Vocalist Michael Kiske spoke to Spain’s TNT Radio Rock about the reunion of the classic lineup of German power metallers HELLOWEEN. Dubbed “Pumpkins United”, the band’s upcoming tour will feature seven musicians — including former members Kiske and Kai Hansen (guitar), alongside current singer Andi Deris and guitarist Sascha Gerstner — performing material spanning HELLOWEEN’s entire three-decade-plus history.
On whether he has repaired his relationship with HELLOWEEN guitarist Michael Weikath:
Kiske: “Yeah. It had been a long story. It didn’t happen overnight. It started with me getting older, and somehow inside of me things changed over the last three or four years, without noticing. And it really started when I ran into him at Sweden Rock [Festival] again, I think, in 2013. And he said to me… The first thing he said was, ‘What have I done that you can’t forgive me?’ That was the first line he said to me. And I realized that I had forgiven somehow a long time ago without noticing. That’s how it all started. And also, looking back at the years after HELLOWEEN, I have gained so much out of it. Having to be on my own, having to be responsible for records, and even all the painful things that I got through, I gained so much from it on a human level that I can’t really be angry anymore. Sometimes it’s not easy to understand, for people, when you say something like that. But that’s why it was also easy for me to forget about it all and start talking again, because I just realized that it was all good for me. I was so blessed, spiritually, especially during that time, that I don’t wanna miss it, really, so I can’t really be angry anymore.”