HELLOWEEN, BEAST IN BLACK-San Antonio, Texas

Aztec Theater, April 8, 2026

German Power Metal pioneers, HELLOWEEN arrived in San Antonio to celebrate their 40^–year anniversary. This was to be a special tour as the group rarely comes to America. The group played the Aztec Theater, an intimate theater with an Aztecan theme.

Nuclear Blast recording artist, BEAST IN BLACK opened the show. They provided direct support to HELLOWEEN. The group hails from Finland, a country with its own Power Metal scene including NIGHTWISH, STRATOVARIUS and SONATA ARTICA, respectively. BEAST IN BLACK has been around for over a decade and has made their own mark on the Power Metal genre. Calling them strictly a Power Metal band is a bit of a misnomer, though, as the group also presents Hard Rock and traditional Heavy Metal.

Vocalist, Yannis Papadopoulos revved up the crowd with an abundance of energy. I’m not sure if they’ve toured America, but they had many fans in the crowd. He had the crowd chanting BEAST IN BLACK, BEAST IN BLACK. The group are a vocally driven band, which is somewhat a detriment to their guitars. Guitarist Anton Kabanen played a few solos, but the band primarily focused on the vocals. Drummer Atte Palokangas impressed me the most. He played hard and precise, often twirling his sticks in between beats. Fans of anime should enjoy the band’s lyrics with some of their lyrics focusing on Berserk manga. Expect a new album soon.

HELLOWEEN is huge in Europe, so they had plenty of money to spend on their concert production. The stage was a spectacle of lights and videos that spread over the stage representing songs throughout their long and storied history. The Keeper of the Seven Keys narrated interludes on the big screen.

Fans who have followed HELLOWEEN throughout their career know that they’ve had three vocalists. The night featured all three vocalists. It was mostly Michael Kiske and Andi Deris harmonizing their vocals or singing back and forth with amazing harmony. Guitarist Kai Hansen was their original vocalist, so he sang on the song “Ride The Sky” from their first album “Walls of Jericho.” At the time, HELLOWEEN were more of a speed metal band, and this was the heaviest song on their set.

HELLOWEEN opened with “March of Time” from “Keeper of the Seven Keys II.”  This song had the whole crowd singing along. Although they played songs from throughout their career, including their latest album “Giants & Monsters,” their best material was from the first two “Keeper of the Seven Keys” albums. Highlights from these songs include “Halloween,” and “Future World” from the “Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I.” Kiske and Deris sat on stools and passed around an acoustic guitar. The two goofed around starting with the Beatles song “Yesterday” before the band joined in on “A Tales That Wasn’t Right.”

Keeper II contains many of the bands best known tracks, which were on display tonight. “Eagle Fly Free” was another great sing along. They played their hit “I Want Out” near the end of their set followed by another hit “Dr. Stein” and closed with the chorus of “Keeper of the Seven Keys.” I would have liked to hear this entire epic, but the song is over thirteen minutes long, so that was not in the cards. It was an amazing ending to a terrific performance.