Old Pumpkin Spice

For 40 years now, Helloween from Germany has been a household name in the European power metal scene; they’ve released some classics of the genre including Walls of Jericho and the two Keeper of the Seven Keys albums. After that, it’s been a mixed bag as they get older and while their last album, self-titled Helloween, was better than expected, it was a bit too long. Still helmed by three vocalists from past and present in the band’s history, they return yet again with their 20th album, Giants & Monsters.

This album starts off a little bit tepid with the opener “Giants on the Run;” despite a big chorus, the rest of the song just feels like it’s there and is pretty forgettable as a result. They revived my interest with “Savior of the World” which is what I expect to hear from Helloween: an absolute blast that has the pacing I enjoy in power metal, making for an epic sounding journey. What comes after this though is a big dud with “A Little is a Little Too Much” which sounds more like a knockoff Foreigner track than anything written by Helloween. It makes for a really bad and cringe song as a result.

Rebounding from that stinker comes “We Can Be Gods.” Again, like with “Savior of the World,” it has the fundamentals that makes Helloween enjoyable with fast pacing, power metal riffing and shreddy guitar solos that lends a bombastic presence to their sound—this is why they are a notable name in the European power metal scene. Helloween then brings out their ballad side with “Into the Sun;” it’s an okay ballad for their current standards but at the same time is very unmemorable. They continue the downward spiral with “This is Tokyo” which, my god, is just absolutely dreadful. It follows the worst trends of modern power metal and sounds more like a washed-up hair metal track that I’d expect Def Leppard or Bon Jovi to make.

Thankfully, a much better track follows in “Universe (Gravity for Hearts),” which again goes back to the fast pacing that Helloween really thrives on, especially for power metal standards. This doesn’t last though as the next track, “Hand of God” goes into a weird mix of flamenco and electronic which I don’t get at all. However, I welcome the nice guitar solo it had. Following this comes “Under the Moonlight” which for mid-paced Helloween is one of the better tracks of this type and has a lovely, happy-sounding guitar intro as well. Finishing off the album is the 8-minute closer “Majestic” that takes a while to get going. It’s late into the second half of the track where it kicks in just as the guitar solo comes into play.

Personally, Giants & Monsters ended up being a pretty rough listen throughout its duration. While it had some strong moments when they go fast and focus on their strengths in songs like “Savior of the World,” “We Can Be Gods,” and “Universe (Gravity for Hearts).” The rest of the album ends up either being mid-paced forgetfulness or just downright dreadful as mentioned by the Foreigner-inspired track and “This is Tokyo.” This is certainly one of Helloween’s weaker recent releases and I actually didn’t mind their last album, so this is a big downgrade for these German power metal veterans. Not one I’d recommend checking out even for the few good tracks it has.

2/5 Flaming Toilets ov Hell

Giants & Monsters is out now via Reigning Phoenix Music.