I have been following the sword-wielding, poser-slaying True Metal warriors since their debut, and I admit, I thought
Sacred Steel's best albums were behind them. So it is with pleasure, I can announce that
Carnage Victory is a wicked beast of an album!
Fastpaced and brutal,
Sacred Steel puts the Heavy back into Metal on Carnage
Victory. This is far from the Euro Power Metal German bands often have to offer, and closer to the U.S version of said style, with healthy doses of Thrash and NWOBHM.
The album goes from triumph to triumph as almost all songs are excellent!
Charge Into Overkill gets the ball started in a powerful and convincing way! The vocals are aggressive and varied; singer
Gerrit P. Mutz does a great job on this one. The more growl'ish, lower range style, he has developed over the years fits his voice better than the initial highpitch from when the band first started out.
Carnage Victory is a worthy titletrack, with a varied structure, embracing everything from ripping trashy parts to highly melodic ones.
A song like
Crosses Stained With Blood has it all, great temposhifts, soaring guitars and ripping riffs topped off with a memorable chorus. A good example of what the guys are capable of, and the way they mix their influences to a sum that is greater than its parts.
It is something as basic as plain kick-ass guitar riffs that make the album so great.
Ceremonial Magician Of The Left Hand Path is another perfect example of how effective a simple but mean riff can be! This mid-tempo track has something timeless about it; it is simply classic Metal, heavy as heck, with a drive that begs for some headbanging action! On a song like this, I feel like Gerrit's vocals fits perfectly; he doesn't try to go beyond his limits, but stays within his range, and adds a personal touch to the song's atmosphere.
Most of the song structures are very clever, the songs often unfold in an unexpected way, at least for this style, cementing
Sacred Steel's position as top of their field!
With its galloping rhythm section, the melodic and instantly capturing guitars and the splendid chorus,
The Skeleton Key is a song that has it all!
Metal Underground is a heartfelt tribute to the Metal community with a compelling drive that is sure to make some necks hurt the day after!
By Vengeance And Hatred We Ride ends the album in a brutal way. Gerrit re-introduces the growls he experimented with on albums like
Slaughter Prophecy and
Iron Blessings, which is a great thing! The guy packs a mean growl, and I love the brutality it adds to the music. An all-guns-blazing assault on all senses!
There are only a couple of songs on the album that are not completely great. I'm not too fond of the King Diamond-inspired
Don't Break The Oath. On this song, Gerrit P. Mutz's vocals sounds forced and stretched, and the song itself is not too exciting either. Gerrit is passionately hated by many for his siren-like vocals, and while I do feel his voice is an important part of the
Sacred Steel sound in general, I admit that when he tries to go out of his range, like here, it isn't good.
Another track that falls a tad below the high standard is
Denial Of Judas (Heaven Betrayed). It just seems too uninspired and repetitive and doesn't really add anything to the record. Two non-amazing (I'm not going to say bad) songs out of 11 isn't much, and except for that, it's hard to point out anything at all that doesn't work on the album.
Lyrically, there seems to be some loose concept of criticism of religion on the album. Lots of songs deal with such uplifting topics as making a pact with Satan, that the Christian Church has killed more people than any other institution, and pedophilia in the Catholic Church. As a person with semi-Christian values, I personally am not a huge fan of the more devil worshipping lyrics, but of course a lot of criticism can be rightfully directed at the church as an institution. However,
Sacred Steels' hugest force has never been insightful or too reflective lyrics, as for instance
Broken Rites is an example of. The song deals with pedophilia, and not in a very sophisticated or metaphorical way, featuring among others the line "Your lies, your laws, turn our children into whores". Haha, that doesn't even make sense! Not all the lyrics are that bad, but the album should be enjoyed first and foremost for its brilliant music!
All in all, Carnage
Victory is fantastic, simple as that! As said it far surpasses my expectations and has everything a Metalfan could wish for (at least if you are into Gerrit P. Mutz special way of singing). And once again, I must hail
Sacred Steel for never having made a ballad, and for never tailoring their style to anyone's wishes, except their own. The Metal world is richer for it!
Written by
Nina Monday, February 15, 2010
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