ANDI DERIS Says It 'Would Be A Crime' If Reunited Expanded Lineup Of HELLOWEEN Didn't Make Another Studio Album

HELLOWEEN singer Andi Deris was asked in a new interview with the "Metal Command" podcast if he thinks the reunited expanded classic lineup of the German power metal band will eventually make another album to follow up last year's acclaimed self-titled effort. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I would strongly hope so. I mean, as long as the vibe is great, chemistry is great and everybody's having fun with each other, it would be a crime not to do so and not to plan for a future together.

"'Pumpkins United' is not only the name for the last tour, I think that's something like a brand," he continued. "HELLOWEEN 'Pumpkins United', that's something like a band — a new or something like [that] growing from the old band."

Regarding how HELLOWEEN has managed to pull off the seemingly impossible by uniting returning singer Michael Kiske and guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen with Deris, guitarists Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner, bassist Markus Grosskopf and drummer Daniel Löble, Andi said: "I just can tell you getting along with each other, I think it's rooted in the matter of fact that we're finally too old for the other shit. [Laughs] From a certain age on, you let other people live and you don't take everything personal. Talking for [myself], whenever somebody told me something that could be looked at in a negative way, I took it the negative way. Even though when you look at it from the positive side of you, you could say, 'Well, man, maybe it was even a compliment, because have you seen it from that side?' 'No.' That's what happens when you're getting older — you don't take everything on the negative side: 'Oh, he's attacking me' or 'he's meaning bad' or 'he's meaning to annihilate you or intimidate you' or whatever. Everybody in the band, even together now with seven people, I have to say everybody is old enough to not always look at it from the negative [point of view] but also try to realize who's talking. So I cannot imagine that the boys are meaning bad if they speak about me in a sense that I could take negatively, but because I like everybody, I personally think, 'Well, I don't think they're talking negatively.' So I try to find the sense in a positive way, and most of the time — 99.9 percent [of the time] — it's exactly that. It's nothing negative; it's positive. But back in the day, everything I took was negative — when I was in my 20s and 30s. Then when you get [to] 40, it's getting better. [Laughs] Or maybe it's just you don't give a shit anymore."

Upon its release last June, "Helloween" landed in the Top 10 in more than 10 countries, including Germany, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria. The cover artwork for the LP was painted by artist Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with HATEBREED, SOULFLY, TESTAMENT, ICED EARTH and SODOM, among others.

Produced by Charlie Bauerfeind and Dennis Ward, the latest HELLOWEEN LP was recorded in part at the H.O.M.E. Studios in Hamburg (where everything started in 1984). The same recording console used for such HELLOWEEN albums as "Master Of The Rings", "Time Of The Oath" and "Better Than Raw" was utilized to record the band's new material. The effort was mixed at the Valhalla Studios of Ronald Prent (IRON MAIDEN, DEF LEPPARD, RAMMSTEIN).

"Helloween" saw the legendary German power metallers going "back to the roots," with the band recording fully analogue and Löble playing the drum kit previously used by HELLOWEEN's original drummer, the late Ingo Schwichtenberg, on the legendary "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" recordings.

The "Pumpkins United" tour marked the first time Kiske had played live with HELLOWEEN since 1993. Hansen, who departed HELLOWEEN in 1988, had been joining the band onstage on various tours and festival appearances throughout the years. The set featured several duets with Kiske and his replacement, Deris, along with many rarely played songs, including "Kids Of The Century", "Rise And Fall" and "Livin' Ain't No Crime". Hansen — who fronted HELLOWEEN until late 1986 — sang a medley of several early HELLOWEEN classics, including "Ride The Sky", "Judas", "Starlight" and "Heavy Metal (Is The Law)".

HELLOWEEN's European "United Alive World Tour Part II", which was originally scheduled to take place in September and October 2021 will now take place later this year.