After a prolonged period of inactivity, Helloween set out on the Pumpkins United Tour in 2017, much to the delight of their loyal fan base.


Originally planned as a series of live concerts only, fans became increasingly more vocal in their demand for the tour to translate to a full-scale reunion, with the band eventually unable to drown out the cries any further.


The legendary metal band responded with news they would indeed carry their momentum into the studio, with the result being a self-titled album which is due out on June 18.


Bass player Markus Grosskopf joined HEAVY for a chat about the album and the renewed desire and passion within Helloween.


“This stuff came from one day to the next, you know,” Grosskopf measured in his broken English. “We had the preparation for it, we took a lot of time talking about it, and we took a lot of time thinking about how we can do it and when we can do it. We were touring with Kai Hansen already - we had two tours with kai on them and it felt already like he'd never been gone. We were thinking about what it would be like getting Michael (Kiske)back in but the whole idea was stuck in our heads and it took even longer to develop this idea and it became clearer after all this time thinking about it. We finally asked the guys to join back in and made plans for tours and songs and plans for a reunion but the idea was why should you fire a very good singer and a very good guitar player to get a very good singer and a very good guitar player back in. The idea was to extend the whole thing which is much more interesting and gives the possibility to surprise people with two, even three cool vocalists and three cool guitar players. That makes much more sense.”


In the full interview, Markus runs us through the album and what we can expect, the decision to employ three vocalists beyond the touring arena, the Pumpkins United Tour and how it reignited the flame and more.