A long-revered institution of heavy metal, Helloween has proven that it has not missed a beat with the release of Better Than Raw (Velvel Records), a classic slab of heavy metal loaded with huge hooks, uplifting melodies, and first class songwriting. With traditional heavy metal making a huge comeback, Helloween stands as one of the proud champions that never abandoned the scene, and has rewarded its fans with yet another fist-pounding testament to its greatness. The frenzied riffage of “Revelation” encourages insane amounts of headbanging, while “Hey Lord!” and “Laudate Dominum” allow vocalist Andi Deris to seize exhilarating melodies that command an almost spiritual presence. Meanwhile, the dual guitar assault of Michael Weikath and Roland Grapow allows for the creation of razor sharp guitar riffs that merge melody and heaviness into a grand sound that is classy, technically challenging, and, of course, wicked fast. Backed by the tight rhythm team of bassist Markus Grosskopf and drummer Uli Kusch, the energetic vitality of the songs is flawlessly reinforced, allowing for that killer combination of dramatics and aggression that sends the mind and body reeling in heavy metal exhilaration. Speaking for Helloween is guitarist Michael Weikath. What has been the driving force that has kept Helloween going throughout the years, through a tumultuous band history that would prove the end of most other bands? First of all, I am a terrible bonehead! And also, Helloween has always been comprised of musicians who did not take other jobs outside of playing in Helloween. As for myself, I have not actually worked a proper job, as I started playing music [in a serious band] as soon as I could. I worked in a record mailorder company, which should be something that everyone should be able to deal with, but I couldn't even do that - my mouth was just too big and we had already taken Helloween so far that we were not about to put a stop to it. By the age of 16, I already told everyone who wanted to hear (and those who did not want to hear as well) that I was going to play in a famous German rock band one day. I think in terms of the band, rather than in terms of a solo career like some other musicians...when certain people are given the opportunity to start out solo, they tend to jump at the occasion and show they never really cared about the band [that started them off]. So I feel that if somebody feels that it is not worth being in the band, measures have to be taken to make that member more a part of the band, or to replace him or her - but not let the band suffer. What does the album title, Better Than Raw, mean? Andi and I were hanging out at our favorite bar, the Backstage in Hamburg, and we realized that everyone in the band hates the taste of pumpkins (we are often given gifts of pumpkin food). At that bar, we usually come up with stupid ideas for album concepts and covers...the story behind BTR is the Smurf series. The witch on the cover stands for Gargamel, and the pumpkin men for the Smurfs. The witch is cooking pumpkin soup, and so Andi said that at least it’s better than [eating pumpkin] raw. So I said why don't we call the album that [Better Than Raw], and he agreed. It is the most stupid album title there is with regards to its meaning. So we all agreed to keep it. Helloween has always been able to vary its songwriting with different tempos and melodies - do you feel that this versatility can, in part, explain the band's longevity? Yes...it's good to know that one can work with many different styles of music. Therefore, if you actually like doing different things, you don't end up being frustrated by having to do the same shit over and over, and you have more motivation to go on. I couldn't live with the thought [that] I was supposed to do the same stupid stuff all day, and my fans expected me to stick to what they were used to. As long as I can write something like “Power” or “I Can” and place it alongside “Kings Will Be Kings” and “Midnight Sun,” I will be more than happy, and I know that the band and the listeners that made it this far will ensure that [this same diversity] is applied in the future. Can you give some details behind "Laudate Dominum" - who wrote the lyrics, and what do they mean? Was the vocal melody thought of before the lyrics, or was it inspired by the lyrics? I sat down with my old Latin teacher Günther Dörnte, as I am not capable of too much Latin anymore - it was simply too long ago [when I was fluent in Latin]. The basic idea was to do this for our “Latin” fans in Spain, Italy, Portugal and all the countries in South America as a thank you for the warm welcome they all gave to the new Helloween lineup...they are mostly religious - mainly Catholic, like I am - and so it seemed a good idea to me after I heard two Laudate Domini at my Mom's during Christmas. So I thought, “yep, that's a good thing to do,” but I still didn't know what exactly I should write in Latin. The bridge melody had already been recorded as a piano piece that I had edited on the computer years before, and the verse came to me while going to Santa Cruz in Tenerife. The chorus had been merely inspired by the syllables of the words “o laudate