over the drumming duties. Despite a somewhat tepid response to the album, Helloween nonetheless completed a successful world tour, highlighted by the return of classic songs such as "Starlight", "Murderer", "Keeper of the Seven Keys" and "How Many Tears" to the setlist. Additionally, the band toured the United States for the first time since 1989 playing to sold-out crowds at nearly every venue.
2005 saw yet another line-up change following the "Rabbits on the Run" tour as it became apparent that Helloween and Stefan Schwarzmann did not share the same musical vision. As further noted by the band, he had some trouble performing fast drum parts, so he was replaced by Dani Löble, the previous drummer of German metal band Rawhead Rexx And also Tour drummer for Blaze A change in record company also followed as they inked a deal with German label SPV. Any fears that what had now become a revolving door of band members would affect the quality of their new album were laid to rest as Helloween's new studio album, entitled Keeper of the Seven Keys - The Legacy, was released in October 28th, 2005 in Germany, and November 8th in the U.S.A. to commercial and critical acclaim. The album had a pre-release single, Mrs. God, as well as a video for the track. The track Light the Universe was released as a single on November 22nd, featuring Candice Night of Blackmore's Night on guest vocals. She also appears in the video clip for that track.
In late 2006, Helloween filmed and recorded shows in São Paulo (Brazil), Sofia (Bulgaria) and Tokyo (Japan), for their live album Keeper Of The Seven Keys - The Legacy World Tour 2005/2006. The DVD also featured extra footage of the band as well as interviews and a road movie. This is the second Helloween live album to feature Andi Deris as frontman, and third overall. It enjoyed chart success in several countries: Germany: 9 (DVD) & 58 (CD), Sweden: 9 (DVD), France: 10 (DVD)[citation needed].
Helloween has since completed their latest studio album Gambling with the Devil, which was released on October 23, 2007. It has received many positive reviews, with most fans praising the album as being one of the best Deris era albums. Despite being one of Helloween's heavier albums With tracks such as 'Kill it' And 'The bells of the 7 hells', it is noted for featuring more keyboards. "As Long As I Fall",, the first single released in early September is available only via download (save for Japan, where it was released on CD). The video for the song was shot and Directed by Alex Diezinger of AVA Studios And is available at their official site.[2]
Helloween teamed up with Kai Hansen's current band Gamma Ray for the ongoing world tour, entitled Hellish Rock 2007/2008, that started in early November 2007. Helloween are headlining and Gamma Ray are labeled as the "very special guest" with most shows going along fellow German "guest" Axxis. The tour is notable for Kai Hansen stepping on stage with his former band fellows Weikath and Grosskopf to perform hits "I Want Out" and "Future World" in the last encore segment of Helloween set.[3]
In December 2008, the band's official MySpace stated that the band has begun work on a new studio album.
Members
Andi Deris – Vocals (1993-present)
Michael Weikath – Guitar (1984-present)
Sascha Gerstner – Guitar, Keyboards (2002-present)
Markus Grosskopf – Bass (1984-present)
Daniel Löble – Drums (2005-present)