I’ll admit, the first 20 seconds of Rock N Rolf’s comeback had me worried, sounding too close to his hair band infatuation TOXIC TASTE that caused him to shelve RUNNING WILD in the first place. Same can be said of the throwaway ‘Me & The Boys’. Thankfully, it only took a couple of years for him to come to his senses, thus Shadowmaker. Where he made a career out of pirate metal anthems, Rolf Kasparek explores more themes this time out, with only ‘Riding On The Tide’ sailing into familiar territory. Even the artwork displays a more modern (less buccaneer) approach, a futuristic space helmet in chrome/silvery colors. ‘Am Who I Am’ is the first to rise above mid-tempo, an easy to sing-along first thruster that utilizes multi-voiced chorus. ‘Black Shadow’, while not Satanic, harkens to the slower, staccato heaviness of something similar to ‘Chains & Leather’. Nice solo in the middle of that one too boot! ‘Locomotive’ is an unabashed heavy metal track, the drums replicating the big train’s pistons. Following the aforementioned ‘Me & The Boys’ misstep, the title track gets things back on track, a lively romp, easily identified as Running Wild, particularly with that signature guitar tone. ‘Sailing Fire’ seems autobiographical, in the fact it’s about the passion “burning in our hearts,” ie. he couldn’t completely give up RUNNING WILD, thus the resurrection. ‘Into The Black’ is a zombie tale, which goes along with the concluding ‘Dracula’, both predators (hidden theme?), although the finale is actually an unrequited love story, played to Rolf’s characteristic melodies before ending with acoustic guitar atop rain sound effect. Is this a great RUNNING WILD disc? No. Enjoyable, yes and true to form, but the guy has only issued three albums (including this one) in the last decade. There have been that many RUNNING WILD tribute CDs in less time! With Shadowmaker being the first since ’05, it will undoubtedly take some time to get up to speed. Still, good to have him back again!