Timing is everything. Six months ago, when Rock N Rolf Kasparek was limping along, between his lackluster Running Wild return and underwhelming hard rock solo project (Giant X), the Internet was all atwitter with news of a tribute act, who faithfully mimicked the Germans’ classic, 80s post-satanic style. Teasers were issued by Stormspell (half these eight tunes were already “leaked” online) and gradually more and more converts awaited the Blazon Stone debut, rather than the next Wild project.

Fast forward to today, where the fickle have (re-)embraced “Resilient” (and rightly so, as it’s the best Running Wild platter in a couple decades, which would seem to render this Swedish studio project (also responsible for Rocka Rollas) redundant. Where does that leave Blazon Stone? Well, some diehards actually prefer the imitation over the original! High praise indeed. Doesn’t hurt that in aping Kasparek’s clan, the Stoners opted for the highly successful pirate motif, some of the Germans’ strongest material. Make no mistake, these are “originals,” in that they’re not cover songs, but in some cases, spitting images of better known material, hence the necessary quotation marks. A beehive buzzing of speedy guitars is the predominate rule, aided by a rollicking double bass gallop. Best moments? Simple, repetitive, yet catchy as Hell ‘Stand Your Line’, sing-along ‘High Treason’ and ‘Curse Of The Ghost Ship’, although really not a bad (saber) cut in the bunch. Guilty pleasure.