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It's been awhile since Sacred Steel released their last album Hammer Of Destruction. Now they are back with Carnage Victory! The album is produced by the band and recorded by Christian Schmidt, the mixing was done by Achim Köhler.
The quintet kicks off with the fast, relentless Charge Into Overkill which offers screams and high-pitched vocals by Gerrit Mutz. A surprise is the Mercyful Fate cover Don't Break The Oath which turned out quite good - even if I prefer the original. Razor-sharp riffs force them ahead at the title track, but they slow down a bit and the song gets a hymn-like touch. Drummer Mathias Straub leads you into Crosses Stained With Blood and the staccato riffing adds some aggression, then they speed up. A fast true metal anthem. Slowly they start into Ceremonical Magician Of The Left Hand Path, after the semi-acoustic guitar opening the song becomes an ultra-heavy song with a doomy edge.... After the fast The Skeleton Key they offer an instrumental called Shadows Of Reprisal. Somehow this one disturbs the flow of the album... And I'm not sure, if everybody can appreciate it... With Denial Of Judas they are back to the Sacred Steel sound! Even if they might surprise some with the larger variety of sounds. A stomping rocker is Metal Underground, a quite typical true metal hymn, but it sounds too familiar... The fast By Vengeance And Hatred We Ride is the closer and here Gerrit Munz even adds some growls! Well done!
Sacred Steel fans should try to get the limited box set which looks like an ammunition box and incl. a 7" single with 2 previously unreleased songs, a dogtag and a T-shirt! Value for money! And a real collectors item!
The album includes a bonus DVD with the 45 minute long show from Queens Of Metal and a 'making of' Carnage Victory. Sacred Steel show that they still alive and kicking. For fans a must-buy, but as they offer a larger variety of sounds now, fans of powerful true metal should give it a try!
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