''Chapter Two'' is the second studio album by English hard rock band

Viking Skull Viking Skull are an English hard rock band originally from Corby, Northamptonshire. Formed in 2002, the band currently features vocalist and guitarist Roddy Stone, guitarists Frank Regan and Dom Wallace, bassist Kevin "Waldie" James and drumme ...

. Recorded in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

and

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, it was released on 8 September 2007 by Filthy Note in the UK and DRP Records in the US. The album is the band's first to feature guitarist Julian "Jules" Cooper and drummer

Jess Margera Jesse Margera (born August 28, 1978) is an American musician. He is best known as the drummer of the rock band CKY, which he co-founded in 1997. Prior to CKY, Margera performed in the band Foreign Objects with former CKY vocalist and guitarist ...

, who replaced Darren Smith and Gordon Morrison, respectively, in 2006.

Background

Following the release and promotion of the band's debut full-length studio album ''

Born in Hell ''Born in Hell'' is the debut full-length studio album by English hard rock band Viking Skull. Recorded at Premier Recording Studios in the band's hometown Corby, it was released in the UK on 14 October 2005 by Grand Union Recordings. The US re ...

'', Viking Skull's fate was brought into question when guitarist and drummer Darren Smith and Gordon Morrison left. By the end of 2006 both departed members had been replaced, with Julian "Jules" Cooper taking over guitar duties and

CKY CKY may refer to: *CKY (band), American rock band, formerly "Camp Kill Yourself" **CKY (video series), ''CKY'' (video series), named after the band **CKY crew, people involved in the video series and related projects *CKY-DT, a television station i ...

fame joining on drums. Margera has claimed that he unwittingly contributed to the lineup changes, causing members to argue during a night of drinking on his tour bus. Much of the recording for ''Chapter Two'' took place in

, Margera's home state, and was funded by the drummer. Margera's CKY bandmate, guitarist

Chad I Ginsburg Chad I Ginsburg (born April 24, 1972), also credited as CiG, is an American musician, singer and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist, producer and current vocalist of West Chester-based band CKY, which he co-founded in 1998. Prio ...

, engineered and mixed the album, alongside fellow engineers

Phil Nicolo The Butcher Bros. is an American music production team made up of brothers Phil and Joe Nicolo, originally based out of Philadelphia in the mid-to-late '80s. Together and individually, the brothers have produced albums for a wide variety of ban ...

, Cody Cochowski and Tommy Joyner. Ginsburg and Unkle Matt and the ShitBirdz member Rich Vose performed additional guitars on "The Hidden Flame", while

Fireball Ministry Fireball Ministry is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1999. Biography Formed in Cincinnati in the late 1990s by James A. Rota II and Emily Burton, Fireball Ministry moved to New York City before settling in ...

frontman Reverend James Rota performed additional vocals on the song.

Promotion

In promotion of ''Chapter Two'', Viking Skull completed a short UK tour in January 2008 comprising six shows in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, with support provided by

Year Long Disaster Year Long Disaster was an American rock band from Los Angeles. Formed in 2004, the band was composed of vocalist and guitarist Daniel Davies, bassist Rich Mullins and drummer Brad Hargreaves. Hargreaves was later replaced by Rob Oswald, and gu ...

. The band also performed their first show in the US on 26 July 2008 at the Filthy Note Theatre in

West Chester, Pennsylvania West Chester is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Located within the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,461 at the ...

, Margera's hometown. Customers who purchased the album from

CD Baby CD Baby, Inc. is an online distributor of independent music. The company was described as an "anti-label" by its parent company's Chief Operating Officer Tracy Maddux. The CD Baby music store was shut down in March 2020 with a statement that " ...

in 2007 also received a free copy of the band's second

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

(EP), '' Blackened Sunrise'', as well as the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

for the song of the same name, which was directed by

Bam Margera Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera ( ; born September 28, 1979) is an American former professional skateboarder, stunt performer, television personality, and filmmaker. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s as one of the stars of the MTV realit ...

. "Blackened Sunrise" was also featured on ''

Viva la Bands, Volume 2 ''Viva La Bands, Volume 2'' is the second music compilation album by professional skateboarder and television personality Bam Margera, released on September 4, 2007. It features songs from some of Margera's favorite artists. The majority of trac ...

''. In 2010, the album was reissued on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from viny ...

featuring two extra tracks: "Skulls and Whiskey" and "Heavy Metal Thunder".

Reception

Keith Bergman of

Blabbermouth.net Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001; in Octobe ...

awarded ''Chapter Two'' a rating of 7.5 out of 10, a higher score than he awarded to ''Born in Hell'' (6.5 out of 10). Bergman praised several guitar

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompanim ...

s on the album (including "Blackened Sunrise" and "The Hidden Flame") as "flat-out fucking righteous" and claimed that ''Chapter Two'' was "a quantum leap over the band's debut, and ... a whole different beast". However, he did suggest that the album was "an odd mix of styles", and also called it "pretty basic and short".

Track listing

Personnel

*Roddy Stone –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

*Julian "Jules" Cooper – guitar, production *Kevin "Waldie" James –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gu ...

, production *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

, production *

–

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

, mixing, guitar (track 9) *Reverend James Rota – vocals (track 9) *Rich Vose – guitar (track 9) *

– engineering *Cody Cochowski – engineering *Tommy Joyner – engineering *Andrew Alekel – recording *Joel Metzler – recording assistance *Roger Lian – editing *

Howie Weinberg Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer with over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize. Career Weinberg mastered Herbie Hancock's 1983 album ''Future Shock''. Other ...

– mastering

References

External links

* {{Authority control Viking Skull albums 2007 albums