STEELCITY Album Review: “Reverence”

STEELCITY
“Reverence”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9.5/10

SteelCity are a hard rock band from the USA who have released three albums to date – ‘Fortress’ (2018), ‘Mach II’ (2019), and ‘Reverence’ (2024).

Founded initially as a solo project by guitarist Mike Floros, SteelCity has evolved and grown into the band it is today – the bands line-up completed by singer Roy Cathey, bass player Jason Cornwall, drummer Anthony White, and keyboard player Tony Stahl. On the new album, SteelCity offer eleven hard rocking songs across an even harder rocking fifty minutes, oozing a sound that was prevalent during the eighties rock revolution with such luminaries as Whitesnake and Europe just two of the bands major influences – ‘I Ain’t Dreamin’ Bout You’ bouncing into sight with an up tempo party feel to plant smiles a mile wide on the faces of every rocker everywhere! The immediate and head turning bombastic nature of ‘I Ain’t Dreamin’ Bout You’ is sensational, the band grabbing everybody’s attentions tightly with absolutely no intention of letting ’em go – ‘Reverence’ moving up a gear to stride on at pace with ‘Hammers Falling’. SteelCity actually plant their feet on the traditional heavy metal monitor here, attracting metallers as well as rockers to the bands soundscape – talk about a chalk and cheese difference! The opening two songs have come hurtling outta the album from two different genres of music, the band standing on the bridge between hard rock and heavy metal – just where are SteelCity gonna go next!

Nowhere – the band remaining exactly where they are for ‘No Angel’, a harder hitting offering than the opening brace, ‘No Angel’ shuddering the ground with phenomenal panache, the American five-piece a feisty formidable force of hard rock! The albums first three songs have been dazzling, dizzying some might say, shining a bright light upon the bands legions of fans – fans who are hooked on the bombastic barrage oozing outta ‘Reverence’, the album turning punchy with the hard hitting ‘Dizzy’. The oomph here is top level, ‘Dizzy’ a rock anthem that deserves airplay in theatres and arenas all over the world, the bands brand of rock big enough to be labelled “stadium rock”. I’d definitely book ’em if I was a promoter with a huge venue – ‘Walk Away’ entering the fray to blow a great big hole right through the centre of the fucking planet! And the bands Whitesnake influence is clear to hear, especially from the twenty second mark onwards when a ‘Still Of The Night’ era Whitesnake rises high in the air! ‘Still Of The Night’ eh – 1987 for fuck’s sake, am I really that old now! I was just seventeen years young when that was released!

And bringing a touch of the Aerosmith swagger to the fore, ‘B.A.N.K.’ actually increases the infectious level of ‘Reverence’ to new and uncharted heights, SteelCity maintaining their tight grip on listeners attentions – and I can only speak for myself here, but there’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now! For the rock is harder than a diamond – considered to be the hardest rock on the planet according to the Mohs scale! Well now there’s a harder rock to challenge diamonds, and its name is ‘Reverence’, the third album from SteelCity. And with even more energy and oomph, the album just keeps getting better and better, the band dipping their toes into metal territory once more with ‘Midnight Dancer’ – the highly prevalent rock come metal sound of the eighties enveloping every listener, fan and follower round the world! SteelCity have kept their foot to the floor since the album began, no-one given any time for a break from the all consuming intensity of ‘Reverence’ – and with no break coming any time soon, ‘Broken’ keeps the hard rocking punchy nature well and truly alive, the band striding tall and very proud right through the heart of hard rock territory. Simply super stuff from the American rockers!

And with only three songs to go, SteelCity maintain their energetic and unabashed hard rock onslaught, ‘Losing Control’ punching the hardest of any song heard so far – listeners everywhere thrown to the floor with consummate ease. The band have commanded the airways all album long, the bands brand of rock an all conquering one with Herculean strength – everyone everywhere blinded by the sparkling array of rock oozing outta ‘Reverence’. Blinded in a good way of course, SteelCity continuing to rock hard with ‘Blinded’, the ground once again shuddering under the sheer weight of rock pounding the surface, planet Earth very much in danger of being forced into a new orbit! The force emitted by the band defies the laws of physics, the albums final hurrah ‘The Journey’, punching a lot less than any other song on offer! Landing firmly and squarely in melodic rock territory with strong hints of AOR, ‘The Journey’ is the softest rocking song on the album and actually might just give listeners a little breather!

Overall, a hard rocking and punchy array of rock from a band very much on top of their game, ‘Reverence’ is infectious and highly attractive.

TRACKLIST

I Ain’t Dreamin’ Bout You
Hammer’s Falling
No Angel
Dizzy
Walk Away
B.A.N.K.
Midnight Dancer
Broken
Losing Control
Blinded
The Journey

www.steelcityband.com
https://www.facebook.com/SteelCityUSA

This review is the property of Iron Mathew and Metal Gods TV. It is strictly prohibited to copy any part of this review, unless you have both of the parties’ permission, or are the band/record label/PR company in question. Failure to adhere to these instructions will be considered as Plagiarism and you will be reported to the appropriate authorities


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