Running Wild - Resilient (2013) - Shipwrecked - 16% (26/05/14)

The legendary German heavy metal band with the pirate image is back again and many critics claimed that “Resilient” sounded better than the controversially discussed comeback output “Shadowmaker” one year ago. I have to disagree. While the predecessor had a couple of truly catchy tracks that really grew on me, this new album is Running Wild's personal Costa Concordia and you know that the captain Rolf Kasparek is fully responsible here. If you compare this release to the Titanic, the weak production and the more and more obvious and lackluster drum computer are only the peak of a giant iceberg that makes this once famous ship sink. This is the band's worst record ever.

The song writing sounds extremely old-fashioned, repetitive and lacks charm, dynamism and originality. Almost every song on here sounds the same. The same worn-out mid-tempo riffs meet the same predictable guitar solos. The average bass guitar play and the artificially flavored drum computer are even worse and form a horribly weak rhythm section. The same limited vocal range meets the same lyrical topics over and over again. The choruses try to be epic and catchy but sound so predictable that it sounds almost childish and silly as if the whole album was at best written by a 12-year old geek who just discovered “Pirates of the Caribbean” on television and a few dusty heavy metal records forgotten by his father in the attic.

There are only one and a half decent songs on this album. The first one is the warmer and commercially flavored “Desert Rose” that could come from a band like Dokken. Even though this approach sounds aged and cheesy, this song clearly sounds different than the rest and has a quite positive attitude. It may only be a good average song all over but on this record, it’s the shining highlight. We also get another predictable attempt at an epic closure in form of “Bloody Island”. The track marks a few points with the atmospheric introduction, the use of sound samples and the decent use of acoustic guitars. But then again, this track is far too long for nothing at all. This kind of song would have been interesting if it had come out thirty years ago. Today, it’s only relevant for the few lost nostalgic fools who can’t stop living in the past and refuse all innovations and emerging genres that have appeared since 1984. It's clearly a hypocrite track written by numbers to satisfy the old fans who didn't like the previous output. In my opinion, even a song like "Dracula" is far better than this because the closer of "Shadowmaker" had at least a decent atmosphere and tried out a little something.

If you want to know the name of the worst song on here, I would cite “Fireheart”. The annoying, repetitive and retarded chorus is just a massive stinker and can't be beaten in terms of negativity.

Save your money for something different than this sad and irreparable shipwreck. If you like this kind of music, it’s probably even better to invest in clones such as Blazon Stone that released their debut record “Return To Port Royal” last year. If you think that the unnecessary limited edition with the two bonus tracks could be worth a try, then just don’t think about it. The two additional tracks are as irrelevant as most of the others on the regular edition. And guess what? Even the album cover is a nostalgic stinker where the band copies itself once again. From all points of view, the new Running Wild release is definitely the Andrea Doria among the 2013 metal releases. These old legends should just have gone in honor a while ago but maybe the just need to grab some quick cash at the expense of the fans. It would have been a much better idea for everybody to just remaster the classics and add a few new songs to it instead of releasing the abysmal and completely inelastic "Resilient".

Originally written for The Metal Observer