'We Live by the Steel'
(Fastball Music recs - 2017)
MARK: 81/100
The lyrics of 'We Live by the Steel' cover the following topics:
-a warrior/mercenary.
-a fight against nasty idealists.
-a hellish night rider sent to pick up sinners' souls.
-an army sailing north to battle for a Norse king killed and avenge him.
-vampires.
-air flak that spits fire.
-an infernal hound rending wicked souls.
-a folk that has decided to take steel weapons to rid of its tyrant.
-a final conflict leading to one's death.
-what happens at a metal open air festival.
Drawing influences from Classic Heavy Metal, Power, Viking, Folk and Thrash deoending on the songs, the 5-piece delivers ten tracks characterized by a crystal-clear vigorous production, which is not too far from ideal and mastering at Fascination Street; this latter process has made a great deal of difference - you can hear it from the final result! This all happened after the quintet had reached the finals of a few contests, for instance the movie soundtracks 'Punisher Warzone' and the video game 'Brutal Legend'.
The opening task is entrusted to 'Blades of Death', a catchy song containing 'Painkiller'-era Judas Priest patterns in the tight structures and the guitar solos, whereas a combat riff kicks off 'All Is One', which then proceeds quickly to the refrain made to sing along. Embedded is a part with effected vocals preparing the listener for more axe solos; later solitary vocals of a warrior singing alone to give himself courage come just before the repeated refrain. Watch the relative video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvxkecdzbcE
A Harley Davidson revving up inaugurates 'Night Rider' preceding a riff and a scream. This track contains fast drumming and vocal counterpoints during the mid-tempo. It's easy to listen to also thanks to precious licks and an inflamed six-stringed solo.
The long 'The Brave' begins semi-acoustically, soon to turn Viking to the extreme by using crushing riffing and later fast persistent riffing. I urge you to pay complete attention to the dual work of the guitar players, doing something diverse from each other at the same time, so that the scoring is enriched even more besides the two noteworthy solos, once again stylistically distinct from the previous and the next ones. The track was inspired by the movie 'The 13th Warrior', shot in 1999 by John McTiernan and featuring Antonio Banderas, Clive Russell and Omar Sharif among others. Enjoy the awesome professional video shot to match this song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow_kdm3h2tA
It's impossible to keep one's head unmoving when 'Red Dead' is playing, embellished by a heroic breakdown and another solo showing the guitar player's fervid composing imagination.
'Storm Lords', one of the three tracks accompanied by an official video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jddEGuj29g), proves to be forceful, and partially very fast Thrash Metal. It is more modern than the other tracks included here when instrumental parts appear, while the rest is pure Power Metal, even though the final slice of the guitar solo has an Iron Maidenesque imprint.
A demonic growl and a bass solo start 'Hound of Hell', and then the composition attacks with shoals of dynamic elements and an 80's flavour throughout the whole song, including the faded guitar squealing at the end. A mention also has to go to the very well-made biblical backing vocals warning those who listen to change in their time left on earth.
'The Call of Steel' is fit for aficionados of Power Metal neckbreaking runs and people loving bass lines in the limelight. It's a perfect song to sing in a group with a tankard in one's hand, while the rifferama stupefies with all its variations. There's also an unexpected melodic break creating a waiting atmosphere before the last assault takes place.
A beginning pillaged from Diamond Head's 'Am I Evil' riff marks the title track out, later getting close to Manowar, and afterwards Traditional HM, then hitting martial rhythms and finally veering towards epic battle Viking Metal.
A real anthem to the things uniting fans at a Metal festival, 'Rain or Shine' is a bit in debt to Helloween and is known for reaching the finals of the official "Wacken Hymne 2015".
Notwithstanding the precision and accurate performance that every German is taught to hand, Inner Axis haven't forgotten to take special care in introducing the necessary quantity of hooks and memorable aspects inside their songs, so that boredom and heaviness of listening never occur.
Besides the above-mentioned acts, this album is also recommended to esteemers of Saxon, Accept, Edguy, Amon Amarth, Ensiferum, Megadeth, Enforcer, Paragon, Seven Thorns, Shadowbane and Primal Fear, however any headbanger should give the Kiel combo a chance, being impossible to find a filler in this record (and a highlight for the record). A real solid, constantly impressive record.
Tracklist:
Blades Of Death
All Is One
Night Rider
The Brave
Red Dead
Storm Lords
Hound Of Hell
The Call Of Steel
We Live By The Steel
Rain Or Shine
Discography:
Into the Storm (CD 2011)
Storm Lords (single 2017)
We Live by the Steel (CD 2017)
Line-up on this record:
Martin Gühlcke - b.
Thies Jacobsen - d. (ex-Midgard)
Zacharias Drosos - lead g. (ex-Midgard)
Dirk Tiemann - rhythm g. (ex-Midgard)
Kai Hagemann - v.
Contacts:
Kiel - D
E-mail: metal@inneraxis.de
Official sites:
http://www.inneraxis.de/
https://www.facebook.com/InnerAxis/
