A Tale as Old as Time

When a band describes their sound as being influenced by “heavy metal”, Accept, and Candlemass, you can count me in for seeing if they’re any good. That’s what Steelbourne said, and that’s what I did, and this trio of past Savage Machine/Momentum metallers impress on their debut album. I’m not sure how obvious the Candlemass influence would be without stating it, but Troels Rasmussen does have a sort of Robert Lowe feel to his voice, especially noticeable when he goes down to his lower registers, not to mention at a few of the rumbling gradual moments in terms of guitar riffing on the title track. In fact, the last Tyrant album, with Lowe on vocals and some up-tempo heavy metal elements mixed in with darker textures, comes close to the effect of the hefty heavy formula of A Tale as Old As Time.

Away with comparisons though, because you’ll have me questioning whether Steelbourne aren’t power metal via Iron Fire, and thus whether heavy, doom, and power metal have any sort of Venn diagram where they all connect. One reason why all these thoughts are in my mind relates to the slightly rough but extremely satisfying production, which thrusts guitar in a broad woody block against the listener, then gives an amazing bass tone to fill up every conceivable pore behind the guitar, and scatters the drums a little higher than usual to give them clear penetration without obscuring any of the riffwork. Neither lead guitar nor vocals sound too shrill, so that the whole sonic profile of the album seems to come from the gut, if that makes sense. In turn, that provides power for the pumping steadiness of the title track, the urgency of opener ‘By Way of the Serpent’, and the epic melodies that lead into ‘Dear God’.

A Tale as Old As Time is not a long album, lasting just 37 minutes, so more variety than a sole ballad is unnecessary. ‘King of Kings’ falls smack bang in the middle of the 7 songs and surprises me by how conducive it seems to the overall experience. I’m not a fan of ballads as a rule, and this one features all the longing and lingering vocal cadences applicable to the style, as well as swirling classic solos towards the night sky, yet it convinces and once more seems to gain from the robustness of the production. I guess that each of the other songs have enough room to include a few tempo changes and at least one dose of lead work, especially the 2 that last over 7 minutes, so the development of individual cuts engrosses as much as chopping and changing approach anyway. Putting together ’Requiem’, a firstly orchestral then acoustic prelude, with ‘For Those About to Die’ makes a natural break later on that expands the song in a new direction too.

It’s just occurred to me who else the vocals sound like: it’s David Bower, latterly of Hell, who really has an interesting style to base yourself on. I also hear Gamma Ray in Steelbourne’s make-up, more obviously on the final track ‘Inferno’, and that’s yet another band that I really love, so you bet I’ve warmed to this album fast. It may not be especially original in its own right, but A Tale as Old As Time is a mighty fine listen from the Danish trio.