dominum” which instantly jumped to my mind. Describe the process used to select and arrange the songs on a Helloween album. There is usually a process of how we arrange the songs on a record when they are all finished, regarding which end would fit best with the beginning of the next track, and how moods match, and all that. It's an interesting but sometimes wearisome business. Prior to that, we all sit together and present tapes of ideas that we have, and the circle [of band members] decides which songs will possibly end up on the new album and how to approach the particular tracks. Given the recent excitement surrounding the power metal style, do you feel that traditional heavy metal has reached critical mass and is now on the verge of another explosion in popularity and recognition? I think that it's not exactly at a critical mass yet...with all the irritation being caused by comments from MTV and other media, many people simply take their bad advice and even tend to believe what they are hearing...when they finally hear that heavy rock is back and there's nothing anybody can do [to prevent] it, that's when it will reach critical mass. But the people in the MTV camp do not realize that America is not the whole world...and their narrow-minded, stubborn and arrogant comments about the rock genre appear more than stupid to outsiders, who are not as affected by the power of the U.S. media - it is just one country that is actually not so important for the continued existence of heavy rock. Helloween's music has always been rich with powerful melodies that contain an almost spiritual feel, which is backed up by some of the band's lyrics like "Hey Lord". Is the band particularly religious or spiritual, or do these melodies just fit with what Helloween is all about? Well most of the guys in the band are Christian, apart from Uli who cannot say that he has decided to accept the existence of a God. Our lyrics tend to have a spiritual feeling, as Uli doesn't mind that kind of lyrics because they express no bad or wrong thinking. It's also necessary to make [our positive lyrics] a point to other people, because just doing negative lyrics in order to hide the fact that one has no self-developed thinking would not satisfy us. I also think there's no excuse in saying “well, when I wrote this I was young and didn't know better.” Well then, DON'T write lyrics or think before you do. A lot of people will listen to what a lyricist is saying, and so you should bear in mind the responsibility that you have to the fans. Do you listen to your own CDs much? If so, what sort of response do you get from it, as one that directly participated in the making of the albums? I always compare the results to my former ideas and evaluate them, [to see] if my dreams have been met or not. Usually I enjoy listening to the result, particularly when I am a little drunk, and it's always like flipping through a photo album as so many things spring to mind. It is only when I am supposed to create new material or I am overexposed to our own stuff that I step back and prefer to not listen to our records that much. Many bands have had great difficulty switching vocalists midway through their career - how has the vocal switch from Michael Kiske to Andi Deris affected Helloween? Andi is a very social guy who hates uncertainties hanging in the room...so he likes to get problems solved and clear things up with everyone in the band, so that when differences occur, good compromises can be found. Michael [Kiske] kept developing into a more self-centered guy and, though he would be ready for talks, from a certain degree of frustration onwards, we just couldn't find a common ground. With Andi, I see a lot more possibilities in terms of songwriting, as he is able to come up with a lot of different colors and voices as well. Michael [Kiske] stuck to a technique which he developed and mastered, which was always the same. What differences would you identify between your 2 live albums, Live In The U.K. and High Live? I think the UK one sounds a lot warmer - it was recorded on an analog system - and High Live has been put through Tommy Hansen's digital 24 track Radar recording system which I don't think sounds very warm...but High Live has its advantages - so much energy and it indicates the [benefits that] touring [had on our] playing abilities, whereas the UK one definitely brings across the magic of a band that had just toured nearly the whole world and took no shit from anyone. It's sad we had to break up [that particular lineup] afterwards, but there really was no other way and it's also good it happened like that. The High Live album is good [because] you hear a new band full of energy, having made it quite far and trying to get even further. When you set foot on stage, do you have a specific goal in mind? I would like the people to have fun...when we open for someone, I want to go kill the main act [ie. blow them away in terms of performance - not literally - it’s not like this is Dissection or anything! - ed.], regardless of whether or not they are nice guys...so far we have never opened for any real pricks, except on festivals, maybe. If it’s our own show, I am happy that so