Helloween will mark four decades of activity with an extensive European tour in autumn 2025, bringing the German power metal institution back to arenas and major venues across the continent. The run begins on October 17 in Luxembourg and continues for six weeks through the Netherlands, Britain, France, Central Europe, Scandinavia, Southern Europe and Germany. Finnish metal group Beast in Black will appear as the tour’s special guest, adding another established name from the modern melodic metal scene to the bill.

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The anniversary concerts will feature music from throughout Helloween’s long history, according to founding bassist Markus Grosskopf. The band also plans to introduce material from its forthcoming studio album, which remains untitled. Grosskopf has indicated that the set list will include songs audiences have not heard onstage for many years, as well as selections that may be receiving their live debut. That approach reflects the unusual breadth of a catalog that stretches from raw speed metal beginnings to polished, large-scale melodic productions.

Helloween - Bandana - Adult (One Size) (Black/White)

Helloween occupies a central place in the development of European power metal, a style known for fast rhythms, prominent melodies, high-register vocals and fantasy-inflected imagery. Formed in Hamburg in 1984, the group helped define the genre with its early albums and, most notably, the late-1980s Keeper of the Seven Keys releases. Those records expanded the band’s sound beyond the aggressive character of its debut, Walls of Jericho, and influenced generations of musicians from Europe, Asia and the Americas.

March Of Time (The Best Of 40 Years)

The current seven-member formation brings together musicians from several eras of the band’s history. Vocalists Andi Deris and Michael Kiske share the spotlight, while former singer and guitarist Kai Hansen also contributes vocals and guitar alongside longtime member Michael Weikath, Grosskopf, guitarist Sascha Gerstner and drummer Dani Löble. This expanded lineup emerged from the Pumpkins United reunion concept, which reunited Kiske and Hansen with the later-era band after decades of separate careers.

Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 2

The format proved commercially and artistically successful with the 2021 self-titled album, which reached high chart positions in several European territories and landed in the Top 10 in more than 10 countries. Produced by Charlie Bauerfeind and Dennis Ward, the record balanced the group’s various musical identities rather than forcing its three singers into direct competition. Kiske has described the recording process as notably collaborative, with vocal assignments determined by what best suited each composition rather than by status or expectation.

Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 1

That spirit has also shaped the band’s concert activity. Following the album’s release, Helloween played roughly 60 shows in 30 countries during 2022 and 2023, appearing in cities including Los Angeles and New York, headlining Wacken Open Air and performing a sold-out concert at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan. The Budokan appearance will be documented on the Live At Budokan release, due December 13, 2024 through Reigning Phoenix Music. The package is scheduled for release in multiple physical and digital formats, underlining the continued importance of collector editions in the metal market.

Giants & Monsters

For the new album, the band appears determined to preserve its willingness to take musical risks. Kiske has previously said Hansen had been developing a more expansive composition built around piano passages, choirs and an operatic character, suggesting the next record may again move beyond conventional genre formulas. Such experimentation has long been part of Helloween’s identity: the band’s most enduring releases often combined direct heavy-metal force with theatrical arrangements, ambitious song structures and memorable hooks.

The forthcoming itinerary includes stops at London’s Eventim Apollo, Paris’s Zénith, Prague’s O2 Arena, Budapest’s Papp László Sportaréna, Milan’s Forum and Hamburg’s Barclays Arena. Two nights are scheduled in Oslo, while German dates will take place in Bochum, Hamburg and Stuttgart. After the European anniversary campaign, the group plans to take the celebration to Asia, South America and North America in 2026 before appearing at major European festivals that summer. For a band whose influence has lasted across multiple generations of metal fans, the anniversary tour represents both a retrospective and a statement of continued momentum.

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