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extreme Long Live the King, Deris’ musical tribute to Ronnie James Dio, and the social criticism in the powerful, melodic and epic If a Mountain Could Talk. The enchanting, lyrical The Sage, The Fool, The Sinner links to orchestral sounds and the psychedelic in My Sacrifice, while the epic anthem that closes the album is Far in the Future. Back on the road, the 7 Sinners world tour saw the guys accompanied by a band who took their creative influence from Helloween, and is another great reference point for European power metal: Stratovarius. «Nabataea...» tHE DESERt, tHE FORtRESS, tHE KiNGDOM, tHE LEGEND Helloween launched Straight out of Hell in January 2013, again under the production glare of Charlie Bauerfeind. As with the previous ‘generational trilogies’ created by the different line-ups of Helloween (Walls, Keeper I and Keeper II in the 1980s; Master, Better and Time in the 1990s), we can regard this new album as the creative and evolutionary continuation of the previous Gambling with the Devil and 7 Sinners. and the way it represents each member, means this is a very compact album in terms of creativity, with a truly remarkable production. The quintet gradually left behind the dark and gloomy feeling on Gambling, as they blatantly explored the modern, progressive sound delivered on 7 Sinners. Again, despite showing a different colour and musical landscape, the band never neglected their trademark approach on the epic pieces and hymns here. There’s a powerful rhythmic b a s e , ultrafast changes of rhythm and frenzied twin guitar breaks. The unique personality that emerges from the band as regards composition,
70 | 71 The quartet of songwriters comprising Weikie, Andi, Sascha and Markus again raise expectations after those years of tireless creative contributions. The masterpiece has an impressive opening tale with the progressive, mystical Nabataea. The composition evokes this legendary kingdom that was discovered in the early twentieth century and is the origin of many myths and legends, as well as Petra’s Secret, while hiding us behind a musical cliff. Nabataea is a unique creative piece with musical reminiscences, and we can hear several independent melodic developments in the course of its short seven minutes. The soaring creation and the most overwhelming track on the new album is entitled Burning Sun. It is a complex, direct and hymnal track written by Weikie, with elegant instrumental arrangements full of beauty. It is sharp and pure, as are Sascha’s World of War, Markus’ Far from the Stars, or Andi’s Live Now! and Waiting for the Thunder. The array of musical colours displayed by the impressive Hold Me in Your Arms, Straight out of Hell, Asshole, Years, Make Fire Catch the Fly and Church Breaks Down has been shaped into a monumental album, where the band make each idea work, without cracks or bumps. This is improved still further by an immeasurably broad pitch range in Andi’s performance on vocals. And there's a fitting tribute to the memory of Jon Lord through the wonderful rendition of Burning Sun (Hammond Version), included as a B-side on the CD. With positive fan and media recognition, Helloween set out on a successful world tour, recalling a highlight from their own history by revisiting the Hellish Rock Tour along with Gammaray together on the same stage. «We have created better ones so we control the way…» HEROES ‘To embrace your origins and to leave behind the frontier of your primeval world is the path to blindly face the future.’ It seems the perfect ending for a new beginning, driven by the strong instinct to improve themselves, to keep innovating and not to rule out risks. Now 30 years have passed since those eager, visionary teenagers started their journey with their first official recording, and in May 2015 Hellow e e n will released their long-awaited 15 th studio album entitled My God-Given Right. Together with their successful team of collaborators, our tireless band recorded the entire album between October 2014 and February 2015 at their own Mi Sueño Studio in Tenerife. As with their seven previous works, their long-term producer Charlie Bauerfeind handled the whole production and every recording duty. Helloween have also returned to the German record label Nuclear Blast, a cooperation that had been suspended since the release of Rabbit Don't Come Easy in 2003. In addition to this, Martin Häusler brings back to us his mastery as a designer and illustrator by presenting us a stunning cover in full 3D, with a groundbreaking choice of colour palette, dominated by white with slight contrasts of blue and shiny elements. In line with the album's title, it seems to lead us to a new beginning full of light, fresh energy and purpose, like those pumpkin robots ready to march. Just in a simple way, direct and thrilling, like a virginal blank page.
Page 1 and 2: O F F I C I A L L I C E N S E D P R
Page 3: Helloween , s ArtWork Frederick Mou
Page 6 and 7: 2008 BLOODSTOCK
Page 12 and 13: 1978 - 1980 1980 - 1982 1982 - 1986
Page 14: Well, obviously it's the centre of
Page 18 and 19: Oh, a word and a blow We wanna stay
Page 20 and 21: Live photo session Brazil 1996, by
Page 22 and 23: ANDREAS DERIS was born in Karlsruhe

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