Viking from Los Angeles is a classic example of late-arriving thrash/speed bands. (They formed Tracer in 1985, recorded a demo with Spider behind the microphone the same year, then temporarily/temporarily disbanded because they couldn't find a suitable vocalist, and after rehearsing with Brett Eriksen and Ron Eriksen took over the vocals, they continued their careers by changing their name to Viking in 1986). After a demo (1986), they debuted in 1988 with the album Do or Die (they appeared on the Metal Massacre Vol. VIII compilation with the song "Hellbound" and Warlord was included in The Best of Metal Blade Vol. 3), but by that time they had exploited everything that could be exploited from thrash metal, so the material containing songs written in the spirit of early Slayer and Dark Angel did not cause much attention. The album was murderous, intense, merciless, no question about it, but the sparse sound spoiled the overall picture a lot.
On their second try (Man of Straw, 1989), they came out with a much more mature, elaborate, less brutal (not to say more serious) release, on which the instrumentation became more complex, they cut back a lot of aggressiveness, they developed a lot and they also gave room for melodies; the latter statement is supported by the Pat Benatar cover Hell Is for Children.
Before the end of Man of Straw, guitarist/vocalist Ron Eriksen (aka Ronny Devious, Ron Daniel) was converted, rewriting several lyrics on the album in a pro-Christian spirit (with the exception of The Trial), while drummer Matt Jordan followed suit after the recordings.
At that time, they started working on a third album, but nothing came of it, because they disbanded in 1990, which was because Ron and Matt did not want to tour due to their new beliefs. Guitarist Brett Eriksen (who is not Ron's brother, he used the name Eriksen only from a commercial point of view, as a marketing ploy) joined Dark Angel in place of Jim Durkin, and the others, as far as I know, stopped making music. (Ron founded Calvary Chapel in 1991, where he works as a pastor).
They returned almost from nowhere, under the grass, in 2011, and released this work the year before last. Even after several listens, I am of the opinion that it was not necessarily necessary, because the album does not show anything new, a kind of "one of many" kind of product. At the same time, the material is cunning, a kind of "listenable" work. The current line-up is represented by guitarist/vocalist Ron Eriksen and drummer Matt Jordan (although Gene Hoglan hits the skins on the album), the role of second guitarist is filled by Justin Zych, and the bass guitar is handled by Mike Gonzalez (Dark Angel).
Sample:
9:02 On Flight 182
