Heavy Metal Sacrifice

Sacred Steel… the first time I heard this name in 1997, I immediately envisaged vistas of bombastic epic power metal modelled after the Manowars. Well, it turned out that their debut was way nicer than that, vintage classic speed metal that easily stirred the spirits of quite a few 80’s heroes (Agent Steel, Attacker, Exciter, etc.) to my, and I’m sure many other fans’, delight. Gerrit P. Mutz’s very characteristic semi-wails are surely an acquired taste, but these ears have never found too many blemishes in the guy’s sincerely attached performance, not to mention that they suit the fast-paced musical setting very well.

The reinstatement of the old school values at the dawn of the new millennium indelibly owe a lot to acts like this, but the next two outings simply regurgitated the fast-paced tunes from the first instalment thus diminishing the element of surprise to a fair extent. Truth be told, there was nothing wrong in bashing retro speed metal tunes to no end back then, but the guys needed something fresher in order to stay afloat, especially when the scene started getting swiftly filled with both newcomers and reformed veterans in the early-00’s. And they made no mistake by upgrading their repertoire to more aggressive thrashy gimmicks with the excellent “Slaughter Prophecy”; a potent approach that was preserved for the following “Iron Blessings” and for the "Pounding Inferno" EP the latter containing outtakes from the last album’s recording sessions plus several fine covers on which Muts displays surprising vocal versatility (just check his scary deathy shouts on Death's "Zombie Ritual").

Well, every band’s career reaches a culmination of some sorts, and the 2002/05 period seemed to be the one for the band under scrutiny here. The debut was revisited on “Hammer of Destruction”, a fair old school speed metal slab, but unfortunately this decision unleashed another self-repetitive cycle with “Carnage Victory” being a carbon copy of its predecessor, and with “The Bloodshed Summoning” only a tad more interesting with its badly disguised more aggressive flair the latter panting heavily in the company of sprawling epic power metal sagas.

The previous cycle comprised three efforts, but the current one reaches one step further, with the album reviewed here. This isn’t heavy metal, mind you. Expect classic speed metal again but only for half the time, no surprises of any kind, with the title-track and "Hail the Godz of War" breezing by in a familiar hyper-active fashion, the deviations arriving in the form of heavy epic marches (“Vulture Priest”, “Chaos Unleashed”) the latter side clearly the inferior one, especially when some of its representatives (“Let There Be Steel”) stretch to near-8min without offering anything too exciting save for a brief speedy skirmish mid-way. Kudos for the short intense speedster “The Dead Walk the Earth”, but when the continuation arrives as the dragging semi-balladic elegy “Beyond the Gates of Nineveh” and the dodgy hardcore joke “Iron Donkey”, it’s really hard to hail this opus as a revelation…

simply because it’s not; it’s very far from that, actually. And it’s not a sacrifice, either; the guys continue treading the same path, one they know very well, and one that would surely keep their core fans around. Thumbs up for persistence, but not even a pinky finger up for originality as the increased presence of the slower power metal-based material only breaks the speedy routine by not adding much in terms of creative flair. There’s some initial admiration rising due to the high energy unleashed, but when even the latter loses the centre stage at some point, the attention invariably shifts to other things but not to the music at play. If this was an unrelenting classic speed metal fiesta all the way then fair play; few would genuinely frown at that. But background-providing epics separated by momentary fast-paced strokes doesn’t seem like a very hot proposition… not in this, not in any other time.

Besides, Mutz has an ample ground for epic slow-motion tunes with his other project, the doomsters Dawn of Winter. He doesn’t really need Sacred Steel as a vehicle for those… bring us some more brutal thrashy hooks along the lines of the still smouldering “Prophecy”! Or why not dig even deeper, and reach all the way to the intricate progressive mazes of his first endeavours, the excellent formations Tragedy Divine and Variety of Arts? It’s not that the man doesn’t have options; when you were born and reborn in steel, you can by all means carve bigger and more memorable burrows into the metal canvas.

If you are dedicated to heavy metal, chances are that Sacred Steel’s message will strike a chord with you. Right from the outset of opening title track 'Heavy Metal Sacrifice', we are encouraged to “crank the volume up to 10”, while 'Let There Be Steel' plumps for an even more direct approach, begging “let there be metal, let there be Sacred Steel”. If you were wondering what kind of metal Sacred Steel are hoping to play loud and at all times, it's most assuredly true metal of the kind played ever since the NWOBHM, most particularly in the celeritous strands of mid-’80s European speed metal and the brawny North American power metal of the same era. In essence, Heavy Metal Sacrifice peddles muscular power metal with no keyboards.

In fact, there’s not much more to the album than that, but it’s the way that the songs contain all the essential elements that makes this into a very satisfying listen. The sharpness and prominence of the guitars is key, distortion pushed up and riffs played with either maximum punch or the unfettered speed of 'Hail the Godz of War', the savage time changes therein proving irresistibly attractive. The conviction with which the five-piece rip into such numbers is vital to their appeal, though largely goes against the grain of the Swedes’ previous eight full-lengths. Nevertheless, the more developed songs feature the same sense of confidence, 'Let There Be Steel' and 'Beyond the Gates of Nineveh' showing a talent for epic structures that take in reflective interludes, all ably upheld by the pipes of Gerrit Mutz, whose voice lacks neither power nor grit.

