HELLOWEEN's MICHAEL KISKE: 'God Has Placed Darkness Inside Of Every Individual To Deal With'

In a new interview with Andrew McKaysmith of the Scars And Guitars podcast, HELLOWEEN singer Michael Kiske spoke about why, in his opinion, humanity hasn't learned from history, and we continue to see the same situations recur in all parts of the world. He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "We need to learn in reality, not just by theory. The whole meaning of this planet is to learn the difference of good and evil. So you need to have these experiences. We don't learn in theory. I mean, you see that with every generation. Over here in Europe, we have young ones talking about communism again or things that have already proven themselves as being evil because they don't respect the individuality. They just completely take away your freedom and you've just become a puppet of a dictatorship. Communism is not better than fascism, nationalistic, fascistic systems. It just violates the human rights and dignity, but they go fall for it again, because they haven't had that experience because thoughts on their own, they're not enough."

Kiske continued: "The whole reason why — and I don't like it; it's not that I like it, but I understand why it has to be that way, and I have complete faith that God knows what he's doing — but it's, like, we have to learn, we are supposed to learn the difference between good and evil. That's why we have the experience of evil from the outside, but also on the inside; we've got darkness inside. God has placed darkness inside of every individual to deal with, to learn to deal with it and have those experiences and actually to develop the good. Just like when you wanna build a muscle, you need to lift weight. You know these pictures — you need resistance to develop certain strengths. You grow the most as an individual through the problems you go through, as much as it sucks. And you can't only go through problems; you also need the uplifting experiences. Otherwise you would become like a grumpy person. But we need the challenges. Our forces that we're supposed to develop, they need to be pulled out, they need to be triggered, and this is why so many evil things are happening, because somehow, obviously we need them to learn what is right and what is wrong. And some people go the other way, some people become dark themselves, and some people listen to the demons. And it's not how it's supposed to be, and it's probably not going to be eternal either, because sooner or later they're gonna learn. I believe so. And others make different choices."

Michael added: "This is a school. Earth is a very tough school, really, to go through."

When McKaysmith opined that Kiske's observations are "indisputable" and "self-evident truths", Michael concurred. "We know. Deep down inside we know," he said. "The thing is our sense for truth is just covered up by so much crap — by education, by what the society is teaching us. We're not really thinking for ourselves. We always say we do, but most of the time we just repeat what has been planted in our minds. It takes effort. It takes work to really develop some thoughts of your own. And if you get all the dirt — not all of it, probably, but most of the dirt — out of the way and you start listening to your heart, you can tell what is right and what's wrong. We know, because we all come from a different place. We are all children of God. So we know the truth. We just need to get rid of all this nonsense, all these illusions that we have got implanted in our heads and in our souls. So it's like finding who you really are. The more you manage that, the more you will see through all those lies."

Kiske later added: "Evil exists because it's the only way to develop good. Darkness exists because it's the only way to see what light is. When you have experienced betrayal by friends, you evaluate friendship a lot differently, don't you? When you finally have real friends, people you can trust. And the experience of the opposite helps you to evaluate it to see what hatred does. it makes you understand how important love is."

Earlier this year, the reunited expanded classic lineup of 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.

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 released 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" is 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.