STEEL ENGRAVED
“STEEL ENGRAVED”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

10/10

Steel Engraved are a power metal band from Germany formed in 2007, releasing their debut album ‘State Of Siege’ in 2009 and the follow up ‘On High Wings We Fly’ in 2012. Germany has always been, and will always be, a hot bed for power metal bands, and in the mighty shape of Steel Engraved, Germany has another to add to the long line of German power metallers. Steel Engraved endured a line-up change in 2016, sensing a kind of rebirth, a new beginning, a let the spirit rise again vibe, and have released their third album ‘Steel Engraved’ in 2019.

The sound of German power metal is awesome and instantly recognisable, and from the moment this album begins, you know what is coming… ‘Where Shadows Remain’ is fast paced and infectious heavy/power metal to get pulses racing and heads banging. One hundred percent catchy and infectious, ‘Where Shadows Remain’ is a glorious gallop of foot on the monitor heavy metal. The bands third album clocks in at one hour, with an incredible thirteen songs on offer. ‘Generation Headless’ is heaver than the opening song, yet maintains the albums high pace, bringing forth a more thunderous feel. Heads are gonna start banging harder as ‘Generation Headless’ induces an adrenaline rush. ‘The Oppressed Will Fly’ brings a much more mid tempo pace to the album, anthemic in style and a foot stomper of the mightiest nature, a nature that is carried on with the epic and glory genre based ‘Slave To Yourself’. A mid tempo heavy stomp, there are moments of pace, power and bombast to keep you entertained from start to finish.

And then by crikey oh blimey the album steps up a gear. Ferocious pace hits hard with the high octane, rocket fuelled ‘Nightwarriors’ steaming on at high velocity. ‘Nightwarriors’ is a crushing blend of speed and power that will have heads moving forward and back at an extremely high rate. It’s like the flood gates have opened, the dam has broken, a pregnant lady’s waters have broke – it’s an unstoppable flow of nature, full of urgency and purpose, an urgency and purpose that ‘Rebellion’ does nothing to hinder. The lightning quick pace, the scorching of the Earth as ‘Rebellion’ hurtles on by, Steel Engraved have turned a good album into a great one with just these two songs. ‘Searching For Regret’ is a monster, a mid tempo heavy hitter that echoes the heavier, yet still melodic, sound of bands such as Rage and Iron Savior (both German bands too). And holy shit, ‘One By One’ is a ferocious yet melodic heavy hitter that spans the genres of American and European power metal, with nuances of traditional heavy metal, thrash and hard rock. What a middle third this album has served up, offering so much more than the first third – kinda makes me wonder what the final third has in store…tell ya what, let’s find out…

Mighty, monstrous riffing lacerates the senses as the heat is most definitely turned up with the bombastic and highly charged ‘Heat’. A melodic march of the most majestic nature, ‘Heat’ has detectable AOR traits sewn in to its rough and tough demeanour, with a sing a long able anthemic chorus to boot. More mid tempo heaviness hits hard with the explosive ‘Your Inner Self’. A much more up front and in your face song than any other on offer, ‘Your Inner Self’ is weighted more to the heavy metal genre than the power metal one, as is ‘Close Your Eyes’ too. Full of bluff and bluster, ‘Close Your Eyes’ is a savage rampage of raucous riffs, almost falling into the melodic thrash metal genre as it ambles on its way. Two bonus songs end the album, the first, ‘We Will Follow’ lands the album in the epic and glory corners of the power metal genre. With just the slightest brush of the symphonic metal genre too, ‘We Will Follow’ is an addictive and catchy anthem that races by in no time. The second, ‘All That Lies Below’, is a keyboard driven power ballad that ends the album in a mellow tone.

Overall, a heavy/power metal rampage of ferocious and highly charged anthems, Steel Engraved have delivered one of the years biggest surprises.

TRACKLIST

Where Shadows Remain
Generation Headless
The Oppressed Will Fly
Slave To Yourself
Nightwarriors
Rebellion
Searching For Regret
One By One
Heat
Your Inner Self
Close Your Eyes
We Will Follow
All That Lies Below

http://www.steelengraved.de/
https://www.facebook.com/steelengraved/

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