Customer Reviews

Masquerade

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

i discovered running wild about 13 years ago with the albums 'black hand inn' and 'masquerade' and what a fitting introduction it was!
those 2 albums remain Running Wild's peak to this day. 'death or glory' 'blazon stone' and 'the rivalry' do come close but never equal the consistency,
viciousness and the hooking replay value of those above mentioned albums.
masquerade, aside from sporting stunning artwork by Andreas Marschall (see old blind guardian albums), starts with a demon summoning where
the ritual makers swear allegiance to the demon: a 'departure' from pirate themes and an exploration of 'light v/s dark' with the 'masquerade/rivalry/brotherhood'
trilogy. the album then effectively starts with a cyclic riff on fade in where guitars are unusually sharp, loud and crisp.
this new found sharpness and deadly guitar sound was first experienced on the '94 'black hand inn' album. it continues here to even greater effect and it's
a shame that Rolf dropped it after 'the brotherhood' album in favor of a more 'groovy' sound.
the title track pounds the brains out of your ears with jorg michaels' punishing drumming while rolf plays guitar like a machine, with deadly picking
and striking precision. the whole band follows suit with superb performance on all instruments and all of them perfectly audible. i dont understand
the other reviewer's issue with production; i hope he's kidding. no matter how loud i crank that cd up, no instrument takes more than its own place.
this cd was released in '95 and can still sound better than many 2009 expensively produced metal releases.
tracks like 'demonized' 'lions of the sea' and 'underworld' make this album IMO one of the most underlooked gems of speed metal, where soul and technique
fuse together in a perfect blend of merciless sonic assault.
i can describe this album in 5 neat words: crisp.heavy(as hell).loud.fast.passionate.
that's what metal is all about.
it's a big shame that Running Wild never played any of it live. if you're not willing to buy the original due to the differently natured reviews, try finding it used and see for yourself.
downloading this album will never do its musical quality justice as the mp3 format will still seriously lack the subtleties of this particular CD recording.

this disc is amazing. it kicks bootie all the way through and it has two bonus tracks from 1983. you don't need to like certain bands to get into this band, only if you like metal.

Hi there !
This is a great album i bought it same time as: "GATES TO PURGATORY!" and both albums ROCK!!! this band is amazing little heavier than accept' i honesty grew upo listening to German heavy metal and those bands never dissapointed me ,
'NEVER" i give this rock n' rolf album 4 because gates is my favorite.-

Picking up this album gave me a good feeling, after all I'd liked Port Royal and loved Death or Glory, so figured I'd take a chance on them. Bad move.

OK, to specifics - this album is like walking through mudflats at low tide. There are a couple of occasions where the lyrics or the music picks up, but really what weighs this release under is the combination of so-so production and also the feeling that everyone knew that Death or Glory had been their artistic and commercial highpoint, and that there was nothing more to look forward to.

Which is a pity as I always had a soft spot for this band. My tip is to get Death or Glory. It's excellent. Then explore further out from there.