Walls of Jericho is, strictly speaking, really much more than just Walls of Jericho when you listen to the CD. It also includes their first mini-LP, the self-titled Helloween, which contains my absolute favorite track by the band – Murderer. All five songs are actually absolutely fantastic, but Murderer will probably forever be the icing on the cake when it comes to Helloween.
Once you’ve worked your way through the five songs from the mini-LP, the actual album, Walls of Jericho, begins. There’s no doubt whatsoever that this is from an era when Helloween was really good! It was not just about humor at this stage, and it was perhaps more of Heavy Metal than Power Metal back then. Kai Hansen handles both vocals and guitar. Michael Weikath also plays guitar, and unless I’m mistaken, he and bassist Markus Grosskopf are still in the core of the band today. Many members have come and gone over the years, but those two are still around. On drums: Ingo Schwichtenberg.
At this stage, Helloween hadn’t yet become the Power Metal band they would later be known as. With Michael Kiske, they created the unforgettable Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1 and Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 2. But regardless of how great those albums are, Walls of Jechico is a piece of music history that beats most things in the genre. Keeper of the Seven Keys may have faded a bit, but this first record still holds up strong! It’s a Speed Metal album from a time when Helloween was truly at their best. As a bonus, the CD version also includes Judas, a true classic that wasn’t really featured on any proper full-length album at the time.
