Check out the brand new Polls page! Vote for your favorite Helloween album and much more! As you can see, a lot of work is being done to this page. I added new buttons in the left frame for navigation and Deron (thanks man!) has provided me with the awesome Steel Tormentor logo on the front page. In addition, the Lyrics page has a new format as does the Concert Reviews and the Other Metal Links sections.
The Dark Ride lyrics are finished. Click here to check 'em out!
The Dark Ride section has been updated greatly. Click here to check it out!
The HELLOWEEN STORE has been opened! This is your source for full-length albums, singles, videos, and even t-shirts. Click here to enter the store!
Well, since The Dark Ride was released the news has pretty much died down. However, on a personal note, I have finally gotten my own radio show. It's at a horrible time but for those of you who are up late or who are the west coast, its every Sunday/early Monday at 2 a.m. EST on WUSR Scranton. The address is www.uofs.edu/wusrlive.ra. I put on my first show tonight so I created a little section for my show with the list of songs that were played. Click here for that. Thanks to everyone for their support!
I have made an incredible discovery as I was browsing the web. A Helloween radio station on the internet! I have added a link for it on the left column so everyone can check out this fantastic station.
The Keepers Of Jericho tracklisting has been officially announced:
1. "Guardians" - Rhapsody
2. "I Want Out" - Sonata Arctica
3. "A Little Time" - Heaven's Gate
4. "Ride The Sky" - Metallium
5. "I'm Alive" - Luca Turilli
6. "Judas" - Morifade
7. "Eagle Fly Free" - Vision Divine
8. "Savage" - Brainstorm
9. "Future World" - Labyrinth
10. "Save Us" - Cydonia
11. "Victim Of Fate" - Squealer
12. "Halloween" - Dark Moor
13. "How Many Tears" - Secret Sphere
For those who are still eagerly awaiting the Helloween tribute, here is the album cover so there is some proof that it actually is coming soon!
The Dark Ride has been released in Europe and Japan. I am awaiting the special limited edition box set to arrive from Alta Mira. It should be out in about two weeks and includes The Dark Ride album (Shaped Disc), Dark Pumpkin Mousepad, Dark Pumpkin (logo) metal lighter, key holder, 5 color photo cards, and PVC sticker with Helloween logo.
There have been updates here and there although nothing has been reported. Slowly but surely, I hope this site will be totally complete with all lyrics and every bit of info I plan on including by Christmas time. Thanks again for everyone's support.
Added information for the "Mr. Torture" single in the Dark Ride section.
Lyrics for The Dark Ride ("If I Could Fly" and "Deliver Us From Temptation") have been added to the Lyrics section.
I have added some new exclusive tracks to the Multimedia section: Live versions of "Mankind" and "Ride The Sky" from 1995. These are very rare because they have Andi Deris on vocals during the Master Of The Rings tour singing songs that are rarely played live anymore. An unreleased rare demo called "White Christmas" has also been added. It is quite strange to say the least. "Sea Of Fears" was the original version of "How Many Tears" performed in 1983 by Michael Weikath's high school band. (Special thanks to the official site for that link).
Finally, a true gem. "Reach Out For The Light" is a clip from Tobi Sammet's forthcoming Avantasia album. Why is that such a big deal? Because Michael Kiske is doing guest vocals on this clip. I will admit that hearing his voice again gave me goosebumps.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been coming to this site. Last week I checked my FastCounter stats and this site got 149 hits. If that wasn't enough, I have 167 hits so far this week and that doesn't even count today's (the last day of the week). So, thanks again and please leave some feedback whether positive or negative. Send an email or sign the guestbook. Feel free also to send an instant message to "Steel Tormentor" if you have AOL or Instant Messenger.
Since opening the new Lyrics page, I have been working hard, typing up the lyrics to the albums I haven't done yet. The Master Of The Rings lyrics have been added. Check that out on the lyrics page!
Yet another update! I have acquired a few soundclips from The Dark Ride. Check out the Multimedia section to hear clips of "Mr. Torture", "All Over The Nations", "Mirror, Mirror...", and "If I Could Fly". Special thanks to Barcode and Nuclear Blast Germany for these soundclips.
I continue to be hard at work adding new aspects to this site. Today I have added a Lyrics section so that you can access the lyrics directly. So far, I have posted lyrics from Metal Jukebox, Better Than Raw, The Time Of The Oath, and Pink Bubbles Go Ape. All the lyrics have been typed out by me and I have included all the b-sides and bonus tracks.
I have added a new section called Multimedia. A lot more will be added soon. Go there to check out a soundclip from the forthcoming album, The Dark Ride.
