Released: 8/27/2025 on Reigning Phoenix Music / Victor
Production: Dennis Ward and Charlie Bauerfeind
Length: 50:47
Genre: Power Metal
“Down the Well-Worn Tracks”
What’s a smart thing to say about the new album from some of the metal rulers of my youth (and my middle years, too)? As we probably all know, this is the second record since the mega reunion of the metal pumpkins, with power metal godfather, guitarist and singer Kai Hansen and the very definition of a power metal vocalist, Michael Kiske, back in the mothership. The first album, refreshingly titled Helloween, left this writer with a really bitter aftertaste, but on Giants & Monsters the guys have set things up a little differently.
The album is surprisingly neatly split into four parts: Deris’ pop-commercial stuff, Hansen’s Gamma Ray-isms, Weikath’s Keeper-isms and Gerstner’s whatever-the-hell-it-is. With one track fewer on the record than last time, the king of bonus tracks and B-sides, bassist Markus Grosskopf, naturally got bumped. Which would’ve been better if it hadn’t happened.
Before the deeper dive, I’d like to point out two glaringly obvious facts: Michael Kiske’s incredible vocal form and the incredibly flat production from two veterans of flat production, Dennis Ward and Charlie Bauerfeind. Kiske is by far the brightest spot on this album, just listen to his vocal acrobatics in Savior of the World. Helloween were never known for great album production (with bright exceptions like Roy Z’s work on The Dark Ride (2000)), but this is flatness of the highest order. The biggest victim is the beastly drummer Daniel Löble, who never gets a chance to shine, and the guitars sound pretty dead, too.
Back to those four parts. Hansen’s best songwriting days are long gone — since Majestic (2005) (he borrowed the unfinished title track from it) he hasn’t put together anything truly impressive. His best contribution here is the collaboration with Deris, who broke out of his comfort zone on the opener Giants on the Run, and the result is one of the top 3 tracks on this album.
Weikath clings like a dried booger to a nose hair to his tried-and-true formula of goofy little ditties or pseudo-religious bouncers. The former is represented by the unconvincing Under the Moonlight, the latter by the other top 3 track on the record, Savior of the World, with the aforementioned Kiske vocal heroics.
Gerstner stands out this time with the (almost) masterpiece Universe (Gravity For Hearts), which is everything power metal epic fans could possibly wish for. It’s backed by Kiske’s convincing, heartfelt vocals and some guitar wizardry and tempo changes. Its only real flaw is the absence of the true Helloween spirit (whatever that’s supposed to be). Gerstner’s other creation, Hand of God, is a matter of personal taste, I’ll just leave it at that. It somehow reminds me of those Finnish oddballs Waltari.
Deris … Ah, Andi Deris. How much crap he had to swallow as the successor to a deity by the name of Michael Kiske! And yet, over the decades, he’s been the glue holding that fragile thing called Helloween together. With positive energy and the songwriting burden he took on starting with The Time of the Oath (1996), he steered this little ship past every reef all the way to today. But he, too, has clearly taken a break from writing anything worth mentioning, because his glory days have a long beard — they go back to the era of Gambling With the Devil (2007). Apart from Giants on the Run, he’s gone all-in on commercial stuff (This Is Tokyo and A Little Is a Little Too Much) and the ballad Into the Sun. All three tracks are thoroughly unconvincing and forgettable. Which is a shame, because Deris used to know how to write commercial candy like Why?, If I Could Fly and As Long As I Fall. And heart-wrenching ballads weren’t foreign to him either, as he proved with Forever And One and Light the Universe.
As I mentioned, Grosskopf got bumped and landed on the bonus disc with the old-school energy bomb Out of Control, with Hansen on vocals. Nothing earth-shattering, but if this one had replaced one of Deris’ tracks on the main record, the whole thing would’ve been way more convincing.
Giants & Monsters is definitely a better, more exciting and more likable record than its predecessor. Which, sadly, wasn’t exactly hard to pull off and, also sadly, doesn’t mean much. It’s true, though, that in light of what the band members have served up to their fans over the last 20 years in all their various incarnations, it’s a step forward and something to build on for the next album, if they ever get that far. You have to understand that the power and effectiveness of Helloween in today’s lineup is above all their live show. The comeback gig in Bratislava in 2017 was an almost religious experience, with a fantastic setlist and a seven-piece lineup on stage. But when the band has to add a couple of songs from every new record for each subsequent tour, the shine somehow fades. I hope they gather all their strength for next time, and personally I see the opportunity in the songwriting combinations, because Giants on the Run (Deris / Hansen) proved to be a good starting point. Fingers crossed!
Rating: 7
Author: Igorac
Track list:
1. Giants On The Run (6:20)
2. Savior Of The World (4:14)
3. A Little Is A Little Too Much (3:30)
4. We Can Be Gods (5:10)
5. Into The Sun (3:39)
6. This Is Tokyo (4:12)
7. Universe (Gravity For Hearts) (8:24)
8. Hand Of God (3:44)
9. Under The Moonlight (3:07)
10. Majestic (8:07)
11. Out Of Control (4:41) (Bonus track)
Musicians:
Andi Deris – vocals
Michael Kiske – vocals
Michael Weikath – guitar
Kai Hansen – vocals, guitar
Markus Grosskopf – bass
Sascha Gerstner – guitar
Daniel Löble – drums
Crew and guest musicians:
Charlie Bauerfeind – production, recording, mixing
Dennis Ward – production, recording, mixing, backing vocals
Sascha “Busy” Bühren – mastering
Laura “Zauberdame” Morina – mastering
Matthias Ulmer – keyboards, arrangements
William Billy King – backing vocals
Maria Valiskova – backing vocals
Andrew Skrabutenas – orchestral arrangements and programming on “Into the Sun”
Nicolo Fragile – additional keyboards on “Out of Control”
Oliver Hartmann – acoustic guitar on “Into the Sun”
Eliran Kantor – cover art
Mathias Bothor – band photos
Thomas Ewerhard – design
Marcos Moura – pumpkin sketches
