Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part 1

Listen Here

        It's October, and Halloween is around the corner, so I thought I'd celebrate with some spooky, Halloween themed bands, or maybe just a band that has a name that sounds like Halloween. If I feel up to it, I might even make a second post this month on Halloween with a second Halloween themed band.
         Helloween is one of the original power metal bands, and is credited with creating the genre which is modern European power metal. Despite the band's name, Helloween isn't really a Halloween themed band, although the do have a few songs on the topic. Helloween's music is often very grand and whimsical in nature with fantastical themes. Considering Helloween is a band that helped found power metal it's not very surprising that the genre is also characterized by fantastical themes and  grand melodies. In addition both also feature singers with clean vocals and large vocal ranges. Helloween is heavily influenced by classic European metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Rainbow. You can hear similarities to these bands in a lot of their songs.
        I like the cover of Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part 1. It looks pretty cool, especially for their second album. Often times, a band will have pretty bad covers for their first few albums because they aren't famous yet and don't have the money to get a real artist, but it appears this is not the case for Helloween. This cover screams power metal; there is a wizard, presumably the keeper of the seven keys, who is looking at the seven keys through a crystal ball, and a fantasy setting seen through the window of the castle or tower that the wizard is in. You can also barely see monsters hidden in the darkness to the right, possibly planning on ambushing the wizard.
        Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part 1 is Helloween's first power metal album, and the first ever European power metal album. Before this album came out, there were other, American, power metal bands, most notably Manowar. However American power metal is much different than European, and less popular; it is much faster, more thrashy, and a little more "cheesy tough guy" sounding. As a result, when people talk about power metal, they will usually be talking about European power metal, and might say that this album is the first "real" power metal album. However, I like American power metal, and disagree with that statement. Anyway, Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part 1 is the first album to feature the uplifting, speed metal inspired melodies and vocals commonly associated with European power metal. A fun fact about this album: originally the band wanted Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part 1 and Part 2 to be together in a double album, however the record label made them split it into two albums, saying it would be too long, almost two hours. This is why those two albums are very similar in style. Helloween later released the two albums together how they originally wanted once the band became more popular. This album is one of those albums that doesn't really have any bad songs, but if I had to choose my favorites, I'd pick "I'm Alive," "Twilight of the Gods," and "A Tale That Wasn't Right."
        The first real song on the album "I'm Alive" is a refreshing change of pace from a lot of metal songs; instead of being about death, hatred, depression, etc. it is about life and how great it is. According to the song, everyone has something good inside them, and should be happy just to be alive. This is a really upbeat song, and the grand, power metal melody works really well with the theme of the song.
        "Twilight of the Gods," is an interesting song because it makes use of several sound effects and audio clips it it. Another interesting thing about this song is how it has almost gospel esque vocals in it at some points, which contribute to its grand sound. This song seems to be about warriors fighting while the gods are picking sides and fighting each other in the sky. This could be a reference to the Iliad, where a similar thing happened during the battle of Troy.
        "A Tale That Wasn't Right" is the album's ballad, and, of course, it is a power ballad. Despite being a ballad, this song keeps the grand powerful feeling that is in Helloween's other songs, except this time it's slowed down and more dramatic. Following Helloween's pattern of surprisingly wholesome and human songs, this song is about ending a relationship and the pain resulting from it.
        I also wanted to give an honorable mention to "Halloween." It's a pretty good song, and I feel like if your band is named after Halloween, it is almost a requirement to have at least one song about the holiday. Also according to the official lyrics, they say "Halloween" in the song, but it really sounds like they are saying "Helloween." I'm not sure if this is no purpose or not.
        Anyway, Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part 1 is a great album, and one that is significant in the history of metal. It is definitely one worth checking out.