Germany’s HELLOWEEN have been one of the most influential and internationally most successful acts of the global Heavy Metal scene and this year the Hamburg-based quintet, founded in 1984, celebrates their 30th anniversary. Their latest studio album ‘Straight Out Of Hell’, charted at a sensational #4, their highest German chart entry to date, holding this position for five long weeks. Additionally they made another five top ten entries in Europe and also cracked the US Billboard Charts.
Now HELLOWEEN return to their old label home Nuclear Blast, where they released two albums – ‘The Dark Ride’ (2000) and ‘Rabbit Don’t Come Easy’ (2003), both of which have just been re-issued with extended bonus material.
Nuclear Blast are overwhelmed to bring the band back into the fold: “We are more than proud, that HELLOWEEN is part of the Nuclear Blast family again,” Label ownerMarkus Staiger announces. “All those years we had a friendship-like connection and ways crossed on a regular basis at concerts and festivals. HELLOWEEN to us is a matter of the heart, there’s not only the two records to mention, but an act that influenced me and many of our employees. Together there are big plans and we are looking forward to having another productive and successful cooperation.”
The band itself are equally celebratory. Vocalist Andi Deris: “As a label, Nuclear Blast is “Heavy Metal to the bone”, and we are really looking forward to working together with a lot of familiar faces.”
HELLOWEEN are currently busy working on the successor to ‘Straight Out Of Hell’, that saw the founders of German Melodic Speed Metals playing a total of 84 shows in 34 different countries. After summer, the band will hit the MiSueno Studio on the isle of Tenerife with producer Charlie Bauerfeind (GOTTHARD, HAMMERFALL etc.) to record a new album set to be released in early 2015.
