Running Wild - Resilient

Power Metal

SPV

2013

1. Soldiers Of Fortune

2. Resilient

3. Adventure Highway

4. The Drift

5. Desert Rose

6. Fireheart

7. Run Riot

8. Down To The Wire

9. Crystal Gold

10. Bloody Island

Coming off of the album Shadowmaker, this is an album I was looking forward to hearing from Running Wild. Reviews on that album were a bit mixed, but personally I found it fun and catchy. It's absolutely true that Running Wild isn't the same band they were in earlier days though so I can understand the varied reactions to their more recent material. Running Wild just aren't the speed demon they used to be so that's something you kind of have to accept if you want to keep listening to them. My expectation for Resilient was pretty much just rocking and catchy anthems. I'd love it if they went full on Death or Glory blazing leads again, but I was more expecting a fun and hook filled rocker.

Listening to Resilient I don't hear a lot of surprises really. Not a lot has changed from Shadowmaker as this is more rocking than blazing. Most of the tracks have a good anthemic energy, but it comes less from speedy leads and more from sing song vocals and rocking hooks. There are some teases of older Running Wild in familiar epic guitar tones, pirate themes, and a speedy moment or two, but this is mostly what Running Wild is doing these days. The highlights do tend to be the speedier ones though and there are a couple. Soldiers Of Fortune sounds kinda like something that could have been on Pile Of Skulls and starts the album with one of the more upbeat leads of the album. Adventure Highway is also a quicker moving one which builds to a nice chorus you can sing along to. Blood Island is a bit more paced and maybe a bit overlong, but it's also fairly epic. Maybe not their best epic length song ever, but I found it a nice inclusion anyway. Overall, I don't think the highlights are quite as strong as Shadowmaker, which is a minor disappointment, but the album is more or less on equal ground overall. The hooks don't grab me quite as immediately, but the general listening experience isn't far removed and the end rating is about the same.

Basically, if you liked Shadowmaker or any of their more recent mid-paced album this isn't bad. It sounds like Running Wild and it has that fun, epic pirate quality about it. There's nothing genius here or anything to change anyone's mind about their recent material either way. Personally, I still want some new pirate sing-a-longs and this satisfies that. It's not a new classic, but it's pretty good material anyway and above the general curve of power metal. Pretty good mid-paced power metal with epic tones and mid-range vocals.

Highlights: Adventure Highway, Soldiers Of Fortune, Bloody Island

Rating - 3.5/5