954. Helloween / Walls of Jericho. 1985. 5/5

Back in 1987, in my final year of high school, our school hosted an exchange student from Norway called Hans Hoie. He was a personable funny guy, awkwardly tall, almost goofy in his conversational English, but was a much loved person amongst our student collective. Apart from all of his other friendly attributes, Hans had his own musical tastes, and he had fortunately brought cassettes with him of his favourite albums. Two of those albums were by a band that we had never heard of, called Helloween. The first of these albums was entitled Walls of Jericho.

The opening stanza here is as good as any other album I know. The opening instrumental beginnings of "Walls of Jericho" blow their horns and crash their walls such that is related in the fable, before directly blasting into the start of "Ride the Sky" courtesy of Kai Hansen's amazing high pitched scream. Then we are speeding through the song, driven by those brilliant guitars and the unique and masterful bass line running up and down the neck throughout. Kai's vocals reach heights that were hinted upon on their first release EP. The solo break again defines a Helloween song, with each guitarist having their own solo, intertwined with the harmony guitar between, and finished off by Kai's amazing rising cacophony. It perhaps wouldn't surprise you to know that this is one of my favourite songs of all time. "Ride the Sky" has been so probably from the first moment I ever heard it, played on a tinny old portable cassette player at a party on the beach at the Boneyard in Kiama Downs. As I sat there that evening and listened to this album, I marvelled at what it produced. To that point in time I hadn't heard anything like it.
"Reptile" snuggles its way in between the faster songs on the album, and does in some way halt the momentum that was created by the opening track. Now of course it could just be me coming off my "Ride the Sky" high, but there seems less individualistic joyfulness in this song. Certainly the tempo is completely different, and Michael Weikath's monster obsession comes to the fore again. It's one of two songs on this album that just maybe misses a trick, perhaps just doesn't fit the reigning madness around it. Following on is a return to the manic speed that epitomised the opening track. Wiki's "Guardians" blitzes along, with Kai at high end of his vocal range for almost the whole length of the song, with no pause for breath for any of the group. It's a beauty, but goddamn Kai makes it hard to sing along given the high register, especially the closing lines "PUPPETS ON A STRING! PUPPETS ON A STRING!". Great stuff.
"Phantoms of Death" has been another of my favourite tracks for a number of years. This is not only a great song lyrically about the destruction we bring upon ourselves, musically it is also another belter, blazing along at a great rate, and mixes a fantastic solo section where both Kai and Weiki trade licks at an alarming rate, before we come to the conclusion of the song and the grand reveal of the root of the song, "Who are they? Who are the Phantoms? Will they end our lives? It's you and me, you and me, open up your eyes!".
Side 2 of the album kickstarts with "Metal Invaders" which maintains the rage, mixing the metaphors of invaders from space in metal machines and the mental visions of heavy metal also within the song. Kai's voice again reaches for the ceiling while Marcus' bass line dominates throughout in a brilliant way. This is followed by the groove of "Gorgar", a slower tempo song but with a great guitar riff throughout. This surely must be written from experience, about spending all of their money on playing on this pinball machine. It's another example of a great lyric coming from something so simple. The chanting chorus "Gorgar will eat you" plays over and over in your head. It's catchy as hell. The anthemic "Heavy Metal (Is The Law)" raises the stakes once again, recorded as a 'live' background chants along to give it a live feel. Listen to Marcus's ridiculous bass guitar through the 'crowd chant' led by Kai. It is ludicrous and shows off his amazing talent.
The closing track is the epic of the album. Michael Weikath's "How Many Tears" began life as an orchestral and operatic piece that was transformed into this full boar, no holds barred finale. I still get goosebumps hearing Kai sing that chorus, his vocals soaring again throughout, to the heights of that closing note. This is a masterpiece to finish the album, it's message still as relevant today as it was back then.

This album, and the one that follows, both became milestones for my music listening tastes. It opened up new doors, a real pathway to the burgeoning and building metal scene in Europe. It was my first step in the direction of the power metal wave, that for me has since become almost my mainstream metal listening group. The quartet that played on this album could not have wished for a better platform to thrust themselves into the world of heavy metal, and for me it still stands as a testament not only to their talent and ability as musicians and songwriters, but what can be achieved when the stars align in their magical way.

Rating:  "Rearrange the master plan, take the future in my hands, to be free and not trapped anymore".  5/5