Finally,The Dark Ride tracklisting has been announced. Check out the newly added Dark Ride section for this and info for the new single. Much more info to come in the near future. Album is still to be released on October 30. A U.S. release will probably not be seen until 2001. The Japanese single will be "Mr. Torture" and should have the same tracks as the "If I Could Fly" single.
There has been some updates on the "History" and "The Band" sections so that are definitely worth checking out.
Tobi Sammet's "Avantasia" side project is due out for a late January release. Click here to hear a soundclip on the song, "Reach Out For The Light". Why am I offering this clip? Because our good friend MICHAEL KISKE has returned to action! Listen to hear Michi return to the world of metal.
Here's an exclusive straight from Nuclear Blast, the cover art for Helloween's upcoming album, The Dark Ride:
Hey everyone, this last month has been very hectic as I am preparing for college and my family is moving as well so here is a big update! Here are the announced track names for the new album, The Dark Ride:
Behind The Portal (Deris)
The Dark Ride (Grapow)
Escalation 666 (Grapow)
The Departed Sun is Going Down (Kusch)
Mr. Torture (Kusch)
Immortal (Deris)
Mirror Mirror On The Wall (Deris)
Salvation (Weikath)
All Over The Nations (Weikath)
If I Could Fly (Deris)
I Live For Your Pain (Deris)
Deliver Us From Temptation (Grosskopf)
The Madness of The Crowds (Deris)
We Damn The Night (Deris)
"Behind The Portal" has been announced as the intro to the album and it has also been announced that all tracks will not be used for the new album. A couple of them will be used as b-sides and bonus tracks. The single for Europe and Japan will be "If I Could Fly" and the single for here in the States (if there is one) will be "Mirror Mirror On The Wall". Nuclear Blast has listed the single for a September 4th release and the tracks will include "If I Could Fly" (single version), "Deliver Us From Temptation", and "If I Could Fly" (album version). The band will also record a video for the song "If I Could Fly".
Spitfire Records will be releasing the previously unavailable I Want Out - Live that was originally released here in the States in 1989. It will be available on September 19th.
On Tobi Sammet's "Avantasia" solo project, one of the guest singers is listed as "Ernie". Direct from the official Avantasia website: "ERNIE, you have definitely heard about and - if you like excellent singers - you definitely will be impressed by hearing him again. Well, not only impressed: YOU WILL SHED TEARS OF JOY! At least I did so because it was a dream of mine to write some vocal lines for him..." I haven't heard anything definite but it is safe to say that "Ernie" is none other than Michael Kiske! This should prove to be very interesting...
And now, the moment we've all been waiting for ... A title (and release dates) for the new album and the first single! Direct from the Nuclear Blast website ... "Helloween are mixing at the moment their first album for Nuclear Blast in Teneriffe/Spain with Producer Rob Z and engineer Charly Bauernfeind. The first single "If I Could Fly" will be released on Sept 4th followed by the full album The Dark Ride on Oct 30th." Plus, from the official site, it has been reported that all 16 tracks for The Dark Ride have been recorded. About 12 or 13 will make it to the album while the rest will remain b-sides or bonus tracks. Andi Deris is just finishing up on the vocals and the mixing is expected to take about two to four weeks.
I have returned! Big news update right here, right now! From the official site, "The band has completed 16 tracks for the upcoming album. Andi Deris has recorded vocals on two of these tracks so far. The lyrics for all of the songs are not finished but will be soon. The band is looking to get out of the studio around July to mid-August. There are some album title ideas and theme ideas in mind but none of them have been decided upon as of yet, so they will not be revealed until one is decided upon."
Two exclusive interviews have been posted on the official site. First, an interview with former vocalist Michael Kiske and secondly, an interview with guitarist Michael Weikath. Click here to see the official interview page.
At Alta Mira, you can now preorder a Helloween mini album listed for release in August and the Helloween tribute is due out for October. The tribute is now entitled The Keepers of Jericho simply because the covers consist of tracks from Walls of Jericho and the Keeper albums. Scroll down for tracklisting.
Finally in Gamma Ray news, their new album, Blast from the Past is looking at a July 4th U.S. release. Tracklisting on this double CD set are as follows:
Disc One
(1) Welcome
(2) Lust For Life
(3) Heaven Can Wait
(4) Heading For Tomorrow
(5) Changes
(6) One With The World
(7)Dream Healer
(8)Tribute To The Past
(9)Last Before The Storm
(10) Heal Me
Disc Two
(1) Rebellion In Dreamland
(2) Man On A Mission
(3) Land Of The Free
(4) The Silence
(5) Beyond The Black Hole
(6) Somewhere Out In Space
(7) Valley Of The Kings
(8) Anywhere In The Galaxy
(9) Send Me A Sign
(10) Armageddon
The whole first disc and the first three tracks on the second disc have all been redone with the current lineup so this album is a definite must-buy for all Gamma Ray fans.
