_{German band Running Wild return with their 16th studio album entitled “Rapid Foray” – released on 26th August through Steamhammer / SPV. I’ve always liked songs that are based on historical events or stories and Rolf Kasparek (aka Rock n Rolf) has a fantastic track record for delivering those conceptual lyrics accompanied by a thundering, instantly infectious soundtrack. I played the album’s opening track “Black Skies, Red Flag” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 19th August.}

 

_{Running Wild formed in Hamburg back in the late 70’s and released their debut album in 1984. The 'Pirate Metal' genre was kickstarted with the release of “Under Jolly Roger” in 1987 – by that stage only singer / guitarist Kasparek remained from the original line-up. Over the next few years the tracks became increasingly historically researched and conceptual. From 1987 to 2009, Running Wild went through a number of line-up changes and in the process released another 10 studio albums as well as 3 live albums and 5 compilation albums.}

_{In 2009, Kasparek announced that the band was splitting up; but they returned in 2011, releasing “Shadowmaker” in 2012 and “Resilient” in 2013 (http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/back-stage/music-reviews/1346-ni-rocks-recommends-qresilientq-by-running-wild.html ) as well as another live album (a recording of their “final” show at Wacken in 2009) and 3 more compilation albums.}

_{Other than Kasparek, the only band member to have been there for more than a couple of years is guitarist Peter Jordan who has been in the band since 2004. Bass player Ole Hempelmann and drummer Michael Wolpers both joined the band in 2015.}

_{There are 11 tracks on the album, which is also released in some great looking vinyl packages. As well as “Black Skies, Red Flag”, my favourites would be “Warmongers”, “By The Blood In Your Heart” (which includes some great bagpipe sounds), “Black Bart” and “Into The West”.}

_{Check out the website for more info - http://www.running-wild.de/}

_{About “NI Rocks Recommends”}

_{The simple idea behind “NI Rocks Recommends” is to acknowledge and promote some of the great music being submitted to Rock Radio NI. I'll not be giving marks or ratings or analyzing the tracks in great detail; just telling you something about the artist and the album. It’s a personal recommendation to go check something out, not a traditional “review”!}

_{My musical tastes cover most things rock; from the not too melodic to the not too heavy. The albums that I’ll be recommending are those that you’ll hear me playing tracks from on my shows on Rock Radio NI.}

 

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