666sharon666 Pile of Skulls is the seventh Running Wild album from 1992. Much like Death or Glory and Black Hand Inn, the album is usually ranked as one of the band's best. While not my favourite, it's certainly still quite high up there and is also a massive step forward after the rankly disappointing Blazon Stone from the year before.

After starting off with the folk introduction track Chamber of Lies (this is a very nice addition to the album by the way, it's a pity Running Wild never experimented in this direction more), Running Wild starts delivering high class power/heavy metal songs one after the other. The back to back duo of Whirlwind and Sinister Eyes are two of the very best, along with the title track and the eleven minute Treasure Island. There are neither no down points to the album and I wouldn't say it has any fillers either, just about an hour's worth of classic sounding heavy/power for your enjoyment. You really can't go far wrong with this one if you like your metal that stands up for the traditional values. 4.5 stars.

Warthur Running Wild's Pile of Skulls continues their power metal-tinged pirate metal period, with the band just about staying on the traditional heavy metal side of the genre boundary. On the whole, I think the production is much improved over Port Royal and there's better compositions this time, though there's still a few too many points where they end up sounding like a poor man's Iron Maiden and the album begins to run out of steam halfway through. Those with more tolerance for cheese in their metal may find this more palatable than me, but for my part I find myself decidedly unimpressed with this one.

Time Signature Lead or gold...

Genre: pirate metal, yaarrr

"Pile of Skulls" is another fine release from the original pirate metallers in Running Wild. It contains one magnificent metal track than another. Running Wild have always balanced between traditional metal and powe rmetal, but often inclining more towards the traditional metal side, but I think that they immerse themselves more in power metal elements on this album.

As usual, everything is larger than life (just check out the awesome cover artwork), but at the core of the lyrical themes is something very real - power, corruption and abuse. Now, this is one of the wonderful things about metal's larger-than-life nature: you can take socially real topics and extrapolate them into a world of fantasy, enabling the artist to address some pretty serious topics in a manner that you will not find in many other types of popular music. Hell, metal is the Star Trek of popular music!

The album opens with the folk metal instrumental "Chamber of Lies" which morphs into the first pirate track of the album - namely, the uptempo "Whirlwind" which describes a ship's cutting through the foamy waves and storm-filled waters of the Spanish Main! Musically, this song contains one Rock 'n' Rolf style tremolo ass-kicker riff after another. Other pirate themed tracks are the wonderfully melodic and catchy "Lead or Gold" and the epic "Treasure Island" and "Jenning's Revenge", both of which contain extremely catchy parts. "White Buffalo" is another uptempo track, solidly rooted in the Priest-inspired metal of the late 80s, which addresses environmental concerns. "Roaring Thunder" is a lesson in heavy riffage, possibly containing the greatest riff in the history Running Wild (fans of Maiden's "The Prisoner" will like this, I think). "Sinister Eyes", "Black Wings of Death", the motorcycle-friendly "Fistful of Dynamite", and "Pile of Skulls" are all great tracks which display Rock 'n' Rolf Kasparek's affinity for writing hard rocking and fast paced metal riffs.

All you freedom loving metal pirates out there should do yourselves a favor and check out this heavy metal gem!