Photo by Martin Häusler
“HELLOWEEN have always dared to do their own thing and this is what I’ve loved about them. In my opinion this is exactly what metal stands for.” — Aaron McLoughlin, RMIT University Melbourne
Released this past June, HELLOWEEN’s eponymous full-length is the metal album of 2021 – a milestone fans were waiting decades for. Critics and companions are united in their opinion that it’s a masterpiece album that will write metal history. The seven-piece metal alliance scored ten Top 10 chart entries worldwide including #1 in Germany and Spain, Top 3 in Austria and Switzerland, and an impressive total of seventeen Top 15 rankings globally. Fans, journalists, and experts agreed: with twelve tracks Helloween manifested an entire metal universe.
With the band’s latest video for “Out For The Glory,” the next exciting coup is coming as the successful year is ending. “I had an idea for a video where all band members are depicted as dinky, odd noble courtiers and ministers,” guitarist Michael Weikath explains. “All of us should be floating in the clouds, [vocalist Andi] Deris as a nutty emperor… and after a while, more and more details came up and at one point in time we wrote everything down and sent the video concept to the Australian animation team.”
Aaron McLoughlin, Senior Lecturer at the University of Melbourne, who has already been involved in several projects with Atomic Fire Records CEO Florian Milz (ie for Children Of Bodom, Alestorm, Tankard) comments, “When I heard that HELLOWEEN was interested in a collaboration, I was totally gob smacked. The boys are my absolute heroes since I was a teenager, and I was sure that my students would love to work on a song by this band.”
And as is typical for HELLOWEEN, the creativity was so outrageous that it was impossible to feature everything in one music video. “Seven and a half minutes might not sound like a lot but in animation terms it is a marathon. We had so much great stuff, that the production of ‘Out For The Glory’ was a real challenge,” McLoughlin recollects. “Weiki wanted the video to look as cute as possible and we immediately knew: a legendary band from the other side of the planet wants us to create a medieval epic full of cuteness? You bet!”
With a bit over 10,000 frames, the animated short movie is not only extremely elaborate, but also wicked and spacy. As Michael Weikath wishes with a twinkle in his eye, “I now expect that everyone will enjoy this and think it is funny and also that they see the significance!”
“Out For The Glory” is celebrating its world premiere today and was implemented by the students of Bachelor of Design (Animation & Interactive Media), RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.
View HELLOWEEN’s “Out For The Glory” video at THIS LOCATION.
Video credits: Video script co-writing by Kati Rausch (Instagram: @katirauschofficial); Administration: Melanie Avent and Lee Henry; Production: Melanie Avent, Juan Chacon-Olier, Aaron McLoughlin, Amy Wang; Animation: Melanie Avent, Yunlin Bai, Anastasia Beth, Rali Beynon, Noah Cail, Xinyu Chen, Wendy Cui, Cross Ferrer, Dannielle Gilbert, Lee Henry, Nicole Huang, Carmen Kusumo, Xueqi Li, Jacynth Lim, Robert Luu, Rongrong Mai, Huey Jing Ng, Hoang Gia Nguyen, Gabrielle Poh, Herschel Rego, Courtney Spencer, Kate Tandoc, Vy Trinh, Hoai Diem Suong Truong, Amy Wang, Ari Xu, Haowen Xue, Joy Zou.
View HELLOWEEN’s previously released videos for “Skyfall” HERE, “Fear Of The Fallen” HERE, “Mass Pollution” HERE, “Angels” HERE, “Rise Without Chains” HERE, “Indestructible” HERE, “Cyanide” HERE, and “Robot King” HERE.
And if this stunning video is not enough, you can expect another highlight: after the release of Seekers Of The Seven Keys, the limited horror-fantasy comic, presenting the band with bizarre and whimsical fantasy combined with a healthy dose of metal, HELLOWEEN and Incendium — a versatile production company with various animations, comics, toys, and video games on their roster — announces a series of action figures for collectors, inspired by artwork and lyrics of the band: “The Keeper Of The Seven Keys,” “The Witch,” and “Jack O. Lantern.” Figures are available for preorder and will be shipped in spring 2022.
Purchase Helloween in various formats at the Atomic Fire Records Web Shop HERE.
Helloween Track Listing:
1. Out For The Glory
2. Fear Of The Fallen
3. Best Time
4. Mass Pollution
5. Angels
6. Rise Without Chains
7. Indestructible
8. Robot King
9. Cyanide
10. Down In The Dumps
11. Orbit
12. Skyfall
Digibook + Vinyl Bonus Tracks:
1. Golden Times
2. Save My Hide
Earbook Bonus Tracks:
1. Golden Times
2. Save My Hide
3. Pumpkins United
HELLOWEEN:
Michael Kiske – vocals
Andi Deris – vocals
Kai Hansen – guitar, vocals
Michael Weikath – guitar
Sascha Gerstner – guitar
Markus Grosskopf – bass
Daniel Löble – drums
Artwork by Eliran Kantor
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