Metal veterans HELLOWEEN have been confirmed as headliners for the Knock Out Festival, which takes place on December 15th in Karlsruhe, Germany. Swiss bashers KROKUS are also on the bill.

Go to the festival's official website for details.

According to Metaltalk.net, Helloween are in talks about reforming the band's classic Keeper Of The Seven Keys-era line-up of Michael Kiske on vocals, Kai Hansen on guitar along with long-time band members guitarist Michael Weikath and bassist Marcus Grosskopf. Drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg took his own life in 1995 so current Helloween drummer Daniel Löble will likely retain his position in the band. The possible reunion is not planned to take place until 2015 and the current line-up of Helloween are in the studio recording an as yet untitled new album.

In a recent update Michael Weikath stated: "Right now we are busy with finalizing the songwriting process and are getting ready to take the accumulated ideas into a final selection for the new record. Everybody in the band is excited and eager to take what we have worked on so far to the next level."

According to a press release, "The new production will again be helmed by long-time producer Charlie Bauerfeind and will of course contain all the trademarks. Already in this early stage the new effort promises to be much more than a fine follow-up to the highly acclaimed Gambling With The Devil and 7 Sinners albums. Bombastic epic pieces have been worked on as well as ultrafast heavy songs and mid-tempo anthems."

Check out video footage of first-day drum recordings at this location.