Artist: Running Wild
Label: G.U.N. Records
Released: 2005
Rating: 1.5/5
“Rogues en Vogue” tries to win back the band’s battered reputation, after the total shipwreck of ”The Brootherhood” (2002). From cookie-cutter songwriting to imagination-free riffs and illogical semitone turns right in the middle of well-developed melodic motifs that often sounded like fifth-rate Judas Priest from the early eighties, or some early W.A.S.P. In short, a complete degradation of the band’s name, where it simply can’t get any worse. Solos worn out a thousand times over, the production harsh, flimsy and geared purely toward covering the high end, an absolute wreck of a record.
This time the longer, tasty solos are back, though. The three-part harmonies are just as expressive and full-sounding, and so is another very important Running Wild trademark! Extremely fast picking across the guitar riffs. Skeleton Dance is the first of them to carry all those classic Running Wild spices. The guitar sound is sharp and alive, the riffing massive, and the bass fills out the lower end of the sonic palette just like it should. Soul Vampires is a living example of that last point. Some of the anthemic vocal choruses in the refrains are set up in a startlingly fresh way again (Draw The Line, Soul Vampires). Production-wise, “Rogues en Vogue” doesn’t really mean anything special, but compared to ‘The Brootherhood’ we can honestly breathe a sigh of relief, because Rolf’s computer tinkering, as far as the drum programming goes, has been masked better than ever so far. But the samples lack the depth that only drums made of flesh and bone can bring. In the booklet, despite the programmed drums, Matthias Liebetruth is credited as the studio drummer, and Rolf otherwise borrows him for Runninfg Wild tours.
The pirate songs are somehow coming back. Running Wild are trying to kick around the old notes. But it’s not respectful to compare “Rogues En Vogue” with the Running Wild legacy rounded off by “Rivalry” (1998). It’s not respectful to the legacy. It all depends on the moody Rock’N’Rolf, and what happens with Running Wild in the future. Stay a “one man band”, or finally rise from the dead? And be metal again!
Lineup
Rock ‘N’ Rolf – vocals, guitars
Peter Pichl – bass
Matthias Liebetruth – drums
Production
Rock’N’Rolf
Track list
1. Draw The Line (04:13)
2. Angel Of Mercy (04:47)
3. Skeleton Dance (04:28)
4. Skulls & Bones (06:23)
5. Born Bad, Dying Worse (04:19)
6. Black Gold (04:18)
7. Soul Vampires (03:57)
8. Rogues En Vogue (04:48)
9. Winged & Feathered (05:16)
10. Dead Man’s Road (03:36)
11. The War (10:40)
BONUS TRACKS ON THE SPECIAL EDITION:
12. Cannonball Tongue (4:01)
13. Libertalia (3:47)
Album length: 56:45
