Which Running Wild Track Busted Through the Gates To Purgatory?

Gates To Purgatory was released in December 1984. Running Wild had a "Satanic" gimmick on this and their second album before adopting the pirate theme they became known for. This album is thus rather dark. It also has a “muffled” sound for lack of a better word. The production isn’t the best.

My introduction to Running Wild was "Black Demon" which was posted by a YouTube account known as "Freewheelburner" at the time. The guy constantly changed accounts because YouTube kept suspending them for all the copywritten songs he posted. Anyway, I dug the song and checked out other Running Wild tracks and became a big fan.

There is nothing weak on this album, although some songs plod along a bit. Their later stuff is so good I don’t play this album as much as when I first got into the band.

I really like “Black Demon” (for sentimental reasons), “Adrian (S.O.S.)” mainly for the drum during the line “to bring oppression down”, and “Genghis Khan” (though I don’t like how the singer pronounces it “Genghis Can”, LOL).  My favorite, though, is “Prisoner of Our Time.”  Great riff and the chorus is catchy as hell.

[Note: I’m including “Walpurgis Night” and “Satan” because they were released on the US and Canadian versions back in the day, so I don’t consider them “bonuses” per se. “Walpurgis Night” is really good, but is cut prematurely because of the condition of the master tape]

Prisoner for sure. I got this album after getting familiar with their god-tier streak of Port Royal - Black Hand Inn, thus the impact it had is minimal. "Gates..." is okay, but usually its just the "Prisoner of our Time" I listen to. "Branded and Exiled" is usually the one I go when in the mood for some early RW simply for it being the stronger of the two.

Soldiers of hell for sure.

Can't choose. This album is a journey through hell. In a good way.

This is a damn cool cover version of Black Demon -
" Hell's Troops Conqueor -Burning the Church " bad lyric

I just finished listening to the whole album on YouTube and "Diabolic Force" is my favorite. The clip I listened to didn't have "Walpurgis Night" and "Satan" included so I listened to them individually. "Walpurgis Night" is a great tune that I almost chose as my favorite. Didn't really care for "Prisoner Of Our Time" or "Soldier Of Hell" much.

Prisoner of Our Time

Excellent tune

Soldiers of Hell for me.

Ghengis Khan. This is going to be a good thread, have to start pulling out stuff I haven't listened to in awhile.

Going by context, "Victim of States Power" is the track that busted through the Gates to Purgatory. Therefore, that's where my vote goes.

Anyway, the whole album is great stuff. It's without a doubt my favorite Running Wild album. I know that they've also put out some classics in later years, but I find their "black metal" albums the easiest to go back to when I'm in the mood for Running Wild. "Preacher" and "Black Demon" are probably my two favorites off this album, but like I said, all the songs are standouts.

I think every Running Wild fan should at least check out this album and Branded and Exiled. They're very powerful releases that have so much to offer to the average metalhead.

Grave Digger and Stormwitch had similar beginnings as Running Wild did, but they didn't sound as murky or chaotic in style.

Painkiller wrote:

Going by context, "Victim of States Power" is the track that busted through the Gates to Purgatory. Therefore, that's where my vote goes.

Haha! I was just trying to come up with something more clever than to keep asking "Which track is your favorite" or "Which was the best." Going to try to play with words for each album if I can.

Forgot to mention, "Prisoner of Our Time" has the band's name in the lyrics!

Fight for freedom, fight for the right
We are running wild

What's cool is that almost every Running Wild album is available on Spotify. I was thinking of posting a poll a week to give anyone who's interested a chance to listen to each album if they haven't already. I'm pleased with the quick responses and 12 votes already! Thanks guys!

It's a shame that their albums are tricky to physically acquire. I only have CDs of Gates to Purgatory and The Rivalry, but I'm convinced the former is a bootleg. I don't really enjoy their later stuff that much, but those are more common to get.

It is what it is.

Painkiller wrote:

It's a shame that their albums are tricky to physically acquire. I only have CDs of Gates to Purgatory and The Rivalry, but I'm convinced the former is a bootleg. I don't really enjoy their later stuff that much, but those are more common to get.

It is what it is.

Yeah, when I first got into Running Wild, I checked eBay and Amazon for physical copies of their albums. I was particularly interested in vinyl, but was surprised there really wasn't anything available, at least, not what I was looking for. It was the same time I began downloading more music, so buying the mp3 albums from Amazon seemed the way to go. I now have six on their albums in mp3 format and as well as individual songs off other albums. I don't have a single physical copy of their music. As I'm trying to stop accumulating so much stuff as I get older, I'm cool with it. I bet some of those albums make real cool LP artwork, though.

I could just go with downloading MP3s, but I personally get nothing out of those. What I hear may sound pretty cool, but the magic of an album is more than just having something to listen to for me. I'll gladly buy a high-quality bootleg off some Greek or Russian seller before I even pay for an MP3 file.

It'd be great for a label to reissue their stuff. A lot of people are missing out.

Prisoner of Our Time

I have almost all of the Running Wild albums either on first press CD's or japanese issues.

In the case of Gates To Purgatory the proper answer is "Prisoner of Our Time". Such a great track. Melody, conviction, power and awesome lyrics to boot. Sort of a pre-cursor to "Chains and Leather".

I bought this CD, along with Pile of Skulls, from Tower some time in the early 2000s, and did not care for either that much. I'm still not terribly into the band, but some of their more classic pirate period albums sound a little better to me. My first exposure to RW was a "Under Jolly Roger" on a German metal comp, that ran the gamut of styles. I liked that tune a lot, but I've never heard any other songs that stuck with me the way that one did, even from the same album.

This is a cool clip - singer's very young -
You can see the fan base already -
and of course, not a bad stage set up -
at 2:05 - there's actual 4 fire shooters from floor -

Great video! The singer was a very nice-looking young man.

No one else likes Ghengis Khan? Chorus sticks in my head.

Not the best recording but still, you get the idea.

Dark Horseman wrote:

No one else likes Ghengis Khan? Chorus sticks in my head.

I like that song a lot, it's just not my favorite on the album. The way he pronounces "Khan" bugs me as I always thought it was pronounced "Kahn". He pronounces it like "can." Maybe he's right and I've been wrong all this time, LOL. It just seems weird because usually non-Americans pronounce "a" as an "ah" sound.

I do like " Prisoner Of Our Time " and the song has a super-cool lyric -
" Soldiers of the underground, dark and heavy is our sound "
Love that

Why I haven't been voting on these RW polls is a mystery to me.

Black Demon.