Judas

The last release with Kai Hansen on vocals in Helloween may not be what many wanted, but it was enough to give voice to one of the best songs of this Helloween era, Judas is like "Black Night" for Deep Purple on In Rock, a great song that is not on the original release and it's a shame because it would only make it better.

The song Judas is the peak of the speed metal-like songs composed by Kai Hansen, in the vein of others like Starlight or Ride the Sky, being also a model song that is completely adapted to Hansen's singing style, while he has other kind of songs like "Victim of Fate" or "How Many Tears" that would be improved by Kiske performance, this kind of speed almost thrasy songs he is totally irreplaceable. Judas is the pinnacle song of this style because all the elements that make up the song are executed in a very intelligent and effective way. Let's start with just the lyrics, or rather how they are used and placed, Hansen's lyrics in this early Helloween era always had this very social themes and the dark side of life, Judas in particular is a song that criticizes the figure of the populist politician who once in power leaves aside all his principles and forgets about the ordinary people. But the key moment in the lyrics of this song comes with the pre-chorus, with that " Fight for freedom, fight for rights I see treason in your eyes. "which is put in a way that is loud and clear, that is anthemic, that is something that you can understand and sing along even if you don't understand anything that Kai has sung before, even if you barely understand English, the lyrics of that verse can be related to so many topics that you don't even have to understand what the song is about, that's why it works so well because it manages to be something universal in the simplest way in the world.

Then there is the transition to the solos, after finishing pronouncing the chorus for the second time they go for a solo maybe a little simplistic but very effective, mellow and following very well the original melody of the song, but this one ends up becoming a build up that culminates in the effect of an explosion from which comes out the authentic guitar solo of the song, and the effect of the explosion is totally justified because that transition is so motivating, so uplifting, so pumping, ah it takes my breath away. And the best thing is that the song just keeps getting better and better, right after that there is room for a brief but atmospheric drum oriented section that completely changes the tone (remember that this song is not even 5 minutes long and has the capacity to do all this). This section leads to what is, for me, the best moment of the song, which is when this section ends and there is a brief silence of all the instruments interrupted only by the powerful voice of Kai Hansen exclaiming "But you keep on tellin' you'll" which leads in a spectacular way to the pre-chorus once again to encourage the last steps of the song. It's simply incredible how good this track is.

Then there's "Ride the Sky" and "Guardians", recorded in a fake live setting, and while one may complain about this deception, the truth is that even though they are studio recorded they still have that unbridled energy of a live performance that one feels more restrained in an official studio release, reflecting the band's live attitude in a good way. Also picking out two of the best tracks from Walls of Jericho, making, although not a real direct performance, the songs feel quite satisfying in their own right. So as pointless as the release may feel, at least Helloween offer you one of the best versions of themselves alongside one of their early masterpieces, of course there's room to dislike this... But for me it's all minor things, and even more so when you have this release as a flagship for such a spectacular song as Judas.

The only thing working against the original Judas EP was that it only had one new song to offer. A friend and I used to love these old Combat cassette issues of stuff like this or Celtic Frost's Tragic Serenades, we'd sit around on our skateboards in his basement, back when that was our thing, and just toss these things in the boom box and wonder. I seem to remember they didn't even have much by way of J-cards, or at least some of them didn't, they were just the cover and the inside of the cassette cover was just bare white. It wasn't an issue, but this one really stands out to memory with the simple mouthless pumpkin image and the green classic logo on the little flag sticking out from its 'brow'. I mean how could it get any cooler? A band that performed music this exciting, AND with an aesthetic connection to Halloween, our favorite day of the year?

