MICHAEL KISKE Is Happy And At Peace During HELLOWEEN's Historic Reunion: 'You Can Only Write Stories Like This'

By David E. Gehlke

HELLOWEEN's 2017 reunion with vocalist Michael Kiske and guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen, and subsequent joyously successful "Pumpkins United" world tour, followed by their brilliant 2021 self-titled album, is unquestionably one of the best metal stories in recent memory. The reintegration of Kiske and Hansen into the existing lineup of Andi Deris (vocals),Michael Weikath (guitar),Sascha Gerstner (guitar),Markus Grosskopf (bass) and Dani Löble (drums) has been a masterstroke of genius, marking one of the few times a long-standing, highly influential band has been able to blend all of its eras into a single, cohesive lineup with nary a trace of in-fighting. The fact that it took so long for HELLOWEEN to get here is probably not lost on all seven of its members, especially Kiske, whose estrangement from the band since his 1993 departure was considered by many to be a wound too deep to ever heal.

For all intents and purposes, Kiske is now the older and wiser, having shed his bitter anger toward Weikath and found a running partner in his replacement-turned-bandmate and friend, Deris. While there is little debate that Deris is the real hero here — a selfless, ego-devoid leader and prolific songsmith — it is Kiske's return that has reignited HELLOWEEN. Arguably the greatest power metal vocalist of his era, Kiske, now at age 57, still possesses the stratospheric, skyrocketing, uplifting range of yesteryear, which is put to good use across "Giants & Monsters", HELLOWEEN's brand-new studio platter.

Kiske remains one of the best interviewees in the business — an unflappably honest conversationalist who always says what's on his mind. It's something that occasionally got him into trouble during his first stint in HELLOWEEN and only fanned the flames once he was out, but in the here and now, circa 2025, Kiske's candor and excitement were contagious when BLABBERMOUTH.NET got him on the horn.

Blabbermouth: You mentioned during the last press cycle that you didn't write anything for the self-titled album. Where are you now with songwriting?

Michael: "I think I kind of did say, 'It's not needed.' The stuff that I'm writing is not usually very metal. It's just songs. I have a tendency to write songs that can be played with an acoustic guitar. When I was younger, that's when most of the songs from the early records came, and I was still writing metal songs. It's not really the case anymore. There might be something coming up that I think could fit, and I might present it to them and see if they can do something with it. We have six potential songwriters in this band, and this is why there's never a shortage of material. I'm telling you we have already finished the next record. Not recording-wise, but the songs are all there. I was really surprised. I was really happy when I saw the material coming in. There's no need for me to write songs. I could. I might one day, but I don't have to. We always have too many songs anyway."

Blabbermouth: Do you think you'd be able to add something by writing songs? Your songs, whether on the "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" albums or even "Pink Bubbles Go Ape" usually had a different feel to them.

Michael: "When Weiki [Weikath] writes his songs, they sound like him. Kai and Weiki have similarities when they go fast and do the speedy stuff; something like 'March Of Time' and 'Eagle Fly Free' are more related than other stuff. I know what you mean, though. It might happen."

Blabbermouth: If we want to get into speedy songs, "Universe" off the new record is an excellent tune. How easy is it for you to sing those kinds of songs? Is it like riding a bike?"

Michael: "Yes. Pretty much everything Kai writes, I can sing. I guess it's because we grew up with the same kind of bands. I was always massively into JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN and later QUEENSRŸCHE, but I was also into METALLICA. They were really important, especially for the first three records when I was in my 'metal' phase. I was always open to various kinds of music. At the age of 14, I met my friend from school, who got me into metal. I didn't know what it was! I was into THE BEATLES and Elvis [Presley] before. He got me into it. It was the perfect time to get into that type of music because that was the year of 'Screaming For Vengeance' [JUDAS PRIEST] and 'Number Of The Beast' [IRON MAIDEN]. Those classic records that defined the genre. It was a great time to get into that type of music. I had my room at my mother's house, covered with [IRON MAIDEN] Eddie posters, yet I was still listening to Elvis, THE EURYTHMICS, U2, Pat Benatar, and Kate Bush. I was even listening to Barbra Streisand! I loved metal. I loved heavy music, but I didn't need it to be heavy to be moved by a song. I was always like that.

"Kai was always a massive JUDAS PRIEST fan. These types of singers that sing in a certain range, so I can almost always sing their shit. With Weiki, it sometimes works. With Sascha's tracks, it depends. He has his own style, too. 'Universe' took a while. I liked it, but the producer, Charlie [Bauerfeind], was happy much sooner than I was. The chorus is not like 'Eagle Fly Free', where the melody carries you. The melody is so catchy that it works. You can vary in the way you sing it, but it's always going to work. 'Universe' is more static [sings melody]. It needed some drama. I think it took me three attempts until I was happy."

Blabbermouth: You have a ballad, "Into The Sun". What was the catalyst for that kind of duet with Andi? Was it doing "Forever And One" together?

