Helloween recorded Walls of Jericho, the influential album widely regarded as a classic of power metal. It was the German band’s debut studio album, released in 1985 by Noise Records.
The record is often described as both speed metal and power metal, reflecting the fast tempos, melodic guitar harmonies, dramatic songwriting, and high-energy performances that helped define the emerging European power-metal sound. Kai Hansen handled lead vocals as well as guitar on the original album, while Michael Weikath played guitar, Markus Grosskopf played bass, and Ingo Schwichtenberg played drums.
Walls of Jericho is also notable because it was Helloween’s only album with Hansen as lead vocalist until he returned for the band’s 2021 reunion-era album. Later CD editions expanded the original release by adding material from the Helloween EP and the Judas EP. A manufacturing error even caused some cassette copies to contain music by Celtic Frost, creating an unusual source of confusion for collectors.