The 10th full length and probably the lengthiest Running Wild album yet, this is also the 3rd in a row to maintain the same lineup. This album suffers the most from the rehashed riff syndrome that has plagued Running Wild in the 90s. Several of the tracks are almost blatant rip offs of earlier songs (for example… listen to "Kiss of Death", sounds quite familiar to "Renegade" and several other songs). There are even a few re-hashed song titles, "Fire & Thunder" ("Fire & Ice" from 'Black Hand Inn') and "Agents of Black" ("Men in Black" from the preceding album 'Masquerade'). Despite these facts, Running Wild offer a slab of power metal that's still better than almost everything else out there. Among the more original tracks are "Firebreather", "Return of the Dragon", "Ballad of William Kidd", and "Adventure Galley". It closes with "War & Peace", in my opinion the strongest song here. Running Wild have not really been an expanding band since the mid 80s, they simply do again and again what comes best to them, straightforward historically-charged German power metal. This is yet another solid album under their belts, but for the next album in the next millennium I hope they can make a few advancements to move things up a notch.

© 2000 pizarro