Michael: "I think we're good together anyway. When we sing in unison, it doesn't work. We have completely different rhythms — even our tonality is different. We can sing in unison, but it doesn't really work, and we shouldn't, since I don't think it sounds right. The harmony works! Like, if we do one after the other, that works. Andi had the song for the previous record, and we recorded it, but during production, they changed it too much. They changed the key. I liked all versions because I thought it's a great song — it almost has a James Bond quality, but Andi didn't like it, and we skipped it for the previous record. This time, they made it the way it was meant to be. He wanted it to be a duet, but the text, the lyrics, were almost sexual. You can't sing on a duet because we're not gay. [Laughs] He changed the lyrics to a more spiritual approach, a spiritual kind of love, which is my thing anyway. He had the plan for this to be a duet right from the start. We both sang it completely. There's a version where I did all the vocals, and there's a version where he did all the vocals. I think they will come out sooner or later. It's a great song, but Andi is brilliant anyway. Whatever he does, it always works. He's just really good. They're different, but I rank Andi in terms of his musical skills; I rank him with Kai Hansen. He has the same qualities."

Blabbermouth: People may not realize that during the time you were out of the band, Andi became HELLOWEEN's primary songwriter.

Michael: "If he had not been there, the band would not have existed. The previous band wasn't working anymore. As soon as Kai got out [in 1989], nothing was working. It was a fragile balance between individuals. I don't like to call it 'chemistry,' because it sounds materialistic; we're not chemical processes. I call it 'spiritual.' It's a spiritual energy. When Kai left, it wasn't there anymore. It wasn't working. We were constantly fighting. It was no fun. It's always fun with Kai. If there's one thing that Kai is, he is entertaining. He lives fun. It's all he really cares about. That's helpful in a band, and it's not necessarily just him, but him in the whole thing, together, it was working. To me, it was very necessary to get out of the band, even though it was painful. I needed it; it was suitable for a number of years.

"Andi is a worker. He's a lion from his star sign. He takes control and says, 'We have to do this. We have to do that.' He's a natural leader, and I think that's what the band needed in those days. And they did well. They did some great records, and now I can listen to these things without any bad feelings. I can really say that I love the shit that they did. Not necessarily every song—it's never like that. I think they did really well. What helped the band? I don't know if you agree with me, but I think it's a mistake, and I'm not going to name any other bands, but it's a mistake when you lose the lead singer and get a clone. Someone who sounds exactly like the previous singer. It makes you like a Top 40 or cover band. It's never good. Look at VAN HALEN: They had Sammy Hagar coming in. He was perfect since he wasn't like David Lee Roth. He was his own beast. Any band that loses a singer, it's never a good choice to take someone who sounds like the previous singer. He's going to be a clone. Get an original. And that worked with HELLOWEEN. Andi has his own style of songwriting, and that's why we're still here today."

Blabbermouth: To some degree, you and HELLOWEEN were both trying just to make it through the 1990s. They released some seriously good albums, and you went solo.

Michael: "Yeah, but I didn't care about anything. I did these records because record companies were asking me. I did them, and I'm not saying I didn't concentrate on them, but I think it was half-hearted. My heart wasn't there. It was not the same drive that I had when I joined HELLOWEEN. It was important to learn, and some of the songs were nice, but I'm kind of happy to be back in the band. Not just kinda. I'm happy I'm back in the band. It's better. So much better."

Blabbermouth: Back to when Kai left: HELLOWEEN blew up so quickly after "Keeper I". Then you got new management…

Michael: "Don't forget about the record company."

Blabbermouth: Sure. Your relationship with Noise Records didn't help. There are interviews with you stating to the effect that, "If Noise wins this court case, I'm going to quit the band."

Michael: "Oh yeah. They didn't win, but we renegotiated. [Author's note: HELLOWEEN attempted to break their Noise Records deal in 1989 by signing with EMI. Noise sued for breach of contract, and the case went to court throughout 1990 and 1991. The case was settled in 1991 with a significant sum awarded to Noise, allowing HELLOWEEN to sign exclusively with EMI.] That's his karma [referring to Noise owner/founder Karl-Ulrich Walterbach]. I don't care anymore. I was able to get all of that off my chest. I know there's justice. Everything we send out comes back. Whether it's love, hatred, humanity, inhumanity, whatever you send out, it comes back to you. It's how you learn. We experience everything we do."

Blabbermouth: The spiritual side of HELLOWEEN has always been there, from you, Weiki, and Andi.

Michael: "Even Kai. Deep down, he's spiritual, but he lives the opposite. He lives a completely hedonistic lifestyle. That's not spirituality; he doesn't know what it is. He believes he does, but when you listen to the early lyrics, they were idealistic, like 'March Of Time'."

Blabbermouth: "I'm Alive".

Michael: "That's a positive lyric. And 'March Of Time' deals with reincarnation a little bit. I'm not sure, but he had these kinds of lyrics when he was younger."

Blabbermouth: How important has that element become within HELLOWEEN? You've been outspoken about this: The metal scene has always been very dark, and HELLOWEEN went the other way.

