RUNNING WILD — Pile of Skulls (review)

RUNNING WILD — Pile of Skulls album cover Album · 1992 · Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
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!
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