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The Law
...and The Angels...
Knights Of The War
Midnight
Power And Action
Warrior
For The Metal
Judas (Angel Or Demon)
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I feel that sometimes France
is very underrated in the field of metal music.
Devil's Records was a very cool label that released a bunch of classic
albums during the '80s. They only did French bands but nevertheless the
label had a cool back-catalogue with releases from ADX, HIGH POWER, SORTILEGE,
DER KAISER,… among others. In 1985 they presented us a real gem with STEEL
ANGEL's full-length "…And The Angels Were Made Of Steel" (as far as I know
the band has beside this at least one 7" and the LP "Kiss of Steel" that
is impossible to find). Surely this is one of my personal favorites and
one of the highlights of French heavy metal in general. Obviously drawing
influences from melodic NWOBHM they take it to a higher level because they
put more power in the music. Their brand of heavy metal is played raw without
losing the melodic cuts. Also some very good solo's from lead guitar player
Michel Guerrero and the very good voice of Pat Montero must be mentioned
here! Normally ballads are skipped on my turntable but a track like "Midnight"
(using an acoustic intro and even some piano parts) is just great. In "Power
And Action" you can hear RUNNING WILD and there are also musical references
to DIO. But overall speaking STEEL ANGEL have put a personal touch to heavy
metal, and though you should be able to find this record, that can be considered
as a rarity! Fans of French/European heavy metal as well as those primarily
into US metal: this is an essential!!
Reviewed by Valdemar |
