When Helloween reunited with ’80s members Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske in 2017 to create every Pumpkinhead’s dream supergroup, honoring all eras of the band, I’m not sure if even they themselves could’ve anticipated the reception that would ensue. In the 8 years since, Helloween have played a multitude of sold out dates all around the globe and released one of the finest metal albums of the ’20s thus far in their eponymous 2022 release. It’s a new golden age for these forefathers of euro power metal, one which proudly continues with the much anticipated follow up to Helloween, Giants & Monsters.
What really pushed Helloween over the top, besides the obvious of Kiske and Hansen creating music together under the Helloween banner for the first time since 1988, was that every song adhered to the classic formula that made the band so beloved in the first place. Instead of trying to modernize, reinvent, or stay in vogue with today’s trendy power and symphonic metal acts, all of whom owe their careers to this band, it’s as if they revisited their output from 1985 through 2000 and said, “Yeah, let’s do that again.” Much like the last two Priest albums combined everything great about their back catalog into a stunning collection of new classics, Helloween is doing the exact same, with Giants & Monsters picking up right where Helloween left off.
Never ones to deliver anything less than a grand entrance, the album opens with the obligatory epic in “Giants on the Run”, which manages to fit A TON of nuance over the course of its 6 minute and 20 second runtime. It’s cut from the same classic prog-power cloth as “Helloween” and “Keeper of the Seven Keys”, bursting with energy and virtuosity, setting the stage for a tremendous offering of euro power gold. “Savior of the World” keeps the victorious pace up as Kiske’s unmistakable voice flies free through our speakers, while the ultra-melodic “A Little is a Little Too Much” takes us back to the AOR leanings of Chameleon (1993), and shockingly, this isn’t a one off.
This aforementioned AOR/melodic metal edge is further explored on cuts like the anthemic “This is Tokyo”, nocturnal “Hand of God”, and poppy “Under the Moonlight”. Old timers and purists might be perturbed by such outliers, but considering power metal and AOR intersect today like death metal and hardcore, I don’t think many will take offense, nor should they, because these songs are fantastic. The high speed blitz of “We Can Be Gods” plays like a homage to Helloween’s earliest years, reinforcing the euro power core of the album, as does lengthy epics like “Universe (Gravity for Hearts)” and the closing “Majestic”, the former of which triggers a dopamine blast that should be illegal. At the 4:35 mark, they do what I can only describe as “the Helloween thing”, where the riff completely switches up and Kiske’s dramatic vocals take charge. I’m sure there’s a more technical explanation for this, but it screams Keeper era.
The only song on this album that doesn’t cut it for me is “Into the Sun”, and even that isn’t deplorable for what it is: The obligatory symphonic ballad every euro power metal act sandwiches onto an album. Aside from that, Giants & Monsters is a damn remarkable album that only further cements Helloween’s status as the reigning pumpkin kings of euro power metal. We can only hope these pumpkins stay united for years and years to come, because the world is a better place with these eagles flying free in it.
9 out of 10
Label: Reigning Phoenix Music
Genre: Power Metal
For fans of: Gamma Ray, X Japan, Judas Priest