Talk about fine legends of blood, steel, valour but also the filthy, not guilty, pleasures of molesting and mistreating female barbarian over the consummation of large quantities of alcohol. For some people that is the true meaning of life, well maybe in fairy tales or urban legends. However, I think that in a way the guys in the Viking / Speed Metal band of TULSADOOM, have their way to celebrate the finer things in life such as their alcoholic nature and love for Metal chicks or plainly worshiping past legends of the Barbarian hordes that once swept the European continent while ravaging everything in their paths. Through their debut album via Nihilistic Empire Records, "Barbarian Steel", I didn't expect anything less from them, TULSADOOM unify the powers of true Metal along with fine extreme elements taken from Black and Viking Metal. To say that what they did is perfect it would be wrong, but the end result was pretty neat.

The first thing that caught my ears was the sound production. Right from the first punch I liked the crunchiness, even in its modern form, as it reminded me of some Speed and Thrash Metal outputs of the past but in the same breath it took me to branded outcomes of bands such as SIEBENBURGEN, which shared the ultimate mixture between Black Metal and the melodies of Heavy Metal al'a IRON MAIDEN. When it came to the sound orientation, TULSADOOM were provided with something good and pleasant to the ears. The guitars sounded rich, the drumming not as brutal as war drums but still hammering, and a set of vocals that stood right in the front without being sucked in the mix. Nonetheless, when it came down to the music, TULSADOOM were less melodic and were more into the old grooves, heaving classic speed and simplistic riffing in the vein of MOTORHEAD. I really liked the beer anthem of "Barbarian Beer Attack", which showed a pack of dudes really having a good time with themselves and their music.Following the darkened path of Black Metal, along with a few indications of Thrash, TULSADOOM made a fine tribute to MOTORHEAD but with more evil and untamed attitude and that is where songs as "Enter The Snakecult", "The Glory Of Thulsa Doom" and "Tulsaride" stepped out to the front plate. Some of those cool tracks included the lead guitar work by the twin axmen bearing axes that was truly great though I hoped those would appear more often than what was originally inserted to the songs. Nevertheless, the reason I couldn't head on and rate this album higher is due to the fact that the material is more or less repetitive, several examples are quite evident in the songs, and the lack of melodies was something of a miss.

On the other hand, I would recommend on purchasing this release. Frankly, I thought it would be like those other Viking Metal crap that in time has totally lost its meaning while filling its depths with downhill raw stuff, but it didn't and I think you would be glad about it too. "Barbarian Steel" is only the first attack in a series of who knows how many. The blood on the axe is still fresh and there will be a lot from it I am sure.