Fire and Blood

The amount of quality music coming out of Greece is just insane, and the stream of outstanding bands does not seem to stop anytime soon. Beside black metal especially outfits within the traditional/power metal genre keep delivering the goods. One of the latest examples are Steel Arctus, The mastermind behind Steel Arctus is Nash G., who has also taken over guitar and bass playing duties. In addition he has hired a drummer from Portugal and got vocalist Tasos into the band, whose fantastic talent I have already heard in another great yet also widely unknown band called Fortress Under Siege. So let’s jump straight into the music to find out if we got another winner here.

In the end there is nothing really new to be found on the debut “Fire and Blood”. Like the band name, the cover artwork and the album title already suggest the music is heavily rooted within NWOBHM, epic and power metal. Nash and his crew have a nice feeling for picking some of the best elements from various US and European greats and present their own interpretation of those. The galloping riffs will please each fan of classic British bands, while there are also strong influences from German and non-cheesy Scandinavian power metal outfits and some of the heroic antics you might know from US heroes like Manowar or Virgin Steele. Overall maybe not an innovative mix, but a highly enjoyable one.

Hard hitting and heavy, the new album gets underway with the thundering and stomping title track. Chugging relentlessly with an infectious rhythm this is a foot stomping head banger that will have you smiling in anticipation of what is to come next. Steel Arctus are real masters of churning out mid-tempo, catchy and addictive metal hymns. While some tracks come with a more epic vibe they strip back the bombast in others, always making sure to offer a great and never boring listening experience. Nash has written some very strong and diversified tracks, offering everything from buzzing riffs and thunderous rhythms to calmer and more laid-back moments.

There are fluctuations and shifts in all songs, and there is a plethora of themes. The level of instrumental skills is impressive all across the board, but there is no overly dramatic showcasing or technically complicated tempo and rhythm shifts every ten seconds just for the sake of it. Instead the focus is always on transporting the character of each single song in a way that the listener can fully appreciate it. Consecutive listens will lead to discovering some nice details, like themes and chord progressions reappearing in a similar yet slightly adopted form later in the album again.

Like mentioned above Steel Arctus are lucky to have one of the strongest underground talents as their singer on this album The vocal harmonies presented by Tasos are incredible, as is his voice. This lad is able to soar with the best of them, and he hits all the right notes, also in the softer sections. Of course this is also due to the high quality within the songwriting department, but singers like Tasos can lift a great band up another notch. The production is crystal clear and dynamic, as it should be. The cover artwork has to be mentioned as well, showing a classic motif referring to the hero of the story, which told through the music, but it is classy and not too cheesy. “Fire and Blood” is a prime example of the flourishing Greek metal scene and one of the best power/traditional metal albums of 2020.