'Under Jolly Roger' marks 'Running Wild's' maiden voyage into the realms of piracy, and is a smart move away from the patchy demonic / purgatory themed material of the first two albums. At this stage of their career some unevenness is still evident, but the biggest letdown here in the running time which fails to exceed 35 minutes- so in effect is a long E.P. That said 'Under Jolly Roger' has no shortage of quality tracks and nicely bridges the gap between early and mid career classic 'Running Wild'. Production wise this is also pretty good, in fact better than the following album 'Port Royal'.

The infamous title track opens proceedings in superb fashion, a splendidly penned Power Metal sea shanty, that highlights a refined melody, powerful but catchy chorus and brilliant use of sound effect- early classic! The pulsating 'Beggar's Night' ensues with a lively riff driven approach, occasionally a little reminiscent of cruder earlier material but still shows progress, especially with the solid rhythmical building intro. More quality takes the shape of 'Diamonds of the Black Chest', another catchy rocker which highlights a cracking chorus, sweet solo and 'Rolf's' usual punchy vocals on simple but effective lyrics. The more rugged 'War in the Gutter' follows in brisker more uncompromising fashion and whilst a little repetitive still fails to disappoint as 'Majk Moti' produces another slashing solo. Next up is the slightly more commercial 'Raise Your Fist', lyrically it's pretty carefree, more into Mötley Crüe or 'Twisted Sister' territory, even though it's a slight departure still a good solid affair. Less impressive is the languid plodder 'Land of Ice' a pretty tedious affair that brings back memories of less focused earlier efforts. Thankfully 'Raw Ride' brings us back on track in pulsating fashion, with it's ebbing rhythm and sharp hooks, 'Rock 'n' Rolf' delivers the hard-hitting lyrics with gusto and overall makes for another hearty cut. The tempo is lifted further for the fast and furious finale 'Merciless Game', a splendid Speed Metal ripper fuelled by thunderous rhythm work, while bowing out with a sublime instrumental fuelled by glorious soloing from 'Rolf' and 'Moti'.

Ok this suffers from a lack of content, but this marks the beginning a string of increasingly superb albums from one of Germanys finest Power / Speed outfits.