Heavy Metal Sacrifice is thus a balanced trad metal album that is serious and heavy enough to avoid most generic pitfalls, even if 'The Sign of the Skull' and 'Chaos Unleashed' have titles that overdose on metal spirit and content that slightly underwhelms by comparison. Then again, most of the songs have a lot to offer in fresh thrills from the old school, not to mention the unifying aspect of the lyrics. After a dogged career in the service of metal, Sacred Steel have now become ones to watch.


Originally written for Metalegion #3 - www.metalegion.com

Germany’s Sacred Steel have returned with their follow-up to 2013’s “The Bloodshed Summoning” entitled “Heavy Metal Sacrifice”. This album contains everything fans have grown to love from this band and, despite the album title, nothing is sacrificed in their search for metallic perfection. That’s pretty much what you have here, so whether you’ve been a fan since the beginning, or you are just picking up on them recently, This album is sure to satisfy each and every craving for epic power metal that you could have.

The guitar work from Jens Sonnenberg and Jonas Khalil seems pretty original and true to form, with elements that make the riffs sound a bit “thrashy”. I really don’t believe it’s done as a filler, but it certainly does add a certain depth not only to the sound, but the material itself. The sound here reminds me of the glorious tones of Iron Maiden’s “Somewhere in Time” and Iced Earth’s “Night of the Stormrider” combined with the edgy aura of early Hallows Eve. It’s odd I know, but its there and it is within the most subtle of things that you realize just how much impact it has on the sound of the music. There are times when the guitars have a slight grit to them and other times when they are “clean” and razor sharp striking you right through your soul. There is not much deviation where the drums are concerned as the style stays pretty traditional throughout the entire album. Even so, The talent and ability is quite evident to the point that if the drummer wanted to push the envelope a little bit, there would be no issue as to whether or not he would be able to handle the situation. An absolute flawless performance for Mathias Straub behind the kit. He continues to dominate on the drums just like he did on “The Bloodshed Summoning”. The bass lines from Kai Schindelar are kind in the background too much for my liking. They are definitely there but, in my opinion the volume definitely should have been turned up a bit on the mixing. It’s still a great performance nonetheless. I just hate for bands of this magnitude to have any aspects of their music taken away because of an oversight in the mixing or production. Gerrit Mutz does a fantastic job on vocals. On of the best in the genre of power metal. It was even nice to hear him pull a death metal growl out of his repertoire. The Nevermore/Sabbat/Sanctuary vocal influence seems to carry over from the last album and the vocal patterns chosen fit the material quite nicely. When you put every aspect of this album together, you have an absolute power metal classic which cannot be debated.

Sacred Steel is a band that bears the true and undying mark of heavy metal upon their hearts for all eternity. This latest effort only shows that they are here to stay in order to spread their love, intensity, and dedication for a form of music that a lot of us have grown to love and live by. I, for one, appreciate everything this band has done for music, and more specifically, this genre. Thank you, Sacred Steel, for another awesome offering of 100% pure, classic metal.

Continuing the charge here, German heavy metallers Sacred Steel have stayed true and steadfast in their mission and delivers another chapter of solid, uncompromising and memorable heavy metal following a three-year gap between albums. Celebrating their 20th year anniversary, the legendary group issues it’s ninth full-length effort October 14, 2016 to continue their fine union with Cruz del Sur Music.

As is to be expected here, there’s not a whole lot of deviation or difference here on what was present in their past works. This is a generally fast-paced assault of traditional metal that dives around frantic, fast-paced and generally explosive rhythms. This is generally of a majestic, epic quality here due mostly due to the overwhelming influence of epically-tinged power metal style melodies to the rhythms which give this the kind of melodic sensibility alongside the charging traditional metal riffing that powers this one for the most part. As well, the mid-tempo work here plods along at a rather generous pace that’s several ticks down from the fuller, more dynamic full-throttle tracks yet still carries enough of a bouncy up-tempo gallop that it readily manages to carry the melody to a more formidable point on the album. The ability to mix that all together into a toughened form of traditional metal with influences of power and speed metal in the riff-work carries itself incredibly well and manages to really make for a professional, powerful release. While none of this is new at all and feels like most other variants of their style, it’s still the consistency and effortless manner that the band is able to generate this kind of epic, melodic music efficiently and effectively, which is where this one really works well. As usual, the vocals can tend to grate on the nerves with the high-pitched wailing prominent but it’s a part of their style by now that it’s not an issue at all.

Showing no signs of quit here, there’s plenty to absolutely like about this release which is yet another stellar showcase of their style that there’s little need to pick apart the flaws that mainly serve as individual choices anyway here that the fans of the bands’ past or general power/traditional metal aficionados won’t be disappointed with this one.