STEEL ATTACK -

STEEL ATTACK - ENSLAVED - ARISE
Steel Attack is a good band with a great name. The solid heavy metal band roughly occupies the same musical space as Gamma Ray, Metalium, Sanctuary and Helloween, but will still take some getting used to. This is one of those cases where the cliche is true and the longer one listens to the album the better it sounds. The reason for this is the singer Ronny Hemlin. In contrast, the guitars fascinate from the get-go with a very adept Yngwie-meets-La Rocque skill that is hard to criticize. The songs are alternatively slow, mid-paced or fast and always very tight. The album harbours a religious theme judging by the cover, song titles like Gates Of Heaven, Forsaken, Bless My Sins, etc. but a lack of lyric sheet makes a determination difficult as to whether the leaning is positive or negative. If you are either sampling this disc or buying it make sure you stick with it. It gets better with repeated listens. - Ali "The Metallian"

STEEL ATTACK - CARPE DIEND - LOCOMOTIVE  
Steel Attack hasn’t been able to get as much attention or publicity as its power metal peers thanks to its decision to sign to the frail Massacre Records. The label has licensed the album to Locomotive Records now which is sure to help the group’s cause just a bit.
Steel Attack’s new one is full of references to religion, spirituality, heaven and angels and accordingly is full of keyboards and other nonsense. It is frankly a good sign that the band doesn’t employ a full-time keyboardist anymore, although that is hardly a surprise given how Steel Attack undergoes a line-up change on average every three hours.
The keyboards are still there sadly and occasionally give the band a symphonic and fluffy sound, but on other songs Carpe Diend sounds heavier and leans towards the heavier end of the style. Think of the band now as a mix of Iced Earth, Kamelot and Evergrey. Surprisingly, the group has cut back on the guitar leads, which is always too bad. Now if only they would completely drop the pianos and concentrate on the good stuff. The album contains a video for the song Angels. - Anna Tergel