STEEL INFERNO - DENMARK

STEEL INFERNO - RUSH OF POWER - FROM THE VAULTS  
It is 200 KMs from Hamburg, Germany to the border of Denmark. It is not exactly a vast expanse. Similarly, there is not a wide chasm between Denmark-based Steel Inferno and the German speed metallers that gave the world the song Rush Of Power in 1985.
Rush Of Power, the album (not the song), is made of power and speed metal that stays is devoted and true to the pioneers of the 1980s. The band is easily described as Griffin meets Omen musically with vocals a la Bobby Blitz circa the Feel The Fire album. Newer singer Chris Rostoff hits the high notes without any fuss. Let's take inventory of that. Rush Of Power by Iron Angel was released in 1985. Overkill's debut, Feel The Fire, appeared in 1985. Griffin's Flight Of The Griffin arrived in 1984 as did Omen's debut, Battle Cry. There you have it. Need more? The solos occasionally evoke harmonies of vintage Iron Maiden. It is all glorious stuff thankfully with zero keyboards stupidity, female opera vocals and other nonsense. True to its influences, the guitarists right hands are constantly in motion as they should be.
Cut Down By The Chainsaw is speed metal of 2024. The Blitz harbours bashing drums. Attack starts with a Ventor-like drum roll and contains a dual guitar harmony again. Cathedral Run contains the CD's best riffing and drumming and even a touch of Attic. These songs are wrapped in deliberately raw productions that is somewhat flat and, in any case, as far away from being slick as a Donald Trump fan is from brains or beauty. Having said that, the speed and power burst out of the speakers and that is no dull thing. Many bands sound as if they are true and loyal to the mid-1980s' molten metal sound. Steel Inferno sounds as if it is the mid-1980s' molten metal sound. - Ali "The Metallian"