It’s no secret that I love Helloween. They were the first German Power Metal band I ever heard, way back in 1986, with their amazing Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1 album. I was a hooked fish at that point.

Power and majesty have always been the cornerstone of any Helloween album (well, maybe not Pink Bubbles Go Ape,) but every album has this sense of awe surrounding it; that’s mainly due to the fact that despite line-up changes, they have been constantly releasing solid Metal albums.

Before you ask, I’m not going to get into the weeds of a history lesson, because at this point, if you’ve ever wanted to get into them, just go to Walls of Jericho and let the journey begin.

Now we’re in 2025 and the band is back with a brand spanking new slab of Teutonic extremity, hot on the heels of their incredibly fun Live At Budokhan (that was reviewed in these hallowed pages by yours truly).

Giants and Monsters is fucking killer. There, I said it; review over. No, not really… are you kidding? Jefe would string me from the side of the ship and keelhaul my stupid ass.

Beginning with the rising keyboards is “Giants on the Run” a shredding Thrash fest that changes tempo like a Formula 1 racing car, and it gets downright menacing near the end of the song. Even after all these years, Helloween still has the goods. “Savior of the World” goes full-throttle, pedal to the fucking Metal. Everything sounds phenomenal, like being there in the studio watching the album being recorded.

My first favorite track is “A Little is a Little too Much” it’s a bit of a mid-paced crusher with a catchy as fuck chorus and some killer soloing throughout.

Andi Deris and Kai Hansen are powerhouses on Giants and Monsters, their voices pairing off with each other, the fantastic production makes this an insanely fun album, and the bad as fuck artwork is like the wrapping paper on this gift of German steel.

“We Can be Gods” is a delicious thrasher, and it’s followed by a not-annoying ballad reminiscent of “A Tale That Wasn’t Right” from Keeper of the Seven Keys part 1. I generally hate ballads by other bands, Helloween being the exception to that statement. They’re just so good at it, I can’t help liking it.

“Into the Sun” gives way to the jumping up and down energy of “This is Tokyo” which is a better track than Alestorm’s “Mexico” even though they’re two different genres, and I just wanted to take a stab at Alestorm for no reason.

“Universe (Gravity for Hearts)” is one of those upbeat feel-good Helloween tracks. Power Metal has always had this optimistic impact on me; it boosts my confidence to the point where I feel like I can kill dragons and shit. The track has a badass break in the middle with some soaring vocals from Kai Hansen, and triumphant soloing for fist pumping, head-down raging.

Helloween can literally do no wrong. If they released an album of Lawrence Welk Polkas, it would still be fucking killer. “Hand of God” is not a Polka, it’s an intense mid-paced crusher with some snarling vocals from Hansen and Deris; such a magnificent song on an outstanding album from these stalwarts.

I didn’t know that their first Demo was called Death Metal Demo, and that’s from 1984! Interesting that the term was being used before Possessed used it on Seven Churches (give or take, around the same time).

Anyway, that’s a tidbit I wanted to share with you, constant reader. “Under the Moonlight” has a sort of “Living Ain’t no Crime” feeling to it that makes me giddy, and it’s followed by the immense, epic as hell, and suitably titled “Majestic”. It has a bit of an Iron Maiden vibe to the chorus and with it being the last song on Giants and Monsters it HAS to be a big, fat assed song, and it really is the perfect way to close out this 19th full-length (I need to reinforce the ‘full-length’ aspect of that statement because with singles and splits and compilation sets of various types, they have an incredibly huge body of work). So yeah, 19 full-length albums later and Helloween show no signs of slowing down or stopping their juggernaut mid-conquest.

Giants and Monsters is a great Helloween album. It manages to keep the ferocity and intensity of their 80s output while moving forward to show the world how it’s done. This is an album that throws the spiked gauntlet on the ground and says bring it the fuck on, Helloween are the kings of Power Metal; everyone else is pretenders to their throne. Get this beast now!

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