Michael: One of the things I have to say is that it wasn't intentional. Also, on this record, it almost seems like there's a theme. We disagreed on it, though. It was just the songwriter's writing lyrics, and it turned out to be that way. We didn't plan it to be this way. Then we did an old-fashioned listening session where we invited journalists into the studio where they were mixing it. Afterward, we conducted interviews, including a few with everybody in the room. Then, that's when the questions came about the lyrics. That's when we discovered it's interesting that all of the lyrics have this side of supernatural, spiritual subject matter. That was not intentional! Everybody is kind of interested in it. Maybe it's also the times we're in. Very difficult times where you think about meanings and maybe also think it's necessary, which I always thought, to build yourself a spiritual backbone and not be so dependent on the insanity on the outside. I'm not talking about religions. That's a different story. They enslave you. I'm talking spirituality, which makes you stronger, which gives you a connection to God or whatever you want to call it. It strengthens your character and makes you independent and freer. The spirit sets you free; religions enslave. Maybe that's why many people have that desire to look into these, especially in times like ours, where everything seems to be insecure. We're not sure if we'll have war again in Europe, with Russia and Putin going nuts and things like that. I think that's part of it. We are all children of our time, and we are all influenced by what happens. Every record is always a reflection of the mood and the time you're in as a band."

Blabbermouth: You've spoken about your connection to Andi, but what about Dani and Sascha? Did you know them before you rejoined?

Michael: "They were total strangers. I didn't know Andi either! That was the first thing. Jan [Bayati], who is the manager of HELLOWEEN, was very careful, and it's a good way of doing it. We didn't rush anything. We didn't make anything public. It was an idea that came up because I said I'm open to it. When I made this statement, Kosta [Zafiriou] mentioned it in the office, then Jan called me: 'How serious are you? This would be a great thing to do.' It took almost two years to finally decide to do it because he was putting me on a plane to Tenerife. I spent two weeks, every day, with Andi. We'd sit in restaurants, eating well and talking, just to get to know each other. [Kosta] said, 'If you guys don't get along, it won't work. It makes no sense.' We're great. It's almost like I knew Andi. I'm not making this up: People, when they want to sell records, tend to glorify things, 'This is the greatest producer I've ever worked with.' Or 'This is the best song we've written.' I'm not doing that crap, but I almost felt like I knew him. There was this connection. You can ask him that. After a couple of days, we were sitting in his studio, and quickly, we went spiritual, because he has that vein and his wife especially. He said to me, 'You are either mirroring my wife or I know you from a previous life.' That was the connection. I think this is part of why this works. How we were about to get the two faces of the band and the different audiences together…it works. People can see this is not a set-up for money. People can see that we like each other. My only explanation for why it's so successful is that this is more successful than we've ever been."

Blabbermouth: It's almost unprecedented.

Michael: "I don't even recall any band doing this. I heard VAN HALEN was trying with both singers, and it didn't work. It is quite unusual because usually one goes and the other comes back. Now we're doing it all together, and we can cover all the times. Kai can sing his stuff — Andi and I. We can switch things around. We can do anything we want to do, which makes life interesting. It's just a bigger party. It's kind of a very positive message that you can fight, you can argue, you can hate each other, you can go through bad times, but you can forgive, and it can work out. It's not fake. Weiki hurt me a lot in my younger years. I hated him. I'm not going to lie. Now, I love him. I forgave him, and we forgave each other. It's so healing. It's so amazing when it happens. You can only write stories like this. I believe in the spirit, like I said earlier. If the attitude is right, if the intentions are pure and if it's honest and has a quality, that works. People are not dumb; they can sense it. They can sense whether something is real. You may fake something for a while, and you might be able to fool them for maybe one or two years, but if something is not real, it's going to show sooner or later."

Blabbermouth: Lots of credit, again, should go to Andi here. It's a totally selfless move by him to be cool with all of this happening.

Michael: "He's a lion. They want to be in the center. They are naturally the ones who want to be in the center. It shows character. He was one of the main forces behind it. He even said it years earlier in interviews. I was kind of confused. 'What's he talking about? I'm never going to rejoin this band!' I guess he was also tired of having to sing these songs."

Blabbermouth: He said that quite often — singing your material was difficult.

Michael: "I can't sing the stuff he does either. I could, but it wouldn't sound right. He has his own kind of quality. He has this shouting quality, and this is why anything that has hooks and these almost KISS-like choruses, I can do them, but I'm better at other stuff. I'm quite good when it gets more theatrical."

Blabbermouth: It's gone beyond anyone's expectations, hasn't it?

Michael: "Yeah, and I didn't allow myself to have any. I wanted to make peace with everyone. We did these contracts until the end of 2018. It was only for touring. The plan was to make one long 'Pumpkins United' tour. We did that in case things didn't work, and everyone is free to go without any hassle or legal shit going down. Then, since everything worked out so well, we were all so excited and happy, we decided to make a record. We did that. Now, we're in a phase where it is open-ended. As long as it feels so good and feels right, we will continue, especially now that the creative side is so great."

Photo credit: Mathias Bothor