ANDI DERIS Says Next HELLOWEEN Album Will Be 'More Happy', 'Confident' And 'Much More Easy Listening' Than Self-Titled LP

Earlier this year, the reunited expanded classic lineup of German power metallers HELLOWEEN signed with Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM) for the release of their next studio album. The band entered the studio this past summer to begin work on the follow-up to 2021's acclaimed self-titled effort, with plans to issue the LP in 2025.

Asked in a new interview with Tony Webster of The Metal Command how the material for HELLOWEEN's next album compares to that on "Helloween", vocalist Andi Deris said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'd say it's much more easy listening, because there's less constructed stuff on it. It's more flowing with the wind, so to say. It's very, very positive, so I would rather say it's more happy, happy HELLOWEEN than the other album. I think it's a bit more… yeah, the flow is, for my taste, not as edgy as the last album, which was cool — I like edgy stuff — but we should have more or less some counterpart to edgy, more exhausting things. The last album, for me, was great to listen through — it was edgy, it was heavy, it was complicated here and there — but after listening to it, then I needed a pause. It was exhausting. After [listening to 'Helloween'], I needed some break, put it that way. I loved it, and I still love it, but it's demanding. I think the next album will be much more easy listening, I think much more enjoyable to sing along [to]; there are lots of parts in there. So I would rather describe it as a more happy, happy HELLOWEEN album. That would be the best description."

Andi continued: "It's hard to describe, because there are lots of speedy and heavy things on it. But when I listen through it, I feel good. I mean, that's a good sign. Not that I felt bad when I listened to the last album — that's not what I mean. It's fun. I listen to it, and it's fun. Definitely."

Regarding what he and his HELLOWEEN bandmates learned from the making of "Helloween" that they improved upon this time around, Andi said: "Yeah, I think the main keyword would be confidence. The last album, we had to get to know each other in that new setup, lineup, how to work with [each other], how to work here and blah, blah, blah, and this time we just realized, okay, actually everybody has such great ideas; just don't control each other. We don't need to actually stick in a studio for pre-production for two months because everybody did it for himself. Let's just listen to it and say, 'Wow, cool.' So this time we've been some lazy backs, actually, and just said, you know, pre-production we just do ourselves back at home, everybody in his own studio, and we just take the technique we are given. Internet is great, and you can have live sessions online, and that made life so much easier because everybody is just relieved that you [are] still at home. You still work hard, but you're at home. And as we all know, when you're at home, work doesn't hurt that much as being back in the studio again somewhere in the world, but not with your family. And nowadays you can actually have your family life, you have your eight, nine hours per day in the studio, you yourself decide when you make a break or when you go and have a meal with your lady or go down to the beach, in my case. That makes life so much easier and much more enjoyable than sitting in a fricking studio again and again and again, each and every day for two months, just for a pre-production, which you could easily do at home together. So this time, I have to say there's confidence that we earned for each other that helped a lot to make things even more easygoing. And I think that's exactly what you listen, when you go through the songs and you listen to them — you feel that easiness: 'Wow. Wow. Okay, cool.' I love it. So that's the way to go."

He then clarified: "I don't wanna say that I want to be back at home when I'm on tour. So I hate the idea of laser shows or something like that. As long as I can walk, I want to be on stage. But production-wise, I have to say I love the technique we have nowadays."

Regarding how HELLOWEEN has managed to pull off the seemingly impossible by keeping all seven members of the band happy — returning singer Michael Kiske and guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen along with Deris, guitarists Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner, bassist Markus Grosskopf and drummer Daniel Löble — Andi said: "I think the only thing you need to accept [is] that you are different people. I think that's the main problem we had back in the days because everybody actually expected the other to be and react and have the same opinion [as] yourself. And when you are realizing, okay, we are all different people, so you have to accept that everybody probably has a different point of view, at least a millimeter to the left or millimeter to right. And you have to sit down and actually find a compromise. If you accept that everybody is different, that's not a bad thing. You just have to accept that you yourself may fail here and there, and maybe the other one is right. And when you're getting older, you have decades of comparisons, and you realize, 'Okay, here I fucked up, there I fucked up, here I wasn't right, here I wasn't right.' You need that experience, and when you have that, you are a little bit more humble, because you know you did things wrong or you know you haven't been right back in the days here and there and blah, blah, blah. So, if you take that at a base, everything works out fine. And you just sit down with that knowledge and try to find a solution, which is good enough for all here in the room. And, yeah, that went down super the last few years, I mean, no problem at all. Even if somebody was pissed off, completely pissed off for whatever reason, again, that somebody did not react like he did back in the days, like with aggression or something like that, but in normal words and said, 'Hey, I have a little problem here. You said this and that and blah, blah, blah. And how did you mean that?' And then here comes the explanation and you go, like, 'Oh, okay, all good. Thanks.'"

Upon its release in June 2021, "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 last 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 analog 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.

HELLOWEEN will release a new live album, "Live At Budokan", on December 13, 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM). The colossal effort immortalizes HELLOWEEN's September 16, 2023 performance at Tokyo's legendary Nippon Budokan.

"Live At Budokan" will be available in a plethora of formats: 2CD-digipak and 3LP vinyl in trifold with the first print run of both coming as "deluxe edition" including embossed cover artwork, as well as Blu-ray, DVD and digital. Each version is meticulously crafted to suit the metal community's diverse tastes, ensuring every fan can relive the raw, unfiltered energy of HELLOWEEN in their preferred medium.

This release celebrates the grand finale of HELLOWEEN's epic world tour from 2022 to 2023. Spanning over 30 countries on three continents, the tour was nothing short of a triumph, drawing massive crowds and showcasing the band's undying appeal, the sold-out concert in Tokyo is the crowning glory of the cycle.

Photo credit: Martin Häusler