UNDISPUTEDLY, HELLOWEEN ARE ONE OF GERMANY’S MOST RESPECTED METAL EXPORTS AND CONSIDERED THE FOUNDERS OF GERMAN MELODIC SPEED METAL. AS GODFATHERS OF THE GENRE, THEY HAVE GROWN TO BECOME ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL METAL BANDS IN THE WORLD. IN A CAREER REACHING BACK AS FAR AS 1984, HELLOWEEN HAVE PERFORMED AT INNUMERABLE METAL FESTIVALS AROUND THE GLOBE SUCH AS ROCK IN RIO, LOUDPARK, WACKEN, OR THE WOODSTOCK IN POLAND, WHICH THEY HEADLINED IN FRONT OF OVER 500,000 FANS. THE BAND HAS DELIVERED COUNTLESS HEADLINER WORLD TOURS, SPECTACULAR SHOWS WITH THE LIKES OF IRON MAIDEN, BLACK SABBATH, DIO, SLAYER, OR OZZY OSBOURNE JUST TO NAME A FEW, AND PLAYED AT EXOTIC LOCATIONS IN BORNEO, INDONESIA, MANAUS, BRAZIL, OR AT OVER 3,200 M IN THE WORLD’S HIGHEST CAPITAL LA PAZ, BOLIVA. THE BAND’S SPECTACULAR SHOW AT THE »MONSTERS OF ROCK« FESTIVAL IN CASTLE DONINGTON IN FRONT OF OVER 100,000 METAL HEADS IN 1988 WAS JUST AS MEMORABLE AS THE MASSIVE MTV »HEADBANGER’S BALL« US TOUR WITH ANTHRAX AND EXODUS. SO FAR, HELLOWEEN HAVE RELEASED FOURTEEN STUDIO AND THREE LIVE ALBUMS, INCLUDING THE GENRE MASTERPIECES »KEEPER OF THE SEVEN KEYS« PART I & II IN THE LATE 80S. IN TOTAL, HELLOWEEN HAVE SOLD OVER EIGHT MILLION RECORDS AND RECEIVED FOURTEEN GOLD AND SIX PLATINUM AWARDS. WITHOUT THEM, CONTEMPORARY ACTS SUCH AS EDGUY, SABATON, BLIND GUARDIAN, OR EVEN AVENGED SEVENFOLD WOULD PROBABLY NOT SOUND THE WAY THEY DO. FOR 30 YEARS NOW, THE BAND HAS BEEN DELIGHTING THEIR FANS WITH FANTASTIC RIFFS, GREAT SONGS, AND HAUNTING MELODIES. HELLOWEEN’S LATEST ALBUM »STRAIGHT OUT OF HELL« CHARTED AT A SENSATIONAL #4, MARKING THEIR HIGHEST GERMAN CHART ENTRY EVER. ADDITIONALLY, THE ALBUM ACHIEVED FIVE TOP TEN ENTRIES IN EUROPE AND ENTERED THE US BILLBOARD TOP 100. THE »HELLISH ROCK PART II« TOUR TOOK THE BAND TO 39 COUNTRIES IN EUROPE, ASIA, AND AMERICA WITH FAR MORE THAN 100 MOSTLY SOLD-OUT SHOWS.