Viking is an American thrash metal band, from Los Angeles, California, formed in the late 1980s.
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Viking was formed in Los Angeles in the spring of 1986 and held the same personnel until they broke up in 1990. The band signed a record contract with Metal Blade Records after their second live appearance and went on to record two full-length albums and open up for bands like Megadeth, Forbidden, and Sacred Reich as well as headlining many other shows.
In 1988, they released their debut album called Do or Die. Although the brutality of the songs was appreciated by thrash metal fans, the frenetic tempos and bad production were not well received by the critics.
Following Do or Die, they moved to a new level of songwriting and musicianship. Adding half-time mosh bridges and more technical riffs, the songs for Man of Straw demonstrated a marked improvement over the previous offering.
Shortly before they started to record Man of Straw, Ron Eriksen became a born-again Christian and changed some of the lyrics to avoid blasphemies. Before embarking on a tour with Texas-based Helstar in 1990, Ron felt that his new faith could not endure the tour, and he left the band, which immediately broke up upon his departure.
Ron and drummer Matt Jordan soon after moved to Oregon, Brett Eriksen joined Dark Angel full-time (he'd filled in on the Leave Scars tour) and bassist James Lareau pursued a career in sculpture.
Before Viking, Ron (whose stage name Ronny Devious had been carried over from his days with The Hags), Matt, and James were in Tracer and released a 3-song demo entitled Sudden Death with vocalist Tony Spider (Tony Vargas from L.S.N / Vermin). Following a temporary split, Brett began jamming with the band, and Ron began singing.
After the release of Man of Straw, Matt Jordan also converted to Christianity. (Interestingly, Ron Daniel has said that Matt's conversion had nothing to do with his own.) Some years after the band broke up, Ron became a Bible teacher.
In early 2011, Ron Daniel and Matt Jordan resurrected the band after a 20-year hiatus. With Brett Eriksen out of the music business, they brought in Viking's former stage manager Glenn Rogers, who was a founding member of Deliverance and had been playing lead guitar for thrash metal band Hirax since 2003.
According to the band's Facebook page, they are currently working on a new full-length record of original songs. Called "No Child Left Behind," it is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2012.