Artist: Running Wild
Label: Sanctuary Records
Release: 2003
Rating: 4/5
Quick tip! Slap on your headphones and crank this double disc as loud as it’ll go. Running Wild haven’t shaken me like this since “Rivalry” (1998), the band’s last classic manifesto in the four-piece line-up. This compilation wasn’t made to be a “best of”. It’s strictly there to show what Running Wild have been through two decades of existence and what Running Wild are. Rock’n Rolf, a hugely stubborn guy but the artist without whom Running Wild would never have existed, is in my humble opinion a singer whose voice, right next to Chris Boltendahl’s (Grave Digger), radiates anger and raw fury in heavy metal in the most honest way. Well, at least within the confines of the Teutonic heavy metal that has developed over the last 20 years on German soil.
Production? Wishes granted! Guitars cranked to the max and shoved up front, together with blazing drumming beefed up by shocking lumberjack-style double bass pedal work, make for a great contrast and that unmistakably devastating band sound. Speed of light! Fast, faster, Running Wild! Definitely. The vocals come in from somewhere in the background, as if from inside a closed phone booth. These are the pirates of Running Wild! Can you smell the gunpowder in the air that only Under Jolly Roger can conjure up? Rock’n Rolf decided to rework the originals a bit. To that end he re-played the riffing, the double harmonies in thirds, and even the bass lines on most of the tracks. Only the songs taken from “Black Hand Inn” (1994) were left untouched. Four songs on the compilation were re-recorded by the band completely from scratch.
And what’s the hot stuff inside? We get two never-released songs, recorded with the current line-up minus guitarist Bernd Aufermann (Rock’n Rolf took care of all the guitars). The first is Prowling Werewolf from the period before “Gates To Purgatory” (1984). Unbelievable, but it sounds like it was written yesterday and not twenty years ago. The second treat is Apocalyptical Horsemen, originally written for the album “Under Jolly Roger” (1987). You’re probably curious (or even worried) how Rock’n Rolf brought the sound closer to the current Running Wild sound? Of all the oldies in new clothes, Apocalyptical Horsemen sounds closest to “The Brotherhood” (2002). Both songs from “Branded And Exiled” (1985), the title track and Mordor, were played anew by Rock’n Rolf, bassist Peter Pichl and drummer Matthias Liebetruth. Hearing that, I wouldn’t mind one bit if the new Running Wild line-up re-recorded the first two albums in full, which means the job was done brilliantly! For the rest of the tracks, only Rock’n Rolf himself dipped into the vaults.
The tracks from the first two albums (besides the ones already mentioned, also Prisoners Of Our Time and Genghis Khan) sound phenomenal in their new look and can now stand proudly side by side with everything the band has put out from “Under Jolly Roger” to this day. So the effect of the new riff makeover is most obvious on tracks from the band’s 1984 to 1986 period. You’re probably very worried that something got messed up along the way. No need to fear! Running Wild haven’t lost a single spark. Quite the opposite! The new sound presents Running Wild in their loudest light: devastatingly fresh, razor-sharp, revived and, as always, enraged to the extreme.
The sound kills! Rolf masterfully adapted the newly played parts to the production quirks that varied from album to album throughout Running Wild’s career. Among the songs with reworked bass lines, Little Big Horn really stands out. Compared to the original from “Blazon Stone” (1991), whose production mostly covered the high end, its sound now spans the entire sonic spectrum. The bass now throbs with a pulse and cuts clearly through even in the lower register. Among the tracks with reworked guitar riffs, Raise Your Fist surely stands out. The song is the real “Bad Reaper” of the first disc!
If the first CD rounds off the band’s evolution from their starting point, when they mostly wrote short, sharp bangers that work “right off the bat”, and then kept bringing more and more epic and pompous elements into their recognizable style, the second disc conjures up a band that discovered the effective formula for harmoniously combining the resurrected white-hot heat of unstoppable aggression with epic ornamentation. At the same time they began boldly crafting mini epic poems, every last one of which kept the band’s punchy delivery.
For the second disc’s setlist, Rock’n Rolf pulled a stroke of genius. From each album made over the last 11 years he took two tracks: a breakneck-speed ripper, to which he added a “softer”-hued epic composition. He put the songs in roughly chronological order, since the compilation’s title wouldn’t allow anything else, but still managed to create an exceptional dynamic contrast across the disc. So the nosedive Whirlwind is followed by one of the finest Running Wild mini epics, Treasure Island; after Black Hand Inn comes a first-rate bolt from the blue, Privateer; after the epic fantasy Ballad Of William Kid comes the ultra-fast shrapnel of Firebreather; to the again cranked-up Victory, daddy Rock’n Rolf added the more pompous Tsar, and he paired Welome To Hell with The Brotherhood, a composition tastefully seasoned with baroque harpsichord. The only exception are the two gems from “Masquerade” (1995). That’s the special Running Wild album known as the most uncompromising patchwork of short fuses, which punch holes in the listener’s skull like bomb after bomb. I’m talking about Lions Of The Sea (the undisputed peak of “Masquerade”, which, amid generally high voltage, features an acoustic intro) and Black Soul, which both found a spot in this selection.
Generally speaking, Running Wild albums in the past offered a sonic picture mostly geared toward covering the high end. Everything sounded high. Riffing, drums, vocals, and on top of it all the bass guitar. This time Rock’n Rolf produced his 26 tracks phenomenally, as their new musical look fills the entire sonic spectrum, including the low end. On top of that, Rolf tightened up the guitar riffing and bass lines on both tracks from the botched “The Brotherhood”. Now these two sound truly alive too, since the new production successfully covers up the tinny sound of the drum machine. The tracks I haven’t mentioned but which also made it onto the compilation are: Blazon Stone (“Blazon Stone”, 1991), Riding The Storm, Bad To The Bone (both from “Death Or Glory”, 1989), Port Royal, Conquistadores (both from “Port Royal”, 1988) and Under Jolly Roger (“Under Jolly Roger”, 1987). A fantastic compilation that will thrill all the RW die-hard fans and quite likely bewitch a freshly baked metalhead or two.
Production
Rock’N’Rolf
Track list
CD 1.:
1. Prowling Werewolf(04:13)
2. Genghis Khan (04:10)
3. Prisoners Of Our Time (05:23)
4. Branded & Exiled ’03 (03:58)
5. Mordor (04:41)
6. Under Jolly Roger (04:44)
7. Apocalyptic Horsemen(04:38)
8. Raise Your Fist (05:31)
9. Port Royal (04:14)
10. Conquistadores (04:48)
11. Riding The Storm (06:30)
12. Bad To The Bone (04:48)
13. Blazon Stone (06:32)
14. Little Big Horn (04:58)
CD 2.:
1. Whirlwind (04:55)
2. Treasure Island (11:15)
3. Black Hand Inn (04:33)
4. The Privateer (04:22)
5. Lions Of The Sea (05:50)
6. Black Soul (05:21)
7. Firebreather (04:04)
8.Ballad Of William Kidd (8:42)
9. Victory (4:49)
10. Tsar (7:08)
11. Welcome To Hell (04:35)
12. The Brotherhood (06:46)
Total running time: 141:28
