If you are on your tenth studio album you are allowed to use all the cliches that Old School Heavy Metal has thrown into the world throughout the years. That is exactly what the German band from Ludwigsburg, SACRED STEEL, have done. Having started trying to make coherent noise since 1996 they were spitting out the first nine at quite a good tempo, as the ninth album “Heavy Metal Sacrifice” is some nine years old by the time that number ten “Ritual Supremacy” is being released (25-04-2025). And that is one thing that SACRED STEEL do right, they make sure you can hear all the years of experience that they harbour. They also are able to translate the love and enjoyment for the NWOTHM they play onto the physical slabs and digital files that we as audience are grabbing to be able to share their enthusiasm.

The ten songs on “Ritual Supremacy” clock over 51 minutes, with the shortest tune being just over three minutes, whilst the longest takes just over eight minutes to reach its conclusion. What becomes very clear when listening to SACRED STEEL is that they know exactly when they can extend and when they need to cut it short. That does make that there is not one track that feels like it isn’t as the band was wanting it to be. Everything sounds started, written, rehearsed, played, recorded and finished properly, which gives you as a listener the satisfactory feeling that you are listening to a band that knows what it’s doing.

But even though they have done everything right so far, have SACRED STEEL also been able to woo me as in having exceptional good songs on “Ritual Supremacy”? Well, no, not exceptional, but certainly very sturdy and solid ones. The thing is, I just can’t help think of a band like STEEL SHOCK when this album is doing its bit to my speakers. They have the same attitude, and also know how to make their music work, even it is inundated with cliches from all over the years. I therefore propose that these two bands combine their efforts in a string of live shows which they can call the SACRET STEEL SHOCK tour, with as subtitle Leather, Spikes & Metal. I for one would love to see this happening. But, let’s get back to “Ritual Supremacy”. This is a very strong album in its simplicity and Old Fashioned feel, whilst having a very contemporary sound. Simply said, SACRED STEEL have sort of delivered once again.