STEEL ATTACK

Sweden's STEEL ATTACK are a rather curious band — with the release of their sixth album "Carpe DiEnd," the group's body of work divides equally (in terms of releases; chronologically, the periods are far from equal) into two eras. The first was the era of bombastic power metal, during which the band didn't win any laurels but played perfectly decent mid-level music — I still fondly recall the track "Thunder Knight" from their debut. The second era began with Ronnie Hemlin taking up the microphone. I haven't heard the first album with his participation, but I suspect it's much like the other two. The band's style transformed into pompous symphonic power metal, and themes of mysticism and religion entered the lyrics. After the fifth album, the lineup changed substantially — only vocalist Ronnie Hemlin and guitarist John Allan remained from the previous formation. Simon Johansson, who had participated in the doom outfits Abstrakt Algebra and Memory Garden, took up second guitar; Peter Moren from TAD MOROSE was installed behind the drums; and bass was entrusted to Johan Lofgren. Naturally, these changes had no effect whatsoever on the material. There are virtually no differences between the fifth and sixth full-lengths — pompous keyboards, dark riffs, Ronnie's good aggressive vocals through most of the verses, and constant, irritating attempts to hit the high notes in the choruses. The album is perfectly listenable, the melodies hook you reasonably well, but only until the album ends. The band's eternal problem with song memorability persists — I'd even say that memorability was higher in the early period of their career. In the end, sadly, the result is a rather formulaic album that is nonetheless perfectly capable of delivering pleasant listening moments. P.S. The album bonus includes a video for the track "Angels," one of the weakest songs on the album in my opinion — largely thanks to Ronnie's vocal acrobatics in the chorus.