June 2021 saw the release of Helloween's new self-titled studio album. Media and critics were cheering almost breathlessly, but the fans were the ones who catapulted the album straight to #1 in Germany and Spain, into the Top 5 of seven countries and worldwide 15 times into the best of the year album charts. Everybody was united in their opinion: these 12 tracks generated their own genre universe and leave all competitors behind, even after 35 years of band history.

Vocalist Michael Kiske spoke with Radio Futuro about the success of the album, and what it was like sharing vocal duties with Andi Deris and Kai Hansen for the recordings.

Kiske: "You always try to make the best out of every song, and obviously the spirit within the band is very good, which helps, but you never know how people hear it. So the best thing you can do is fade it all out, not think about it, and just try to make every song exciting for yourself; that's the best thing you can do. The less you think about success or how critics might see it, the better for the album. It's not easy, but you've gotta have that discipline to kind of fade it out and not let it get to you. I was surprised how well it was received, but, of course, it was a very welcome motivation, especially last year. We released it right in the middle of the whole pandemic crap, and that was a positive lift, doing the interviews and seeing how people reacted to it.

As a special treat for all vinyl collectors, various Helloween back catalogue albums but also a few new variants of their now "golden" self-titled record will be released by Atomic Fire on September 30, and can be pre-ordered here.

Find Helloween's tour itinerary and ticket links here.

"Fear Of The Fallen"

"Best Time"

(Photo - Martin Häusler)