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Who would have guessed we would see these California thrashers back in action after 20-something years and, what's even sweeter, they have a new album.

No Child Left Behind is Viking's third album in their 26-year history. Guitarist/vocalist Ron Eriksen decided to reform Viking in 2011 with himself as the only member left from the original and "classic" line-up.

Worry not, as Erik's got two current/former Dark Angel members on board. Gene Hoglan on drums and Mike Gonzalez on bass (who played on the Leave Scars and Time Does Not Heal albums) as well as Justin Zych on second guitar (Valhalla) helped him with the recording of No Child Left Behind. After months of delay due to technical issues No Child Left Behind has finally been released.

And that's a good thing even if, in all honesty, No Child Left Behind is no Do or Die or Man of Straw. But it's close enough to the Man of Straw album in its technically played and well-crafted Thrash Metal to definitely remind people of Viking's sound. Chunky and brutal Thrash riffs are all over this album, some nice tempo changes, Ron sounds exactly like he did on the two previous Viking albums and naturally you cannot go wrong with Gene "The Atomic Clock" Hoglan's drumming, can you? The whole band has done splendid work maintaining Viking's heritage on this album. There's nothing on this record that a Viking fan would be disappointed with. Once you start listening to No Child Left Behind you'll know right away it's a Viking record and it will knock your hat off or at least result in some severe neck pain. I'm glad Ron decided to drag this old corpse out of Valhalla.

Let the Viking blade shine with blood-red darkness again. Long live Ron's Viking!