2017 re-issue on double vinyl in gatefold cover

Masquerade, one of the more controversial albums in RunningWild’s catalogue. If any average listener were to explore the vast,wonderful backlog of the German speed metallers exploits, theymight be hard pressed to explain why this album is such a big dealto so may fans of the band. Well for some reason, a few folks seemto feel like this is the album where they fell off the wagon andbegan to stagnate. There aren’t enough words in the Englishlanguage to accurately express how much I disagree with thatsentiment. One reason I’ve been given is that this album marked theprecise point they ran out of ideas and just started rippingthemselves off senselessly. The truth of the matter behind that isthat this is simply a continuation of the style they were playingon Black Hand Inn, which was a continuation of Pile of Skulls,which was a continuation of Blazon Stone, et cetera and so forth.Running Wild had this amazing ability to write albums that didn’tsound too different from one album to the next, but worlds apart ifyou look back a mere three or four albums. They were alwayschanging, ever evolving, and this is one of the traits that madethem such a special band. Why this particular album catches shitfor doing what literally each and every album before it had done,I’ll never understand. So to counteract my claim of logicalcontinuation, this is also the album where Rolf starts reachingback and combining past efforts with his new ambitions. Forexample, tracks like Soleil Royal, Black Soul and Wheel of Doomcould have easily fit on Black Hand Inn with their similar riffideas and slight power metal tint at times, whereas Men in Black,Demonized and Rebel at Heart carry a more hard rocking andtraditional heavy metal bent than the others, sounding akin sosomething that wouldn’t be out of place on Blazon Stone, and stillwe have tracks like Underworld, Lions of the Sea and Masqueradethat are straight up speed metal through and through and reallywould have sounded right at home on Pile of Skulls. So yes, I canconcede that Masquerade explores less new territory than previousefforts, but I counter that it’s a beautiful amalgam of what madethe last four albums, (and really, their entire 90s era) so great,while still pushing forwards into new territories. Really, everytrademark of Rolf and crew are still just as mighty as ever, nomatter what people may try to tell you. I will admit that the albumslows down a bit too much when the band takes their foot off thegas on tracks like Demonized and Rebel at Heart, which are stillgood songs, but don’t much fit with the high energy tempo of therest of the album. I’ve always found this to be Running Wild’sAchilles heel, to be honest. The tracks that are less speed metaland more traditional/hard rock never seem to be as captivating,regardless of how awesome Rolf makes the chorus (like Rebel atHeart). It’s really only a small bump in the grand scheme ofthings, fortunately. I can’t help but feel like the popular opinionof this being the band’s turning point is completely and utterlywrong. Every element that made the band special is still abundantlyclear and the biggest difference between Masquerade and the fanfavourite of Black Hand Inn is that the former is more direct andless epic. Whatever story is being told here takes a back seat to acollection of hard hitting and exceptionally catchy heavy/speedmetal, and that’s exactly what Running Wild is best at. I wouldn’tchange a thing.

Track listing:
1. The Contract/The Crypts Of Hades
2. Masquerade
3. Demonized
4. Black Soul
5. Lions Of The Sea
6. Rebel At Heart
7. Wheel Of Doom
8. Metalhead
9. Soleil Royale
10. Men In Black
11. Underworld

Condition cover: nm

Condition vinyl: nm

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M(mint)/NM(near mint) = Nyskick/Mycket bra exemplar
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