HELLOWEEN
Live At Budokan
Reigning Phoenix Music
Live At Budokan puts a cap on what has been a remarkable run - or I guess series of runs - by the "Pumpkins United" lineup of HELLOWEN. Since long-departed vocalist Michael Kiske and guitarist/sometimevocalist Kai Hansen rejoined - or perhaps reinforced - the troupe in 2016, it has been one triumph after another for the German power metallers.
Aftera multitude of successful tours, 2019's United Alive In Madrid live CD/DVD, and the magnificent, universally acclaimed, chart-topping self-titled studio album in 2021 comes this live CD/DVD from a sold-out show recorded at one of the world's most iconic venues. And you really couldn't ask for better icing on the cake, so to speak, as HELLOWEEN readies for its next phase, a second album from this seven-headed monster of a lineup, the first single from which is due in February.
Headlining Budokan is something a rite of passage, a career-crowning achievement not unlike playing Radio City Music Hall or Madison Square Garden in New York or London's old Hammersmith Odeon (now the Eventim Apollo or some such, which doesn't quite have the same ring). And the significance of the occasion certainly is not lost on HELLOWEEN, a band that is enjoying its finest hour after 40 years of sometimes precipitous peaks and valleys.
"This is our first time playing Budokan," Hansen notes as "Eagle Fly Free" segues into "Mass Pollution". "We are very, very humbled, very, very honored to be here. Totally. I mean, hey, this is something."
"I want to say the same," adds vocalist Andy Deris, as he takes the mic. "It is a great, great honor, first time at Budokan. Fucking hell."
The spirited crowd sure sounds eager to reciprocate, singing along - or singing alone - on verses and choruses throughout the set and keeping the energy level at fever pitch for the entire two hours. It is quite a spectacle, indeed, even with the audio only, which is how the promo came.
The set isn't that much different from what appears on United Live In Madrid. Four tracks from Helloween - the spectacular opening epic tandem "Orbit/Skyfall", "Mass Pollution" and "Best Time" - and the Kiske-era "Save Us" have been swapped in, and Hansen mixes up his "Kai's Medley" a bit to "take a trip back in time to Hamburg where power metal was invented". But everything is played with gusto and determination by a lineup that seemed like it might be a one-off or temporary nostalgia trip at the outset yet has kept getting tighter and better - and more popular - with time.
In its presentation, HELLOWEEN's triple guitar/triple vocalist attack is much more about team spirit than ego trips or showing off, which I'm sure is no easy task given the collective talent. But the band is balanced, seamless and confident here- and chemistry is undeniable - as it cruises through the lengthy set, despite the myriad tradeoffs and complex arrangements, with nary a wrinkle.
The anthemic vocal harmonies - and the air-raid siren howls Deris and Kiske often employ - are spot-on and each of them nails it when given a chance to shine, as does Hansen when he takes the mic during his 16-minute medley that incorporates bits of a half-dozen tracks from the band's earliest days. And the music is a nonstop showcase of the crunching, catchy riffs ("Mass Pollution", "Future World", "Dr. Stein", "I Want Out"), shreddy leads and majestic, extravagant arrangements ("Skyfall", "Keeper of the Seven Keys") and often propulsive tempos ("Eagle Fly Free", "Save Us", "How Many Tears" even with its bluesy aside) that have become the very template for epic power metal.
All in all, it's pretty awesome.
4.0 Out Of 5.0
