Helloween＜Gold Vinyl＞

No band casts a larger shadow over the European power metal battlefield than Germanys Helloween. Responsible for two of the genres most seminal records -- Keeper of the Seven Keys parts 1 and 2, the stalwart rockers have been operational for nearly four decades, albeit with only two of their original members (bassist Markus Grosskopf and guitarist Michael Weikath) achieving a perfect attendance record. Fans were elated when guitarist and co-founder Kai Hansen and KOTSK vocalist Michael Kiske returned to the fold in 2017 for a massive tour and the one-off single Pumpkins United, but few expected that the reunion would yield a new studio album. The resulting Helloween, the bands 16th full-length effort, delivers on almost all fronts. Featuring three lead vocalists (Kiske, Hansen, and longtime frontman Andi Deris) and three guitarists (Weikath, Hansen, and Sascha Gerstner), the LP should be a bloated mess. To be fair, it kind of is, but few acts do power, pomp, and whimsy as effortlessly as Helloween, and in combining all of the bands distinct eras into one, theyve managed to eke out a remarkably cohesive 12-track set that plays to each vocalists strengths, often within the same track. Commencing with the one-two punch of Out for the Glory and Fear of the Fallen, both of which skillfully utilize the aforementioned triple threat, Helloween feels both familiar and transcendent. Generously stacked with staccato German folk-influenced guitarmonies and hymn-like choruses, the bands knack for pairing bombast and technical prowess remains intact. The songs are structural triumphs as well, with myriad twists and turns that combine elements of thrash, folk, hard rock, power, and progressive metal -- the epic Skyfall makes good use of all of its 12-plus minutes. Helloween have been making metal fun in one guise or another since the early 80s, and for the first time in a long while, that sanguinity feels both genuine and well-earned. ~ James Christopher Monger

カボチャ軍団が7人体制で初のアルバムを完成。マイケル・キスクとアンディ・デリスの二枚看板ヴォーカルに加え、名盤『Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 2』(88年)以来33年ぶりにカイ・ハンセン(ギター)がいることも大きく、同作を彷彿とさせるヘヴィーでキャッチーなハロウィン節が全開。エッジ鋭いリフの刻みだけでテンションは上がり、また一度聴いたら耳から離れない美メロや、大作志向の曲調をさらりと聴かせるドラマ性も完璧だ。
bounce (C)荒金良介