Running Wild

Running Wild started in Hamburg in 1976 as Granite Heart and has carried the name of a Judas Priest song since 1979. The debut Gates to Purgatory came out on Noise Records in 1984, still with occult lyrics, part of the same German speed metal wave as Helloween and Grave Digger. With Under Jolly Roger in 1987 singer and guitarist Rolf Kasparek traded that imagery for pirates and sea battles, a theme the band kept on Port Royal, Death or Glory, and Blazon Stone, and one that later became known as pirate metal. Line-ups changed often, with Kasparek as the constant. After a break around 2009 came Shadowmaker, Rapid Foray, and Blood on Blood in 2021.

This collection brings together Running Wild on vinyl, LP and CD: reissues of the albums from the eighties and nineties, live material, and later work.