Helloween - Walls of Jericho (1985)^{Release ID: 795}

This is my second attempt at reviewing Helloween's debut album. I can marvel through and describe the album to you twice now! However, the thing is, I've already dumped my interest in the full-on power metal of albums like the Keepers pair. For the sake of staying focused on the sound of this album, let's go back in time to over 37 years ago...

It is late 1985. Just a year and a half before the Keepers saga led by vocalist Michael Kiske began. Vocalist/guitarist Kai Hansen, guitarist Michael Weikath, bassist Markus Grosskopf, and drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg (RIP) were determined to make a different metal sound, combining the speed of Metallica at that time with the melody of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, plus the fantasy vibe of Manowar. The Walls of Jericho were built and a new genre began to rise. This is...POWER METAL!

The cheesiness of the genre sure got its head-start with the title intro being a synthesized brass rendition of "London Bridge". The actual opening song "Ride the Sky" is a superb thrashy assault of catchy rage from the guitars, bass, and drums. The bass has some notable fills, and Kai Hansen performs his signature shriek-singing. Hansen's young yet nasal voice may sound a bit funny, but it's filled with enjoyable power. The perfect harmonies and leads midway through, you can think of as a more thrashy Priest or a speedier Maiden. A superb start to power metal! "Reptile" is a little bad, trying to imitate Priest so much, especially in the poor chorus. It's not a total failure though.

"Guardians" has solid higher speed and nice melodic guitar riffing. There's slightly less power in the vocal notes Hansen tries to hit. However, it's made up for by the strong catchy chorus, along with nice bass. An anthem for power metal and the Guardians clan! A slower while still speedy song, "Phantoms of Death" is another show-stopper. The background keyboards in the verses are at the right place, practically inspiring power metal's keyboard aspect. There's also more of a Maiden vibe here, especially in the pre-chorus drums. The soloing is marvelous, especially during the second half of the bridge. That song is quite good! "Metal Invaders" is my least favorite here, and strangely enough, the closest-sounding to actual speed metal. The vocals in the pre-chorus and the chorus aren't so strong. Though there's nice harmony in the bridge.

"Gorgar" also doesn't work well enough to be a highlight. The riffs sound too much like they're copying Metallica and Judas Priest rather than building up their own unique sound from those bands. And that bridge, "Livin' for today, no thoughts for tomorrow", really does sound taken from a Priest song, and that only can detract a few percentage points. I'm not too sure if I can take "Heavy Metal (Is the Law)" too seriously, especially the sing-along bridge ("Heavy metal! HEY"). Still it's pretty good. The closing highlight "How Many Tears" is a long 7-minute epic with a long instrumental bridge. Such a powerful way to end the true founding album of power metal!

All in all, many of the songs are awesome, though only a few of them need slight improvement. Keep in mind that 10 years later, there is a little more of a rock side while keeping a lot of their power metal, and another 10 years later, the band would go a little more progressive. However, Walls of Jericho can be heralded as a classic that has started the ascent of power metal. A mostly excellent album where the power rises!

Favorites: "Ride the Sky", "Guardians", "Phantoms of Death", "How Many Tears"

Helloween really laid down the blueprints for true Power Metal with their debut, as opposed to the USPM bands like Omen and Jag Panzer were already playing. Helloween took the most melodic aspects of twin guitar bands like Iron Maiden and the speed of bands like Exciter and Metallica and turned them all way up. The result is a very up-tempo (for metal) style that remains incredibly melodic despite playing as fast and hard as some of the most extreme bands at the time. The birth of Power Metal.

The music really shines here, and it has to; vocalist/guitarist Kai Hansen is passable at best as he strains to hit the notes he really wants to here. Despite that, the musicianship is top tier and almost all songs are great.