RUNNING WILD — Port Royal (review)

RUNNING WILD — Port Royal album cover Album · 1988 · Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
Time Signature
Raging fire...

Genre: pirate metal, yo-ho-ho!

Running Wild made the worst possible exit ever with their catastrophically boring and tired sounding "Rogues en Vogue" goodbye album from 2005. But, hey, when they have a catalog of amazing metal releases like this one, they can be forgiven.

"Port Royal" is simply an milestone masterpiece of German metal from the 80s, and, right from the goofy pirate inn intro to the epic closing power metal track "Calico Jack", the album is just one barrage of ass-kicking cannon shots after another (savvy).

"Port Royal" is the essential pirate metal track with its big sound and classic-metal-meets-power-metal guitar riffage and oh-oh-oh-oh-riddled chorus, as are "Calico Jack", "Mutiny" and, to some extent, "Conquistadores" - although the latter deals with the murder and exploitation of Native Americans by Europeans in the name of the king and the church (so, a bit of social criticism there). "Into the Arena" is an uptempo power metal track with a couple of neoclassical elements, too, and this one is interesting in that it was penned by Majk Moti and not Kasparek, and so it sound different from Running Wild on many subsequent releases, when Kasparek takes over the songwriting completely. The other Moti-penned track "Blown to Kingdom Come" is very Priest-inspired, but also contains a neoclassical bridge. The bass-dominated instrumental "Final Gates" was, of course, penned by bassist Jens Becker and has the distinct honor of being the one of the first metal tracks wherein a 5-stringed bass is used. "Uaschitschun" is one of Kasparek's trademark environmentalist songs which takes a Native American's perspective on our destruction of nature, and, while this is musically (combining it with the typical metal theme of individual freedom and independence), not the most interesting song of the album, it does have a compelling chorus line.

As with most of Running Wild's mid 80 to mid 90s releases, this is a fine example of German heavy metal at its best,- and any fan of traditional metal and early power metal should check it out.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Avenge the Fallen Power Metal
HAMMERFALL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Zenith Power Metal
STORMBORN
Buy this album from MMA partners
World on Fire Power Metal
MILLENNIAL REIGN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Kaosmogonia Symphonic Metal
HYPERSONIC
Buy this album from MMA partners
Live In Riverside Melodic Metalcore
ICE NINE KILLS
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

SETYØURSAILS - Bad Company (Official Video) | Napalm Records
SETYØURSAILS
Bosh66· 1 day ago
SETYØURSAILS - Lately (Official Video) | Napalm Records
SETYØURSAILS
Bosh66· 1 day ago
SETYØURSAILS - Bad Blood (feat. Adrian Estrella) (Official Video) | Napalm Records
SETYØURSAILS
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper - Shallow (Metal Cover by SETYØURSAILS feat. Mike Perez)
SETYØURSAILS
Bosh66· 1 day ago
SETYØURSAILS - Best Of Me (Official Video) | Napalm Records
SETYØURSAILS
Bosh66· 1 day ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed