A special treat for everybody on Halloween. Clips from the upcoming second Helloween tribute album have been released on Arise Records' MP3 page. Click here to check 'em out.
Information on the second Helloween tribute album from Spain's Arise Records has been posted online. Check it out here...
The site's redesign has finally been completed. We hope you enjoy the new and improved Future World.
From Nuclear Blast: "Helloween have finally confirmed, via the band's official webmaster, the addition of former Freedom Call guitarist Sascha Gerstner to the group's ranks. Gerstner replaces Roland Grapow, who was dismissed from the band last year. Helloween are said to be nearly done with the pre-recording process for their much-anticipated new album at singer Andi Deris' studio Mi Sueno in Tenerife, Spain. A spring 2003 release is expected."
We have been informed that right before the official message board went down, there was a post confirming that Sascha Gerstner is officially the new guitarist for Helloween.
Also, we're going to be doing some updating to some of the sections of this site that have become outdated so keep an eye out.
From Metal Heart:
"Helloween are strongly rumored to have selected former Freedom Call guitarist Sascha Gerstner to replace Roland Grapow, who was dismissed from the band last year. The band's revamped line-up is expected to head over to singer Andi Deris' studio Mi Sueño in Tenerife, Spain to begin recording their new album, due in early 2003."
Also we'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has revitalized the Your Turn message board. It's great to see everybody conversing here once again.
Finally, Helloween has been picked up by a U.S. label. Nuclear Blast America has signed Helloween to their domestic label and will be finally releasing The Dark Ride in the United States on June 25th. This release will include a bonus disc. No announcement has been released regarding what the bonus disc will contain, although it can be assumed that the bonus disc will in fact be the If I Could Fly single.
Also, Henjo Richter has decided to stay with Gamma Ray and not join Helloween at the present time. The search for Roland Grapow's replacement continues on...
Today's issue of Detrius reports that "later this year, Sanctuary Records Group will be releasing a DVD version of Helloween's 'High Live' performance. Previously, Sanctuary has re-issued the rare albums 'Pink Bubbles Go Ape' and 'Chameleon', as well as 'Master Of The Rings', 'Better Than Raw', 'Metal Jukebox' and special deluxe packaging for 'The Time Of The Oath' and 'High Live'."
The Helloween store has been reopened. Click here to check it out!
Another edition of Treasure Chest has been added to CDnow.com and Amazon.com for preorder. This item is listed as "Best Of (Limited Edition)" and apparently is the Japanese import version.
Good news for all the American fans out there. Treasure Chest is available as a domestic preorder at both Amazon.com and CDnow.com for a April 9th release.
An article from the Sanctuary Records website regarding Treasure Chest has been added to the Magazine Rack section.
The Treasure Chest album has been added to the Discography section. It will be continually updated as we gather more information on this upcoming release.
Here is the cover art for the upcoming Treasure Chest album:
Coming off the successful release of the Helloween tribute, The Keepers Of Jericho, Spanish label Arise Records is now working on a second Helloween tribute to be released in December of this year. Covers of "Starlight," "Dr. Stein," "Rise And Fall," "March Of Time," Sole Survivor," and "Twilight Of The Gods" have already been confirmed.
Currently, the official release date for Treasure Chest is April 1st. It has been revealed that some special edition Treasure Chest releases in Europe and Japan will include a third bonus disk with a handful of b-sides. Here is the third disk's tracklisting:
1. Shit And Lobster (Grosskopf)
2. Oriental Journey (Grapow)
3. I Don't Care, You Don't Care (Weikath)
4. Ain't Got Nothing Better (Grosskopf)
5. Moshi Moshi - Shiki No Uta (Kusch/Grapow/Araki)
6. Can't Fight Your Desire (Deris)
7. Star Invasion (Weikath/Deris)
8. Silicon Dreams (Grosskopf)
9. Grapowski's Malmsuite 1001 (Grapow)
10. Electric Eye (Tipton/Halford/Downing)
11. A Game We Shouldn't Play (Deris)
There are two exclusive interviews on the official site with Michael Weikath and Roland Grapow. Some interesting tidbits... Weiki revealed that he has been trying to lure Gamma Ray guitarist Henjo Richter into leaving the band and joining Helloween. He is still awaiting Henjo's decision. The band will return to the studio in July if the guitarist situation is settled. There will be no re-recorded tracks on Treasure Chest. The band hopes to see The Dark Ride released in the U.S. on Nuclear Blast America in the near future. Click here to see the interviews in their entirety.
As you can see, news has been a little slow. However, we have a huge update for everybody. The first order of the business is the upcoming greatest hits album now entitled Treasure Chest.
The official tracklisting has been revealed to be:
Disc One
1. Mr. Torture (Kusch)
2. I Can (Weikath/Deris)
3. Power (Weikath)
4. Where The Rain Grows (Weikath/Deris)
5. Eagle Fly Free (Weikath)
6. Future World (Hansen)
7. Metal Invaders (Hansen)
8. Murderer (Hansen)
9. Starlight (Weikath/Hansen)
10. How Many Tears (Weikath)
11. Ride The Sky (Hansen)
12. Halloween (Hansen)
13. A Little Time (Kiske)
14. A Tale That Wasn't Right (Weikath)
15. I Want Out (Hansen)
Disc Two
1. Keeper Of The Seven Keys (Weikath)
2. Dr. Stein (Weikath)
3. The Chance (Grapow)
4. Windmill (Weikath)
5. Sole Survivor (Weikath/Deris)
6. Perfect Gentleman (Deris/Weikath)
7. In The Middle Of A Heartbeat (Deris/Weikath)
8. Kings Will Be Kings (Weikath)
9. The Time Of The Oath (Grapow/Deris)
10. Forever And One (Neverland) (Deris)
11. Midnight Sun (Weikath)
12. Mr. Ego (Take Me Down) (Grapow)
13. Immortal (Deris)
14. Mirror Mirror (Deris)
According to the official site, this cd will have a lot of special packaging and all the tracks will have remixed and remastered to modern standards. The album is slated for a March 18th release on Amazon.com's UK website.
As far as the new guitarist goes, there is still no word on who will be Roland Grapow's successor. However, I have heard from a good source that the announcement will be made relatively soon. We will post any updated information as it becomes available to us.
As far as Roland Grapow and Uli Kusch's band is concerned, there has been some interesting developments as of late. The band has decided on the name Masterplan and also have decided to replace Russell Allen of Symphony X with Jorn Lande, a Norwegian vocalist from the band Ark. This decision was based on a couple of factors. One being that Masterplan is no longer a side project and now a full-fledged band. Russell Allen couldn't commit to the band as a full-time singer so the band went after Jorn Lande. The Roland Grapow Kaleidoscope website stated, "His style is different than the traditional power metal high-pitched voice and more progressive-oriented, which is favorable to Roland's decision of not copying the Helloween style anymore." There is no record deal as of now because the band is looking to finish production before looking for a label. The album is being recorded at Crazy Cat Studio in Hamburg, Germany, and Michael Kiske will in fact be doing a guest vocal track with Jorn. The album is looking at a possible June release.