many people showed up . When complete madness is going on in the crowd, the spark comes over me while on stage, and I don't know what happens. But if I get the feeling that a lot of the people attending the show are trying to give me a hard time, they won't have much fun, as I will be doing the same to them in return. This is not so good for the many people who would have liked to have a good time, but are irritated by what I do in response. But if people are throwing things or pulling other stupid crap that I don't find too funny, the only thing that happens is that I step back far into the stage and simply play my stuff, in order to still provide something for the people farther away. How does your approach to playing music differ between live and recording in the studio? I am more of a studio guy, as I love the things that happen, how a track evolves during the recording period or how bits and pieces get stuck together to finally become a great track - to me, this is like watching my children grow, as my tracks are like children to me. One aspect I generally don't favor too much when playing live is that, when doing a tour, one is very often forced to simply recreate and reproduce [the sounds of the album] regardless of one's state of health or mood, and it's in front of a lot of people who sometimes don't consider the personal inconveniences [of the musicians]....it's particularly bad if one has a cold, a lack of sleep, a headache, or a case of diarrhea going...that's no fun at all - I often feel like going out and telling it to the people, but we are not living in times that appreciate statements like this very much, and even the real Helloween fans don't [bother to] understand stuff like that too much...so sometimes it can be a real pain, but then there's the old saying, the show must go on. In a studio environment, one can always go and catch a nap or go to a place you call home, and the overall situation should be relaxed, but to cancel a show costs a lot of money and so one tends not to do it. Thus, personal inconvenience affects and includes a lot of people and can be a nightmare to everyone. But it generally works out well, and being in the middle of a tour often makes one not want to go home too soon, but to have a good time and see a lot of different cities and meet a lot of nice people. However, I also feel like remaining in a studio forever once I've entered it.... What is the weirdest show that you have ever played? There were many weird shows, and some I can't even remember the circumstances behind, but one weird show happened when we were playing in Detroit, where we had an escort of police cars around the tour bus ever since we entered the part of town in which the venue was located, and during all of the set I couldn't shake off the odd feel I was playing in a sequence off of 'Escape from New York' and I really feared for my life during that show... luckily enough there seemed to have been a major proportion of REAL nice people attending the show that night. Another crazy show was playing a stadium with only about two hundred people around, somewhere in the U.S. Midwest...I can't remember the place but it was during the Grim Reaper / Armored Saint tour, which was weird enough in general... Were you able to play any songs off of Better Than Raw before recording them in the studio? If you did, what sort of impact did the crowd response have on whether they were included on the album? We don't usually play songs before we have recorded them...the last time we did that was when we played “Judas,” as [Kai] Hansen very much likes to go out with new stuff before it gets recorded. We also played some Chameleon stuff in Japan prior to the album release. Personally, I think it can be a lot of fun and a definite thrill [to play new songs before they are recorded and released on an album], but you may stress a particular track too much, as if tracks written by the other bandmembers were not interesting enough - and that's where the trouble lies with things like that. Crowd response can't be taken too seriously, as it doesn't necessarily reflect on the real quality of a song. I remember doing “Eagle Fly Free” at Donington for the first time, and I sensed people may have enjoyed it, but many were simply mixed up, and so that wouldn't have been a good indicator as to whether it should have ended up on Keeper [of the Seven Keys] II or not... What do you feel has been Helloween's impact on heavy metal, to date? I don't really know about our impact, as I may be connected to the whole thing too much [to see it objectively]...but I see a lot of bands that have emerged who copy our stuff, so we must have created something new, even though I always thought we were playing very much in a UFO/Deep Purple/Rainbow fashion. I'd say it's a rather circuitous impact, because I don't think that we really shook the consciousness of most, say, American bands, but I may be mistaken. I nevertheless expect a larger general impact in the following years, created by the fact that so many Helloween-like bands are around...which doesn't bother me much as that way the rock scene [comes full circle].

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