Los Angeles thrashers VIKING will release their long-awaited comeback album, "No Child Left Behind", on March 4. The CD features drummer Gene Hoglan (DETHKLOK, DARK ANGEL, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD), bassist Michael Gonzalez (ex-DARK ANGEL), and original VIKING member Ron Daniel Eriksen on vocals and guitar. "No Child Left Behind" track listing: 01. 9:02 On Flight 182 02. By The Brundlefly 03. Blood Eagle 04. Debt To Me 05. An Ideal Opportunity 06. Eaten By A Bear 07. Wretched Old Mildred 08. A Thousand Reasons I Hate You 09. Helen Behind The Door 10. Burning From Within 11. An Ideal Opportunity To pre-order a copy, visit VikingThrashMetal.com. An audio preview of the album is available below. According to a press release, the song "An Ideal Opportunity" thunders throughout with Hoglan's ferocious double kicks from the start, and periodically breaks into the frantic thrash metal speeds listeners have grown to expect from VIKING. The heavy riffing, screams, and solos also mean old-school thrashers won't be disappointed with the new offering. Lyrically, the tune addresses suicidal thoughts from a first-person perspective. In an interview with The Metal Crypt, Eriksen said of the song, "'An Ideal Opportunity' has probably the most transparent lyrics I've ever written. I've struggled with major depression my whole life it's just something that happens chemically and I've learned to recognize it for what it is. It's like a storm front that moves in and covers me in darkness for a few hours or a few days and then fades away and I'm fine. One day I decided that if I was going to have to put up with this crap, at least I could get a song out of it. The next time the storm started moving in, I started writing down everything I was feeling." Founded in the spring of 1986 in Los Angeles, VIKING released two full-length albums on the Metal Blade label, 1987's "Do Or Die" and 1989's "Man Of Straw". Long hailed as one of the most rare and hard to find speed/thrash metal albums by collectors, "Man Of Straw" was re-released in 2006 via Lost And Found Records. This fully licensed CD release was remastered and contained rare and never-before-heard bonus tracks. In early 2011, Ron Daniel Eriksen and Matt Jordan (drums) resurrected VIKING after a 20-year hiatus. Video footage of Hoglan in the studio with VIKING can be seen below. VIKING will embark on a two-week East Coast tour with POSSESSOR in late April. Sitting behind the drum kit for VIKING will be Cody Johns.
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