Gates to Purgatory

it was nice to see lemon records (uk) do a reissue of this long lost classic from 1984, victim of states of power was the first running wild song i heard in the autumn of 1984 as i bought the 12 single inch viynl at a great hm specialty metal shop back then, i loved the song as well as the b side so when the album arrived a month later as a german import i grabbed it the moment i saw it, by all standards this was the pre 1987 pirate image running wild when i personally felt running wild was going in more of an extreme judas priest style with this record and its 1985 follow up BRANDED AND EXILED ( wich is still my favorite) 27 years later, i loved running wild from the beggining with this record, of coarse in 1984 during that huge wave of german metal coming over here to the states with the likes of destruction, sodom, warrant, axe victims, helloween,celtic frost/hellhammer and a host of others, great metal on both the noise label and the mosuleum label from belgium, running wild was my favorite of them all and it kind of remained that way until around 2001/2002, anyway this album is feirce driven force metal with speed to it but the judas priest elements are all in there, some songs can get slow at times but they still keep this album way above water, i had not listened to this record since the early 90s about 20 years ago so it was great spinning this again and remembering the glory days of metal, running wild where slated for a us tour in 1986 in support of branded and exiled with celtic frost and voi vod but sadley running wild jumped off the tour after only a few west coast gigs so by the time the tour reached new york running wild was long gone, this is one band i really wish i had seen back in the 80s but it also seemed as if whatever happened in 1986 rockin rolph didnt seem to want to bother with the us market again, as history would have it in 1987 they released the under jolly rodger album ( wich is a classic) and went on with a whole pirate image and kind of got robbed of a bit of fame like nwobhm bands like raven and saxon did, once again i repeat when i got branded and exiled in the autumn of 1985 i was just blown away totally, i really hope lemon records or another label gives that the treatment the debut album got here, on this first album to you get the bonus track from the great death metal compilation lp from 1984 as well, i kept buying all the running wild albums as they came out for the rest of the 80s and all through the 90s but after there 2001 release i could see rockin rolph was getting a bit stail and i gave up then, if you are new to running wild i highley reccomend BRANDED AND EXILED, UNDER JOLLY RODGER, READY FOR BOARDING, PILE OF SKULLS and just about everything they did up to 2001, it is really nice to have a fresh remastered copy of this as i still have the original lps from the 80s and the cds from the 90s but the remastering is so much better on here, sadley my fourty something year old eyes cant read the liner notes but they appear to be taken straight from the original lp so i can read them there, for the price this is an amazing peice of metal history, play loud and enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is a very nice reissue and it has been great spinning this disc and hearing it again for the first time in many many years, i bought this on the original german noise label at an old HM/HR record shop that used to be here but closed its doors as long as 30 years ago already, i hung there every weekend from 1983 to about 1986 or so, anyway in late 1984 i saw this 12 inch as a new release and picked it up as i loved the sleeve and name of the band ( i saw the judas priest connection right away) anyway when the needle hit the disc and victim of states of power came blowing through my speakers i was a huge fan right there and then some 33 years back, i bought every running wild album as they came out from then until the songs finally started to get a bit stail by 2001 or there about, this is a fantastic digi pack, running wild where just one of many then new german power metal bands, in 1983/84 we did not seem to use the term thrash much that term really took off around late 1984/early 85, these german bands where the best thing since a few years before when we had the NWOBHM going on, by 84 that scene had died off or the bands went to what we called a poser style so a lot of us old school guys that liked metal the way it should sound got into this wave of german bands by 1984 such as GRAVEDIGGER, HELLOWEEN,DESTRUCTIOIN, WARRANT,SODOM, LIVING DEATH, WARLOCK & another called AXE VICTIMS ( who put out one killer album in 1984 called another victim but where never heard from again) and a host of others, anyway it was great back in 84 since by then everyone was getting more into spandex and hairspray then what metal should sound like, running wild where and still are among my favorite bands from this genre and era, i give this 4 stars becouse the 1991 re recordings where not needed even back in 91 as these 1982 to 84 recordings on here are perfect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this sounds as great as ever.....

Before they went into Pirate themed metal for which they are better renown, Running Wild did some pretty solid heavy metal. They recorded some demos in the period 1981-1983 which were eventually compiled in the "Heavy Metal Like a Hammer Blow" cassette by the band, which has since been reissued as bootlegs on numerous occasions. They also appeared on a number of compilations such as the legendary Death Metal compilation of Noise Records. The two albums that capture this phase of the band are "Gates to Purgatory", recorded in 1984, and "Branded and Exiled", recorded in 1985. "Gates to Purgatory" includes some classic songs which are the best example of the skillful, solid and accomplished heavy metal style of this band, which is a perfect example of the distinctive sound of German metal around the early 1980s. Some of these include the anarchistic "Victims of State Power", "Adrian SOS", "Soldiers of Hell", all of which were regularly played at their gigs. Two new editions of this cd (in 2012 and 2017) include extra tracks from compilations and other appearances of this band. Running Wild are a classic band, and in my opinion, this early phase captures them at their best. If you are into classic heavy metal and if you like the German bands from the 1980s, you will never be disappointed: get it, this is a must have for you. But don't expect Jolly Roger or Port Royal type of singalong chorus or themes...

Best album of Running wild

perfect album

ok

100% satisfied