It was year 1997. Two debut albums made a lot of impression, raised from the ashes of Heavy Metal satisfying the needs of all those who were tired to death with the entire gothic Metal paroxysm that was going on back then. These albums were Glory To The Brave by HAMMERFALL and Reborn In Steel by SACRED STEEL. Of course the first band didn't manage to have a spiteful follow-up, lost in the labyrinth of mediocrity but the German horde - despite the submarginal support from the Metal press - not only survived but they bombard us with one masterpiece after the other creating ear earthquake with every new release.
SACRED STEEL can probably be placed in the love/hate bands category and that's mainly cause of Gerrit's vocals. On the other hand, if you name them just as true Heavy Metal band, a grin term used by many magazines, again you'll be wrong. First: there is no true Heavy Metal, just Heavy Metal and - second - SACRED STEEL except the epic references to bands like OMEN, MANOWAR or MANILLA ROAD have the German power of ACCEPT, the speed and mania of AGENT STEEL and SAVAGE GRACE together with the double axe attack of IRON MAIDEN and they have touched the borders of Death Metal many times with some genre's vokill of their singer. And above all they have killer tunes, capable of Metal maniac explosion. The same goes for this new album, the second after the major line-up change that happened in the previous one, showing the inner power and strength of these metallers.
Charge Into Overkill sounds exactly as the song's name. Fast, aggressive with some high screaming vocals that may bother some but in my opinion not only fits perfect but also provides the something extra. Same vocals come with Don't Break The Oath, being close to a King Diamond tribute. Pure Heavy Metal, nothing else. After these two hymns your neck will be destroyed with the opening riff of the self-titled song. No words to describe, one of the highlights with a melodic refrain that makes me climbing to the tables and pretend that I'm singing to an arena.
The Metal carnage is not stopping in this album. Broken Rites includes some Greek lyrics(!) by Liapakis, Gerrit once again finds unbelievable vocal lines while the song is a fist in the face of the church speaking about the pedophile inside its circles. And to all those who don't like SACRED STEEL's vocals I challenge them if they know any other band that has such great lines in songs like Crosses Stained With Blood, Ceremonial Magician Of The Left Hand Path and the two glorious refrains in Denial Of Judas and Metal Underground. They simply have it, Metal is inside their veins. Shit, this pre-chorus in the AGENT STEEL-based opening Crosses Stained With Blood theme is one of the year's highlights.
To make it as simple as it can be, SACRED STEEL kick and rape asses. And this is their seventh album of non-stop high Metal quality. This says everything. Heavy sound for heavy ears. Below there is the video from their previous Hammer Of Destruction album. The song is Maniacs Of Speed and reflects perfectly (I believe) the band's Metal feeling.