Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg, West Germany by members of bands Iron Fist and Gentry. Its first lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael Weikath, and drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg. After the release of a self-titled EP and their debut album Walls of Jericho in 1985, it expanded into a quintet with the addition of singer Michael Kiske, Hansen choosing to focus on guitar instead. Under this line-up, they released the Keeper of the Seven Keys albums, which established Helloween as a notable heavy metal band and led to the creation of the power metal subgenre. Hansen left the band soon after the release of Part II and was replaced by Roland Grapow. After leaving Helloween, Hansen formed Gamma Ray.
The Metal Opera is the first full-length album by Tobias Sammet's supergroup project, Avantasia. It is a concept album and a rock opera. The album is followed by the sequel The Metal Opera Part II.
Kai Michael Hansen is a heavy metal guitarist and vocalist.
Gamma Ray is a power metal band from Hamburg, northern Germany, founded and fronted by Kai Hansen after his departure from the German power metal band Helloween. He is the band's lead vocalist, guitarist and chief songwriter. Between 1990 and 2014, Gamma Ray recorded eleven studio albums.
Michael Kiske is a German singer best known as the lead vocalist for the German power metal band Helloween. After his departure from the band in 1993, Kiske recorded four solo albums, participated on various metal and rock related projects, such as Avantasia, Place Vendome and Kiske/Somerville, while he also performed with numerous bands as a guest vocalist. In late 2009, he formed the hard rock band Unisonic and began touring again after 17 years of absence. In October 2017, Kiske joined Helloween and Kai Hansen for the Pumpkins United World Tour that continued through 2018. A live recording of the Helloween tour entitled United Alive and United Alive in Madrid was released in 2019 and a new Helloween album with Kiske and Hansen is planned for 2021.
Instant Clarity is the first solo album of vocalist Michael Kiske, formerly of Helloween. The album features guest appearances by Kai Hansen, formerly of Helloween, Gamma Ray, Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden, and compositions from Ciriaco Taraxes. The album was released in 1996 and reissued in 2006 containing four bonus tracks.
Aina was a German progressive metal project produced by Sascha Paeth with a number of guest appearances including Glenn Hughes, Michael Kiske and Candice Night. It resulted in the metal opera Days of Rising Doom, which was released in 2003 by Transmission/The End Records. The concept was created by Amanda Somerville who also wrote the lyrics. The music was composed by Robert Hunecke-Rizzo. Ten years after its release, Paeth indicated that there were no plans to revisit the project.
Alive '95 was the first live album by Kai Hansen's Gamma Ray. It was released on May 1996, following the live concerts in Milano, Paris, Madrid, Pamplona and Erlangen, during the band's "Men on a Tour" European tour.
Master of the Rings is the sixth studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1994. It is the first to feature new members Andi Deris and Uli Kusch.
Somewhere Out in Space is an album by German power metal band, Gamma Ray. It was released on August 25, 1997 and is the band's fifth studio album. Continuing in the tradition of the previous four albums, it contained yet another different lineup, but would also be the first album to feature the band's longest standing lineup. The album featured Dirk Schlächter on bass for the first time since his guest appearance on Heading for Tomorrow, Henjo Richter on guitar and Dan Zimmermann on drums.
Land of the Free is the fourth studio album by German power metal band Gamma Ray, released in 1995. Continuing a trend that would conclude with the band's fifth studio release, the lineup for the album was different from the previous one, as Land of the Free was the first Gamma Ray album to be released since the departure of Ralf Scheepers, leaving Kai Hansen to take up lead vocals. While not his first stint as a vocalist, it would be the first time he had performed lead vocals exclusively in 8 years.
The Metal Opera Pt. II is the second full-length album by Tobias Sammet's supergroup project, Avantasia. It is a concept album and a rock opera. The songs carry on the story begun in The Metal Opera, with the same characters. Much like other power metal albums, the compositions draws aesthetic and lyrical influences from early fantasy literature such as The Lord of The Rings and the Red Sonja series.
Dirk Schlächter is the bassist of the power metal band Gamma Ray and Avalanch from 2018.
"I Want Out" is a song by the German power metal band Helloween from the album Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 2, that was released as a single in 1988.
The following is a comprehensive discography of Gamma Ray, a German heavy metal band, formed in 1988 in Hamburg, Germany. They have released eleven studio albums, four live albums, two compilation albums, seven singles and eight music videos.
Hell Yeah!!! The Awesome Foursome ) is a live album from the German power metal band Gamma Ray, released in 2008.
Place Vendome is a German melodic hard rock / AOR project, founded in 2004 at the direction of Frontiers Records president Serafino Perugino.
To The Metal! is the tenth full-length studio album by Gamma Ray. It was released on 29 January 2010. To promote the album, the band did a tour with Freedom Call and Secret Sphere. The album was recorded in Kai's own studio in Hamburg in autumn 2009. The band has recorded 12 songs. Ten of them were featured on the regular album release, while the other two were bonus tracks appearing on the different editions of the album. The band described some of the songs on the official website, revealing that there would be a full-throttle number called "Rise", a rhythmic and melodically diverse song called "Time To Live", and a multilayered anthem titled "All you need to know", featuring ex-Helloween frontman Michael Kiske. Other songs mentioned are "No Need to Cry", a song written by Dirk Schlächter about the death of his father, "To The Metal", a song they played on various festivals before the album release and the atmospheric and dense "Empathy". It is the last album featuring drummer Dan Zimmermann.
Lost in Space Part I & II is a compilation album by Avantasia, released in 2008. The album contains tracks from Avantasia's EPs Lost in Space Part I and Lost in Space Part II and an expanded version of the title-song, featuring Michael Kiske.
Master of Confusion is Gamma Ray's third EP, released on 15 March 2013. The EP contains 10 songs split into 3 sides, with the A Side containing two new studio tracks, the B Side containing 2 studio covers and the C Side containing six live songs from the April 28, 2011, Bochum gig. "Empire of the Undead" and "Master of Confusion" are set to take part on the new Gamma Ray album, Empire of the Undead.
