Exclusive: Helloween Break Down Their New Album ‘Giants & Monsters’ Track by Track

Earlier today, heavy metal titans Helloween released their 19th studio effort Giants & Monsters. It’s an epic album full of kick ass riffs, hard driving rhythms, and soaring vocals, all in an old school flavor that doesn’t sound stodgy and dated. After more than 40 years on the scene, this German export still knows how to kick ass.

So when we were approached with the opportunity of having heavy metal royalty break down their new release track by track, of course we had to accept! And that’s exactly what we’ve got here today. Vocalist Andi Deris and guitarists Michael Weikath, Kai Hansen, and Sascha Gerstner dive deep into the themes, meanings, and thoughts behind the epic tracks found on Giants & Monsters.

To make this feel almost like a director’s cut documentary, we’ve included each song along with each members’ contributions so you can listen to the track while you read about what went into them. Think of it like a heavy metal commentary track!

So without any further interruption, here’s Helloween’s track-by-track breakdown of Giants & Monsters.

Giants On The Run 

Andi Deris:  Actually, the song is about us being giants. Inside ourselves we are all giants, but we act very small. We could be giants, we all got it inside. This is really what I think and believe. Something is not right in the history of mankind that keeps us small. I don’t have the solution but I know that I feel much bigger inside that I act outside and I think everybody is the same. And I am not talking about going out and hitting others. I just think we are much bigger than the world is allowing us. 

Savior of The World 

Michael Weikath: Someone out there is maybe taking everything upon him what we can’t do. And I am telling myself I am too old and I would mess it up anyway, hopefully someone else is taking it on.

In the end the song is metal, entertaining and has a nice melody. This is like any other weird track I’ve done. The producers came up with some great vocal harmonies and that blows it up. 

A Little Too Much Is A Little Too Much 

Andi Deris: I wanted to write something about the last drop that causes a huge flooding – a little too much is a little too much.

The story itself is a bit erotic. It is about my first experiences when I was a teenager and before. You always dream about having sex and finally once you have it you realize: ok – it takes one second and it happened what you didn’t want to in that moment. And here we go: a little is a little too much, better don’t move or don’t touch. Like I said before, while writing the song it became erotic, but in a way, I thought about all the minor things that get out of hand with this little bit more and then it is a little too much. 

We Can Be Gods

Kai Hansen: Same old story. We are trapped in our lives due to circumstances, the world outside and own decisions and there might be moments in our lives where we really take our destiny in our own hands and then we actually can be gods. Making things big and being determined. Do something big for ourselves and our surrounding.

Into the Sun

Andi Deris: It is actually a ballad and originally it used to be a song about an orgasm.

But then I rearranged it and I had Michi in my mind singing that song or we both could sing it together because Michi’s voice is so great. And once we knew we would be singing this as a duet I rewrote the lyrics because I didn’t want to sing a duet with Michi about an orgasm. So now it is about reincarnation and honestly, I like it much more. It is a very deep song and Michael and I are on common ground, we share the same beliefs although he is much more into that stuff and I’m still his apprentice. We both share this theme deep down from our hearts.

This Is Tokyo

Andi Deris: I always wanted to write about Japan. Japan needs to have a special treatment, especially in my life. This was the very first country where I had a No. 1 hit back in the days with Pink Cream 69. Japan always treated me very, very nicely and now, so many years later I finally had the right idea for the lyrics. This is Tokyo sounds phonetically better in a song than This is Japan. Tokyo as a word/name is much punchier and, in a way, Tokyo stands for Japan.

Universe (Gravity for The Heart) 

Sascha Gerstner: This is a song about how everything is connected in the universe, about that every star in the sky stands for a heart or a soul. Which means in a way that we are all connected and we are making everything greater in this world. It is a kind of unity song, uniting people. It is a positive song and the idea came to me while wandering around a night time, looking into the sky with all the endless stars and thinking each star stands for a heart that’s counting. 

Hand of God 

Sascha Gerstner: Related to the theme ‘death’. The last path you are taking when you are dying and you are reflecting your life. It could be from a religious point of view but it could be generally about all the decisions you’ve made in life. What happens when you die? Will there be a hand of God? 

Under the Moonlight

Michael Weikath: ‘Give me richness, give me fame, it is a devious game’ 

It is about what most people are longing for: a big house, a castle, loads of money, a private jet or else…

And once you have it, it does not change a thing because after all you’re ‘only’ a human being and when you die you can’t take anything. And the song is also about habits. Some people do strange or forbidden things in the backrooms and think they are great and need to get more and more and more…. I rather sit under the moonlight, feel romantic and totally detached from all cravings or wanting of modern society and I hope that some people feel the same. 

Majestic

Kai Hansen: And old song from Gamma Ray which was never finished or used. I jumped back to my favorite topics: space/universe/aliens. It is the story about the ‘gods’ coming back. They were here once and maybe building pyramids and all these things. It is not true but rather fascinating thinking it could be and I like to speculate about it. In the chorus it says: here we are, the majestic, the masters and if you like, you can say that’s us – we are back and we are the masters of power metal.  But in the end, I leave the interpretation to the listener. When I write lyrics, I don’t think about a story, I put in words by heart spontaneously singing and it sounds good. It does not always have a meaning. Sometimes I don’t even know the meaning or where it is leading to, this would be much later when I analyze.