As of now, the band is rehearsing songs for the next album, and collecting and combining ideas. They plan on going into the studio sometime this month to record the new album. Recordings will probably end around late May then the album will be mixed. The album should be out around September. The producers of the next album will be Roy Z (Bruce Dickinson, Tribe of Gypsies) and Charlie Bauerfeind.
An exclusive interview with Markus Grosskopf has been posted on the official site. He stated that a title and most of the song titles for the upcoming album have not been named yet. Regarding the sound: "Well yeah, I mean we always have like 5 or 6 tracks that many people would expect from Helloween. Like the typical twin guitar stuff, big choirs, huge chorus stuff and very big stuff like this. We also like to fool around and do some different stuff like we always have, messing around with different rhythms and stuff like this, to make it a bit more different to the other stuff, because we don't want to have a record from top to bottom sounding the same you know?" Also, Markus stated: "We have had an idea for years to release a sort of best-of album called A's and B's which would have all of the tracks we released on singles and all of the b-sides as well but this will be on hold for now because we just released Metal Jukebox and I do not think its good to release that and then release another album with stuff we already put out before. This type of thing would be best released after the next Helloween album or the album after it." Click here to check out the entire interview.
Here is some exclusive, truly exciting news for Helloween fans everywhere! LoudRadio.com has reported that a Helloween tribute album is in the works at Arise Records in Spain. The following bands and tracks are confirmed for this tribute which will be released in October. Get ready to soil your pants!
RHAPSODY - 'Guardians'
LUCA TURILLI - 'I'm Alive'
VISION DIVINE - 'Eagle Fly Free'
LABYRINTH - 'Future World'
DARK MOOR - 'Halloween'
METALLIUM - 'Ride The Sky'
SKYLARK - 'Twilight Of The Gods'
HEAVEN'S GATE - 'A Little Time'
MORIFADE - 'Judas'
SONATA ARCTICA - 'I Want Out'
TWILIGHT - 'Starlight'
Ok, the Dream Theater concert review is now up in the Concert Review section. Hope you enjoy it!
There is an exclusive Roland Grapow interview at the official site! Check it out by clicking here!
There is going to be some mass updating around here very soon. I plan on finishing all the lyrics and adding more information to The Band and Former Members sections.
In non-Helloween related news, I just recently attended a Dream Theater show in New York City. There will be exclusive pictures and a review up soon! Stay tuned!
EXCLUSIVE NEWS: From Nuclear Blast's official website: "Nuclear Blast Records are proud to announce two new siginings - we welcome HELLOWEEN and SKYCLAD. New albums will be recorded and released this year !" There you have it, Helloween's label problems seem to be fading away!
The official site has an exclusive track from back in 1983 of Michael Weikath's school band performing "Sea of Fears" now known as "How Many Tears". Click here to download it! Keep in mind this is property of the official site.
Tony Webster of the official site will be conducting an exclusive interview with Roland Grapow in the near future. Click here to email him with your questions to Roland.
As of now, the band is putting their songwriting ideas for the next album onto tape. So far the songwriting is coming along pretty well. All of the members are writing songs for this coming album. Each member of the band will use around two or three songs for the next album. The leftovers will either be b-sides or for solo projects.
Good news from the Official Site ... transcripts of all the interviews are now available. Click here to check 'em out.
It was reported that Sanctuary Records would be releasing Pink Bubbles Go Ape and Chameleon here in the States on February 26th, but it seems they currently has them available for order right now. Also from Sanctuary, Markus Grosskopf's side project "Shockmaster" and Uli Kusch's Rainbow tribute "Catch the Rainbow" are both on preorder and are due out March 7th. It's nice to see a record label here in the States finally distribute stuff we would normally have to import. Click here to order any of these albums from CDnow.
On a personal note, I've updated the Personal Info section, the Shout-Outs, and I've finally put up the Other Links page! Check it out!
Hey everyone! Happy new year and welcome to the year 2000! Over at the official site, all the interviews have been finished so click here to go take a peek.
The band will hit the studio sometime in February with a brand new production team. More info coming soon!
Weiki is currently working on his solo project. His band consists of Uli Kusch on drums, Ferdy Doernberg on keys, and hopefully Ralf "Fummel" Maurer (background vocalist for both Deris albums and Better Than Raw).
Markus has been writing some material for the next Helloween album. The Shockmachine album will be released on January 28, 2000 and released here in the States on March 7, 2000. On that same day, Uli's Rainbow tribute will be released in the States as well.