Helloween 's lead singer , Michael Kiske , recently spoke on My Planet Rocks about the lessons he learned from leaving the band in 1993, only to return 24 years later.
“It was very important for me,” he said. “As difficult as it was at first to suddenly be completely alone, it was very good for me. It shaped my personality. I was discovering ideals; I was discovering why I wanted to do what and how.”
Michael Kiske further explains that the whole process of getting into those fights and arguments with his former bandmates, the feeling of being disappointed with what happened, with the industry, with the business, with the scenes and everything else, was important for him to leave and come back in a more mature way, making peace and moving on.
“When we live, we always look at things from the point of view of the ego and, of course, from our egos, we want certain things. We want success, we want to be beautiful, we want to be healthy, we want the most beautiful women, we just want the things that feed the ego,” he continued. “But we really grow from the suffering we go through. As long as it doesn’t destroy us, we become stronger with the challenges and with all this negative experience I went through, especially during the 90s, I don’t want to lose that. It was very, very important to me. It was very necessary. And I’m very happy that we were able to make peace again and forgive and forget and do something like that together now.”
Last month, the new LP from the reunited, expanded classic lineup of Helloween entered the official album chart in Germany, the band's home country, at number one.
The "Pumpkins United" lineup of Helloween features Kiske, guitarist and vocalist Kai Hansen alongside vocalist Andi Deris , guitarists Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner , bassist Markus Grosskopf , and drummer Daniel Löble .
Produced by Charlie Bauerfeind and Dennis Ward , the new self-titled album was partially recorded at HOME Studios in Hamburg. The same recording console used on Master Of The Rings , Time Of The Oath , and Better Than Raw was used to record the band's new material.
The band's new album shows the power metal legends "returning to their roots." That is, with the band recording entirely analog and Löble playing the drums previously used by the original drummer, the late Ingo Schwichtenberg , on the recording of Keeper Of The Seven Keys.
The “Pumpkins United” tour marked the first time Kiske had performed live with Helloween since 1993. Hansen, who left the band in 1988, joined them on stage for several tours and festival performances over the years.
The group featured several duets with Kiske and his replacement, Deris, along with many rarely performed songs, including “Kids Of The Century”, “Rise And Fall” and “Livin' Ain't No Crime”. Hansen, who was the frontman until the end of 1986, sang a medley of several Helloween classics, including “Ride The Sky”, “Judas”, “Starlight” and “Heavy Metal (Is The Law)”.
The European leg of the tour, “United Alive World Tour Part II”, which was originally scheduled for September and October, will now take place next year.
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