X-Wild
Savageland

THE REVIEW

X Wild…a band born almost out of spite. It was 1992, and the Running Wild were finishing the tour of the magnificent “Pile of Skulls” when Rock’n’rolf, leader of the German band, fired the current guitarist Alex Morgan, who then went to recount the events to his friend Jens Becker, bassist of the Teutonic pirates at the time of “Blazon Stone”. That meeting was the prologue of a poetic moral revenge, the start of a coveted musical independence from which to derive the means to fight on equal terms with the band of the judge Rolf Kasparek (proposing moreover a very similar genre). It was the beginning of a tortuous two-year period of compositional refinement, during which X-Wild (supported by drummer Stefan Schwarzmann and vocalist Frank Knight) released the first debatable albums ("So What", 1994 and "Moster Effect", 1995), which harshly highlighted the ingenuities of the Morgan-Becker duo from the point of view of songwriting. It was precisely “Savageland” of 1996, the album of the quality turning point; a work that was able to fight worthily with the masterpieces of the German heavy/power scene of that period: it was the same year as “Tunes of War” by Grave Digger, while “Black Hand Inn” by Running Wild, had been released just two years earlier.

“Savageland” throws the listener into a rugged and chivalrous world, inhabited by boastful warriors and rebellious barbarians, a world where honor is shaped by heroes brandishing bronze swords and double axes. In this regard, “Murdered in thy Name”, “Die Like a Man”, and “Chaos Ends” have the acrid taste of a pitched battle, while “Dragonslair”, “Fields of Blackbirds”, and “Hunting the Damned” preserve that romantic pathos worthy of true epic metal. A suffocating moment veils the tracklist: “Children of the Underground” is supported by childlike and sinister voices, as if they were a multitude of spectral echoes, hidden in an arcane cave, whispering to the listener a macabre and chilling lullaby.

After this effort, the band disbanded definitively, leaving behind a dignified testament: “Savageland” was a fearless creation that stood honorably against the great bands of that period; it is no coincidence that the opener of this record is called “Braveheart”, a rebellious and warmongering song that romantically reflects what was held in the hearts of X-Wild at the time; a clear message that shouted: “We are no one's leftovers!"

Federico "Dragonstar" Passarella