These days most have experienced this one as part of that full-length compilation version which includes all of the original s/t EP, Walls of Jericho, and this one new tune, without the bells and whistles that were on the Combat EP. And don't get me wrong, that's the way to do it, you get the most bang for your buck and the official studio material of that era all in one place, with the exception of one track from the Death Metal 4-way split in 1984 they did with Running Wild, Hellhammer and Dark Avenger, and for all I know there's some other version that also includes that. But I'm approaching this for what it was, an EP or single with one new tune and some extras. WHAT a song that was, "Judas", another scorcher the likes of which you heard on those earlier releases. A fast beat with lots of double-bass characteristic of what drove the power metal general into its own niche beyond just the traditional heavy metal. Awesome bass lines and fills, and riffs even more rich and catchy than all the previous material. It's also just a little bit more evolved in the arrangement, with that pre-chorus and chorus perfectly placed, and it serves in a sad way as Kai's swan song as the front man with the band, since they'd pick up Kiske after this and Kai would focus more on his writing and guitars (but he wouldn't be able to avoid the helm for long!)

By far one of my favorite Helloween tracks, with the perfect ending where Kai spits out those elevating screams and it ends with that little swell of choir. There are two 'live' tracks from Walls of Jericho, "Ride the Sky" and "Guardians", and this was great as it was my first opportunity to hear the band 'live', and man did they sound awesome...nearly studio perfect? Probably because it was, these must just be the studio tracks, maybe washed out a little in the mix, with crowd noise added in. But at the time, I liked to imagine they actually sounded this great. The Combat cassette also had two tracks lifted from the original EP to flesh it out, "Victim of Fate" and "Cry for Freedom", which are arguably the most popular, so I guess if this was your first introduction it was offering a good pair of samples and then "Judas" to top it all off. Rating this thing is a little hard, because obviously I love the title track so, so much, and the cover, and have that nostalgia...but the other material is basically all a re-tread and it doesn't have much place as a product anymore.

So "Judas", the song? 10/10. Everything else about it, not so much...

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Singles are an odd thing, they generate interest in a band and sometimes they prove to be a treasure trove of rare tracks and oddities. Yet some singles have no genuine purpose. Take this one for example, Helloween's sole non-album single. The titular song is pretty decent, shoulda been on Walls of Jericho. And yes, it really does sound like an improved "Murderer." The lyrics are pretty interesting because it's anti-establishment/government/whatever which deviates from the Helloween norm of erectile dysfunction (Rise and Fall,) Charlie Brown (Halloween,) or fantasy lark (the rest.)

The live tracks aren't live, in fact you can tell when the split between concert audio and studio audio occurs, "Intro/Ride the Sky" is very noticeable. It starts off with the "Starlight" intro then a gap occurs and BAM! "Ride the Sky" is spliced in. I guess it's only notable for "Judas" and not the two faux-live tracks.

I gave it 50% because of "Judas" and the choice of bonuses. If those were real live tracks then this would get a high 70/low 80. No point in tracking this down, all three are in the Walls of Jericho remaster. Buy the actual single if you're a collector or simply must have anything with "Helloween" on the cover.

The philosophy of heavy metal could be described as a sense of rabid artistic and political individualism; consequently there is an open hostility to the political establishment in most quarters within the genre. One of the best examples is the dedication found on the title track of this single, which reads “to all politicians who talk human but act like monsters”. Although later Helloween would tone down the gravity in their political message and instead poke fun at the ridiculousness of it all when Michael Kiske came into the fold, this song stands firm as a final afterthought and culmination of what the band was when Kai Hansen was leading the vocal charge.

“Judas” listens almost like a better produced and refined version of “Murderer” off the self-titled EP. The principle riff is memorable, the song cooks at record speed, and the monotone background chant during the chorus fits well with the angst driven message of political protest. The two accompanying songs on here, both taken from the “Walls of Jericho” album, are labeled as live yet are actually the studio versions that are preceded by some live footage from one of their tours. If you are curious as to what Helloween sounded like on tour from 1984-1986, this minute long live snippet at the beginning of “Starlight” is something of a bonus to what is otherwise a pretty standard single.

I obtained this single on CD along with all of the others between this one and the Pink Bubbles Go Ape album in the box set released not too long ago. It comes highly recommended to rabid fans of Helloween who are looking for songs that are not found on the studio releases and in many cases the 1991 “The Best, The Rest, The Rare” compilation which has some of the rare B-sides from the Kiske era. The art work on individual card board containers for each single range from being simple depictions of their pumpkin logo to a series of single block comic illustrations similar to what is featured in their CD inserts.