HELLOWEEN – Hellish Videos

The aggressive response to the NWOBHM, back in the 80s, came from the German Metal scene with bands like Running Wild, Accept, Gravedigger, Kreator, and, last but not least, Helloween. The latter band gave birth to the genre called Power Metal, which was characterized by double bass drumming, speedy riffing, and catchy melodies. The band’s early works, Walls of Jericho and Keeper of the Seven Keys, set the foundations for this genre and are still inspiring newborn bands.

Helloween has just signed a new contract with Sanctuary Records and announced the release of Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy as the last part of the Keeper’s trilogy. In order to fill the created time gap, the band decided to give their fans a special treat in the form of a DVD. Hellish Videos is simply the complete collection of the released videos during their more than two decades of Metal activity.

The first video is “Halloween,” featuring the best line up with Michael Kiske behind the microphone, Kai Hansen and Michael Weikath playing the guitars, the bassist Markus Grosskopf and Ingo Swichtenberg (R.I.P. 3/18/05) at the drum set. This is a “real” video clip filmed outdoors (in the cold) with the band playing in a forest surrounded by a whole bunch of monsters … a true masterpiece! Next is “I Want Out,” a video for a song written by Kai Hansen, who had been already thinking of leaving the band. The sing along chorus in “I Want Out” with Kiske’s high-pitched vocals quickly became Helloween’s trademark in every live performance.

Two years after the release of their best live album, Live in the UK, Helloween released Pink Pubbles Go Ape, featuring Roland Grapow, who came to fill the gap that was created by Kai Hansen. They released “Kids of the Century,” which can be characterized as the best song of this rather “weak” album. Somehow, the band had lost its way releasing the experimental Chameleon, with an almost Rock sound. From this album there is “When the Sinner,” a song that most of the fans don’t want to remember (and most of them don’t).

It was Michael Kiske’s turn to leave the band, and Andi Derris, from Pink Cream 69, was called to replace him. The result was Master of the Rings, and it marked the band’s return to heavier forms than the latter two albums. Three songs were selected from this album, “Mr.Ego,” “Where the Rain Grows,” and “Perfect Gentleman.” The first one is a mid-tempo song, which is built around Andi with some pretty good guitar work. The second is rather simple, showing the band doing some silly stuff while performing this classic Helloween song of the Deris era. In the third video, Andi shows his acting skills by playing the role of the “Perfect Gentleman” — full of irony and humor. The song is based on a very good keyboard melody that fits perfectly to the Weikath – Grosskopf twin guitars.

The next video trinity comes from The Time of the Oath, a very good album with pure Power Metal direction. “Power” is first in line, comprising some very good visual effects and pretty good film direction. Things are even better in the mid-tempo, epic song “Time of the Oath,” which is the best one in the homonymous album. The video comprises outdoor shooting and yet again very good work in the visual effects. The last of the three, “Forever and One,” is a ballad with a very melodic chorus that is perfect for a live performance when things need to be calmed down.

The next one is “I Can” from Better than Raw, another well-written album. The optimistic lyrics of this song stand in with the arrangement, with a melody that you can whistle all day. The best video is next and comes in the form of “Dark Ride,” which as Weikath states, “is the worst Helloween album”. Nevertheless, the album is great and so is “If I Could Fly” with its dark atmosphere and excellent montage.

The “Dark Ride” argument was the reason that Roland Grapow left the band (and formed Masterplan with Jorn Lande), and the next Helloween step was Rabbit Don’t Come Easy. From this album, “Just a Little Sign” was filmed, which is a classic up-tempo Power Metal song that is based on a sing along chorus. The video was filmed in the cost saver way (the computer way), showing a spacecraft landing on earth bringing the band into a futuristic stage with pumpkins as an audience.

The DVD extras are “Hey Lord” performed live, some tour outtakes and the classic photo gallery. The best moment in the outtakes is when Helloween performs with Rage dressed like the band’s singer Peavy Wagner (hilarious). The DVD menus are easy to use and with pretty good design (leave the root menu without doing anything and watch what will happen).

Every “diehard” fan must have this DVD … it gathers all of the videos the band has filmed during the good and the rough times. Keeper of the seven Keys: The Legacy is on the way for the rest of the Metalheadz.