Our Correspondent
KOHIMA, DECEMBER 6
Helloween, the godfathers of melodic speed metal and one of the most influential metal bands worldwide, is all set to perform for the first time in India as they take the stage at the IG Stadium, Kohima Monday evening.
The German power metal giants arrived in Kohima this evening with an eight member technical crew and will be performing live at the hilly capital of India’s north east state as part of the Hornbill International Music Festival 2015. Since the mid 1980s, Helloween has played more than 1000 concerts around the globe, touring Europe, North & South America as well as Asia and Australia numerous times but has never before performed in India.
“We have never been here before, so this, for us, is something like an adventure to finally say ‘Hello!’ to India!” says Andi Deris, the lead vocalist of the band.
Addressing a press conference at De Oriental Grand here after their arrival, he said they (the band) were surprised on being approached to play in India as it was not really in their “metal list”. “But I am happy to see that India is now a proud member of the ‘metal hit world’… This (performing here) is definitely special and it would be a dream come true to, in the future, play maybe 4-5 shows all over the country,” he added.
On the set they will be playing on Monday, the band members disclosed that it will be a mixture from the thirty years of Helloween like the ‘Keeper of the Seven Keys’ albums from the 1980s to their latest ‘My God Given Right’ (2015). From the sound of it, the different generation fans of the band’s music here are definitely not going to be disappointed at the mega metal concert.
With the release of their 15th studio album this year, Helloween has made a point that they are far from running out of steam 30 years on and they remain significant and an influential force in power metal world today.
Talking about their recently launched book entitled ‘The Hellbook’ as a mark to their 30th anniversary, guitarist and founding member of the band, Michael Weikath said it is a documentation of 30 years of metal passion, memories, insights and even rumours that had built up over the years etc.
The band members also talked about their music and how their lyrics talk about everyday life, from politics to fantasy, and how their experiment with long tracks transitioning into shorter ones came about, referring to the Keeper albums, which became classics of the genre. Their albums Keeper of the Seven Keys I & II, Master of the Rings and The Time of the Oath are considered masterpieces of the power metal genre, of which, Helloween is considered the pioneers.
Although the band has gone through some changes, the current line-up which includes singer Andi Deris, guitarists Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner, bass guitarist Markus Grosskopf, and drummer Daniel Löble has been together since 2005.
When asked if the change in the original line-up affected what Helloween was, Weikath said a situation comes in life when one has to make difficult and unpleasant decisions, but, he said they had come together to build up what people always said about the band- that Helloween has what no other band has and that there’s a certain quality of music that the band does that is different from others.
“We are actually quite glad that we have this line-up now for 10 years,” he added.
“In a career like this, you have to make cruel decisions…. It’s a part of your life. I see Helloween as a big part of my life and we have to make certain decisions sometimes,” bassist Grosskopf, who is also a founding member of the band, said.
On their style of music, the band members denied any major transition taking place over the years. They maintained that there are always new sounds around and its how one take those sounds as an influence into one’s own music.
They said they try keep up with time, considering having two generations or more in their audience, and give them the feeling that they have a good hand for mixing “nowadays’ sounds into old fashioned 80’s sounds”.
To their fans in Nagaland, the band said they want to convey a ‘Thank You!’ to everyone for having them here in India for the first time.
