Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Metalsteel
Label: On Parole Productions
Release: year_month
Duration: 37:18
Rating: 4.5/5
The cancer of Slovenian metal has always been staying power. Or rather, the lack of it. There aren’t many bands on our turf that can brag about years of activity, and even fewer that can also brag about a discography that goes beyond a debut record. Plenty of promising outfits gave up after just a few gigs, or vanished into oblivion after a single release. Only a few are a constant, both live and in the studio.
One of those is without a doubt the veterans from Medvode, Metalsteel, who after fifteen years on the scene are putting out their fifth studio album, This Is Your Revelation. If its predecessor Entertainment (2010) mostly delivered on what its title hinted at, i.e. entertained, the approach on the new full-length is more serious and the atmosphere darker. Still, the new album is a logical continuation and upgrade of Entertainment. If that one signaled that Metalsteel were slowly adding more complex elements to their heavy metal framework, This Is Your Revelation is a true revelation in that regard. Metalsteel have never sounded so consistent, so varied and so dynamic, if I may say so – progressive.
That’s exactly where the record’s biggest strength lies, bringing plenty of unexpected novelties and a few lovely surprises along the way. First off, there’s far more thought-out material, which is admittedly still built around, this time truly powerful, riffs, but there’s a lot more hiding inside. Metalsteel approach the adjective progressive this time through escalating structures, a rich interplay of guitar lines and rhythm section, gorgeous instrumental passages and a wavy, dynamic flow across the whole release. On top of that, you can feel that Metalsteel have finally reached the point where they shook off the overbearing influence of their idols. Sure, you can still hear Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Saxon and old-school German heavy/power metal, but on This Is Your Revelation Metalsteel are no longer just a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but a wolf stripped of all masks and tricks, a wolf with sharp fangs and wicked teeth.
Metalsteel approached the recording of the album a bit differently this time, and maybe that’s why it works so well. The girl and the guys recorded This Is Your Revelation together and entirely as a band, carrying the experience of all those miles on the road over to a record that breathes and lives. It’s a rarely used approach (I can only think of one example from the last few years – Iron Maiden: A Matter of Life And Death), and it paid off for the band, since it’s strongly noticeable in the sound, which is fuller, richer and more organic. This Is Your Revelation is without a doubt the best-produced and best-sounding Metalsteel record yet! Rok’s and Beny’s riffs are crunchy, the slick and outstanding solos cut straight into your ear, Matej’s standardly incredible bass lines rattle like a Steve Harris emulator (by no means in a bad way!), and Daša pounds the drums mercilessly and plays the best performance of her career.
This time Metalsteel don’t rely only on speed, but first and foremost on variety and diversity, and that within the songs as a whole. The excellent, catchy choruses remain a Metalsteel trademark, but this time they don’t steal all the attention. The tracks work like pieces of a puzzle, standing on their own as building blocks, but even better as a whole. What’s especially spectacular this time is the melodic guitar work, which still leans on melody, but in many ways upgrades everything the band has done so far. They prove it above all in the brightest moments of the album – Taboo, Narcissus, New Messiah, This Is Your Revelation and Godfather of Nothingness. These five can go toe to toe with classic material by the bands that inspired them, and maybe even surpass it. The unexpected surprises help too, and the “culprit” is mostly the vocals. Beny sounds far more aggressive than before, Rok and Matej chip in generously with “gang” vocals, and the vocal harmonies take the guitar ones up another notch.
Even though the album loses some steam towards the end, with the last two tracks in particular failing to match the punch of their predecessors, This Is Your Revelation is probably the band’s best record so far. If not the best, then definitely the most mature. Mostly because Metalsteel dared to touch on elements that aren’t (weren’t) typical for them. And in doing so, they’re totally in line with the record’s central message, hidden in a recording of Gandhi’s famous speech somewhere in the middle of the title track. A bit of that speech goes something like this: “Faith transcends reason. All I can advise is… don’t be afraid to tackle the impossible.”
Lineup
Beny Kic – vocals, guitar
Rok Tomšič – guitar, backing vocals
Daša Trampuš – drums
Matej Sušnik – bass, backing vocals
Production
Metalsteel
Tracklist
1. New Way of Thinking
2. Taboo
3. Narcissus
4. New Messiah
5. This Is Your Revelation
6. Call Off the War
7. Godfather of Nothingness
8. Man of 1000 Faces
9. Long Time Ago
