Running Wild - The Brotherhood

*=Staff's pick	Welcome To Hell Soulstripper The Brotherhood* Crossfire Siberian Winter Detonator Pirate Song* U-Nation Dr. Horror The Ghost* Powerride Faceless*

Genre	Heavy Metal	Rolf Kasparek	Vocals
Tracks	12	Rolf Kasparek	Guitar
Runningtime	62 Min.	Bernd Aufermann	Guitar
Label	Noise Records	Peter Pichel	Bass
Release	25 Feb. 2002	Matthias Liebetruth	Drums
Country	Germany	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	---

Let me, before I do anything else, say that I might be considered a little bit biassed in this issue. I consider myself be one of the biggest Running Wild fans on earth, and to explain what kind of musical impact Rock'n'Rolfs albums, songs, riffs and lyrics have had on me up to present date would take days or even weeks to explain. But neverthelesss I would like to review this album myself instead of someone else in my staff. Does this album leaves us with the feeling that it has been worth the 2 year wait? Yes, it does!

Needless to explain, what we get here is true bombastic metal of highest brand. The Brotherhood sounds like an album with Running Wild should, and they haven't moved an inch from what makes them just R.W, and not nothing else. After the release of Victory the wonders came about in which direction Rolf would take R.W, cause that album was recieved with mixed feelings worldwide, and so even from me. With the Brotherhood I think we can establish that he has left the good, old days for good now, meaning the plenty of happy, melodic riffing (Blazon Stone, Death Or Glory), but instead we get a heavier, more groovy and mature sound.

Don't worry, the harmonies are there. A bit more than on Victory, which was a bit thin in that area, but not as significant anymore like in the old days. I would like to compare this album to an imaginary mix between Black Hand Inn and Victory, but with greater heaviness and much more energy put into the choruses and verse-riffs. The album starts off with the killer Welcome to Hell, which sets a good mark for how this album sounds. Catchy uptempo riffing in the veins of Men in Black, with a smashing chorus. This is followed by Soulstripper - a midtempo piece with a killer refrain.

The title track offers us a great harpsichord(?) intro - a bit unusal for Running Wild - but nevertheless great, followed by a harmonylead intro and one of his best verseriffs, and a powerful singalong refrain. It goes on like this, with uptempo songs mixed with the best kind of midtempo tunes he has composed in a while. As earlier stated, this album feels more heavier - mostly due to the killerriffs, and the sound is crystal clear and feels like velvet against your eardrums.

The 6½ minute instrumental track Siberian Winter is a monster composition in full-speed that - if he had chose to put vocals to it - would probably had kicked The Phantom of Black Hand Hill off the throne as one of the best songs ever. Pirate Song, yes - probably the most anticipated song from the Running Wild fans in quite a while, and I can all tell you: It is probably the best song he has made so far. A mix between Jenning's Revenge and Hang, Drawn&Quarted with the most catchy refrain he has come up with. Already a classic.

And the epic long player The Ghost is a track that is gonna blow you away. It can easily be compared to Genesis - in pompousness that is. As usual Rolf never fails to build up just the kind of mood that make us almost feel like we are present in the scene of the happenings of the story - in this case the song is about Lawrence of Arabia. Absolute killer harmonies and magnificent riffs in a good uptempo and a chorus that is breathtaking.

I haven't yet made up my mind about which of Genesis and The Ghost that is the best of all time - but from my problems to figure that out, I guess you get a pretty good idea about how good the song is. The standard on the songs throughout the album is very high - a bit better than on the previous album, and here you don't really find any that can be considered a fill-out spot.

I won't take part in the issue of a drummachine's presence or not, cause I actually couldn't care less. Rumours state that the drums on the previous album as well as this one are trigged, and well - that might very well be the case. But if it sounds good, than it's good enough for me, and there are enough rumours out there than for me to contribute with one more. The sound is absolutely great, and it seems like Rolf is coming closer and closer to his desired ultimate snaresound... but I guess the snare still ain't big enough. :)

Make sure to get a hold of the limited version that contains he tracks Powerride and Faceless - they are too good to be missed, and could easily compete and most likely win over the other tracks on the album for an original spot. They are both up/midtempo with really catchy lines and choruses, especially Faceless. We won't make you walk the plank for this, Captain Rolf - we salute you instead!

See also review of: Rapid Foray , Resilient , Shadowmaker , Rogues En Vogue , Live

Production	Vocals	Compositions
7	8	8

Summary
8 chalices of 10 - Tommy