One of the most recognizable brands in metal, pumpkinheads Helloween have sold out two days in a row in Oslo Sentrum Scene. It is the second day, and the first day was sold out despite we had Electric Callboy yesterday in Unity arena. Try to sell out such a big place like Sentrum, when a competing act is so huge! 

That “wow” effect I had when around 25 years ago I saw a cover of the “Better Than Raw” album!  

Two big drum risers look promising, there is also a huge equipment rack on the right side of the stage. Beast in Black start the evening, since there are just two bands today, there will be no act suffering for lack of attention to the sound. 

Beast In Black make you want to dance. I think they should be labelled as dance metal. From the first hits Atte Palokangas on drums starts juggling with his sticks and they sound crushing right from the very beginning. 

Beast in Black is a more falsetto version of Pain (and somewhat a slower vibe). Keys, very heavy guitars, cool drums and quite diverse vocals from Yannis Papadopoulos. The backing vocals are exceptional too, but I like the combination of extra heavy guitars and thunderous drums with toms that are very high (properly high) in the mix. 

I can guarantee the fellows sound much better than on the recordings. 10 years celebration today. 
Guitar players trade challenging solos and as the set progresses, the vocals become more and more firm, the drummer starts throwing sticks to the band members and catches it back, one of the guitar players changes a guitar during the last song. A quality set that I would love to repeat. 

Helloween have been delivering for 40 years. The first row sends me a picture of Quad Cortex and Fractals FC-6. Well, no surprise there will be effects tonight. Three guitar players. 

Let Me Entertain You from Robbie Williams is a great and unexpected choice for the intro. A huge black video wall gets two pumpkin eyes, then as the “camera” in the visuals moves forward, the albums are falling down right and left. 40 years means there is a lot to choose from.  “Solos!” is the very first flash in my head. Kai Hansen dressed in a tailcoat shows who the master of solos is for this evening. 

The sound is at first not as sharp as the opener, but everything is audible.  So many people (with beer) pass me to move forward, I start to suspect the place is made of rubber. 

The King for a 1000 Years, the second song, has a beautiful clean sound and Kiske is brilliant. What a charming deep voice. I think that two vocalists that are quite different is a good choice. In combination with the castle on their video wall I have a feeling of being in the Heroes of Might & Magic game (remember that?). 

Kai starts In the Hall of the Mountain King by Grieg, and then he also does a few lines singing which is surprisingly good (did he hang out with great vocalists for very long?). 

Breaks between the songs are not just silence, but some action on the video wall, which is really fresh and well-thought of. As I get the picture of their setlist, I also note songs have color-coding in line with the stage lights (including 4 kick drums that are part of the light show).  

A big place, but it feels like a cozy home party. 

Helloween is alive and kicking. One of my biggest regrets is when I postponed seeing bands that are no longer with us because of life. 40 years is quite a term. Do not miss Helloween.