The great German band Helloween celebrates their 20th anniversary this year. In 1985 Helloween released their 5-song debut self-titled EP. They followed that effort up 5 months later with the 8-song full length called Walls of Jericho. Noise records included both those efforts plus the song Judas on one CD here. The original band was Kai Hansen on lead vocals/guitar, Michael Weikath on guitar, Markus Grosskopf on bass and Ingo Schwichtenberg on drums. Recordings took place at Musiclab in Germany with Harris Johns and turned out pretty good on the low budget Noise gave the band.
Starlight has an odd radio/TV broadcast intro before powering into a speedy romp of power metal. Murderer isnt one of the better Helloween songs, while Warrior is another speed metal killer with Kais clean vocal assault. Victim of Fate definitely has an early Iron Maiden feel to riffing and pacing and Kai doesnt sound too different from DiAnno vocally. Cry For Freedom is the final song from the debut EP, its slower and more melodic then the prior songs. The real meat and potatoes of this CD begins with the classic speed metal anthem titled Ride The Sky which follows up the Walls of Jericho intro. Ride The Sky is full of awesome riffing and Kais soaring vocals backed up by pounding drums, consider it a lighter version of something off Metallicas Ride The Lightning. Reptile is kind of funky due to its gang chorus parts and clear bass lines. More melodic but not overly great is Guardians. Phantoms of Death is another good longer song at 6.5 minutes. Metal Invaders and Gorgar keep the sound of metal moving forward at a mid-pace. More frantic and in your face is track 12 Heavy Metal (Is The Law) and its bombastic live sound. More relaxed and melodic is the 7-minute How Many Tears though thats not to say it wimps out either. Judas from the self-titled mini album of the same name closes our trip back into the beginnings of Helloween in good fashion thanks to sound quality.
While this album is certainly unpolished by todays standards and probably not the best Helloween CD it is a good release and better then most underground metal from the same time period. Better Than Raw is probably my favorite Helloween CD, but when I want something old school and thrashing Helloweens oldies are an excellent choice too.
http://www.helloween.org/index2.html
$13 @ http://www.theendrecords.com
If you are brand new to Helloween the best starting point may be their Treasure Chest 2-CD best of 29 song release for $16.
Starlight has an odd radio/TV broadcast intro before powering into a speedy romp of power metal. Murderer isnt one of the better Helloween songs, while Warrior is another speed metal killer with Kais clean vocal assault. Victim of Fate definitely has an early Iron Maiden feel to riffing and pacing and Kai doesnt sound too different from DiAnno vocally. Cry For Freedom is the final song from the debut EP, its slower and more melodic then the prior songs. The real meat and potatoes of this CD begins with the classic speed metal anthem titled Ride The Sky which follows up the Walls of Jericho intro. Ride The Sky is full of awesome riffing and Kais soaring vocals backed up by pounding drums, consider it a lighter version of something off Metallicas Ride The Lightning. Reptile is kind of funky due to its gang chorus parts and clear bass lines. More melodic but not overly great is Guardians. Phantoms of Death is another good longer song at 6.5 minutes. Metal Invaders and Gorgar keep the sound of metal moving forward at a mid-pace. More frantic and in your face is track 12 Heavy Metal (Is The Law) and its bombastic live sound. More relaxed and melodic is the 7-minute How Many Tears though thats not to say it wimps out either. Judas from the self-titled mini album of the same name closes our trip back into the beginnings of Helloween in good fashion thanks to sound quality.
While this album is certainly unpolished by todays standards and probably not the best Helloween CD it is a good release and better then most underground metal from the same time period. Better Than Raw is probably my favorite Helloween CD, but when I want something old school and thrashing Helloweens oldies are an excellent choice too.
http://www.helloween.org/index2.html
$13 @ http://www.theendrecords.com
If you are brand new to Helloween the best starting point may be their Treasure Chest 2-CD best of 29 song release for $16.
