Alongside Switzerland’s Celtic Frost and Sweden’s Bathory, Germany’s Helloween were possibly the most influential heavy metal band to come out of Europe during the 1980s. By taking the hard riffing and minor key melodies handed down from metal masters like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and infusing them with the speed and energy introduced by the burgeoning thrash metal movement, Helloween crystallized the sonic ingredients of what is now known as power metal.

Helloween were formed in Hamburg, Germany, by guitarists Kai Hansen and Michael Weikath, bassist Markus Grosskopf and drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg. With Hansen also handling vocals the quartet recorded their self-titled debut mini album in early 1985. The full length ‘Walls Of Jericho’ followed the year after and the media were soon buzzing over the band’s thrash-fuelled interpretation of classic heavy metal.

Hansen remained dissatisfied with his singing ability and felt Helloween needed a proper frontman in order to achieve their full potential. Enter teenage vocalist Michael Kiske, whose high-pitched delivery followed in the footsteps of previous heavy metal banshees like Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson. Returning to the studio in early 1987, the band emerged in May with ‘Keeper Of The Seven Keys, Pt. 1’, a landmark recording that remains arguably the single most influential power metal album to date. It transformed Helloween into bonafide superstars all over Europe and the UK, even making tentative inroads into America at the time.

Helloween’s watershed performance at the 1988 Donington Monsters Of Rock Festival proved to be their crowning glory but for Hansen it also represented the culmination of his ambitions for the group. Shockingly, the guitarist announced his departure from the band claiming that Helloween were now too big a beast for him to control but the remaining members of Helloween weren’t about to let their shot at stardom slip away and, after drafting former Rampage guitarist Roland Grapow, they got right back to work with a sold-out tour of the UK.

Through the 90s and 00s the band continued to record, tour and thrive, releasing a further 10 studio albums and playing shows in every conceivable corner of the planet. Their last studio album, 2013’s ‘Straight Out Of Hell’, was full of their trademark speed and toughness, with complex arrangements, strong hooks and plenty of catchy melodies. As Michael Weikath succinctly describes it, “these songs will kick even the laziest listener’s ass.”

Produced by Charlie Bauerfeind (Blind Guardian, Hammerfall), Helloween’s 15th studio album is set to further cement their title as the founding fathers of German melodic speed metal. The band’s first self-titled EP was released in 1985, making this new album, ‘My God-Given Right’, the celebratory marker for their impressive 30 year career.

Gatefold double vinyl picture disc with two bonus tracks.

Gatefold black double vinyl with two bonus tracks.