Quality unsigned – A masterful EP from one of German metal’s best kept secrets.

Once in a very blue moon a band rocks up, seemingly from out of nowhere, and calmly, without fanfare but with great aplomb, goes and cranks the accepted quality standard bar up a cheekily high number of notches.

To my wizened old ears, Steel Messiah have gone and done just that with their latest EP, ‘Dead or Alive’. 

Not content with just writing and performing six superb songs that would grace any 80s headbanger’s cherished vinyl collection, they’ve also managed to support that effort with great artwork and a production quality that knocks many a complacent old touring stalwart into a cocked hat.

So, just who are these young upstarts? Coming over here, delivering high quality metal without so much as a ‘hold my beer’ or ‘pass the hot sauce’.

Steel Messiah has existed in one form or another since 2013. Originally a 4 piece, the band was formed in the beautifully named German town of Ulm. Throughout their career, they have received some glowing reviews for their traditional, old school metal sound, which is deeply inspired by the likes of Judas Priest, Skull Fist, Enforcer and quite evidently, King Diamond and Merciful Fate.

After releasing their first EP ‘Of Laser and Lightning’ in 2016, Steel Messiah embarked on a successful tour around Germany, Austria and Luxembourg in 2018, where they played along with Roadwolf and Fusion Bomb. Unfortunately, the traditional bane of many a fledgling rock band followed as members came and went, so the band took a sabbatical while vocalist / bass player Marius Röntgen and guitarist Kai Wagner went off to work with fellow German indie metallurgists, Demons Dream. 

Reforming in 2023, Kai and Marius brought in Demons Dream drummer, Marc Kikowatz as well as Elijah Andreula on guitar and Kilian Niemann on bass.

This new 5 piece lineup set about recording the ‘Dead or Alive’ EP, which itself is made up of songs written throughout the various incarnations of the band following the previous EP release.

The Review

As mentioned earlier, the production quality on this EP is superb. It easily rivals anything you’ve heard from the best pro bands, and surpasses many others. Credit must immediately be given to drummer Marc, who is cited as the maestro behind the desk. I know, the drummer? Who’d have thought it?

Track 1 – Invocation

The song fades in with a long feedback wail from the guitar. Just as your ears start to protest at the mildly uncomfortable length of this high pitched assault, the band kicks in with a fast paced driving rhythm that is pure, late era Motörhead. Fabulous stuff. However, instead of the abyss deep, gravelly rasping Marlboro tinged tones of the mighty Lemmy bursting in like an angry demon on Strepsils, we get the total opposite. Marius’ ear splitting screams are a constant throughout the recording. You can clearly hear the influence of Rob Halford in his singing, but the pitch goes far higher than even King Diamond in places. I’m sure at one point there was a line that only my three headed Yorkshire Terrier, Zoltan, could hear. Fortunately there’s no point at which Röntgen’s vocal gymnastics drift into the unpleasant realms of Justin Hawkins’ girly falsetto, staying just on the right side of acceptability.

The song continues, weaving tales of a girl who must be sacrificed to appease some monstrous denizen of the sea. It’s a powerhouse piece that really drives like a good metal track should. Towards the second half of the song there’s a breakdown that allows for some nice melodic widdlyness from the guitars. The drums thunder throughout, the bass is solid. It’s a great mix and balance that belies the independent nature of the recording.

Track 2 – Blood on Ice

We start with a nice drum pattern that’s quickly followed by more high quality and original guitars, riffing off each other and evoking the best of heavy metal traditions. More high pitched warblings from Marius paint the image of two unknown rivals set to fight to the death over the icy wastes of the arctic, for reasons not made entirely clear. There’s a lot of evidence within each of these songs that display the band’s love and respect for the origins of the genre. They’re perfectly in tune with what you want from a great heavy metal track. Some nice lead bass work towards the end shows off Röntgen’s other musical talent. It’s clear he’s a good all rounder and deserves much praise for his central role in bringing this great recording together.

Track 3 – Dead or Alive

The title track continues the Western theme that’s introduced on the cover art. It tells the story of a bounty hunter who’s charged with rounding up the perpetrators of a stagecoach robbery. Maybe rounding up is too nice a description for it because the protagonist of the song is clearly killing the villains rather than taking them alive and is perhaps trying just a little bit too hard to justify his actions. You do get the feeling however that he quite enjoys the wet work and isn’t too concerned about the opinions of anyone else looking on. More of the band’s obvious musical talent is displayed throughout the song. I like the fact that the oft overlooked bass is quite central to the sound. Nice fizzy guitars power the song along towards a slow central section that builds back into the solo before the Dead or Alive refrain repeats to the close.

Track 4 – Born of Steel

The song starts with a section of hammer-ons by the lead guitar that sounds almost like a reed instrument, perhaps even a hint of bagpipes (in a good way). It’s intriguing. The bass comes in and the drums start to thud along with the chugga-chugga guitars as the song starts proper. More classic sounding stuff with some warm familiar themes throughout. The same lead guitar licks return in the mid section and the song progresses in solid form with more of the high pitched vocals we’ve come to expect. It’s a lyrical gem, with great lines like, “A loyal servant, Of the razorblade, In the coven, Warrior of the steel brigade”, and “Black flames, Devour me from below, I am but fuel, Burn me hollow”. Not necessarily in that order. There’s a fast paced finale that slows into one of those not-quite-sure-which-of-these-chords-will-be-the-last-one endings which must keep the audience guessing awkwardly when played live. 

Track 5 – Dead and Gone

The penultimate track is a really nice, technically intelligent amalgam of many of the metal themes we all know and love. The guitars weave the melodic harmonies. There’s some nice driving riffage supported by the excellent rhythm section. We also have some Dio-esque storytelling in the form of our old friend the bounty hunter finally meeting his destiny. Yes, there’s just a hint of the Danny Elfman about the vocal delivery in places, but I must remember I am very, very old, and newer influences will of course colour the themes of these new young generations of musicians. Overall it’s a really nice song that once again shows off the impressive technical abilities of the boys from Ulm.

Track 6 – We are the Night.

A real thunderer of a track that firmly plants the ‘T’ of traditional in the defeated brain cavities of lesser bands. It’s the sort of track that you want at the end of a record which never even hints at letting up. A real rocking piece that must get the crowds headbanging like demented jack-in-the-boxes, jacks-in-the-box, jock-in-the-taxis… you know what I mean.

Conclusion

My only complaint about this record is that it’s a 6 track EP and ought, in an honest and just world, have been much longer. At least a double album, if not a complete anthology box set. It was released in September last year, but because the band is as yet unsigned, without the full might of a record company’s marketing juggernaut pushing it along, it’s of course very difficult to be heard above the din of the bland. 

The whole production of the EP is truly excellent, from the lovely artwork (credited to Oldschool Crew) which binds the theme of the songs beautifully, to the superb mixing and mastering (the EP is ably mastered by Thomas Meyns at Grumpy Owl Studios) that deserve heaps of praise being laid upon them by armies of cherubim and of course, not forgetting seraphim.

And I can’t stress loudly enough how good the songwriting and musicianship is throughout.

According the recent THENWOTHM interview with the band we can allay our frustrations at the brevity of this work somewhat, by the promise that a full album is indeed in the works.

You can find all the online gumph about Steel Messiah by following their Linktree, and you can hear both EPs on Spotify.

I would, however, strongly recommend that you avail yourself of one of the new fangled digital compact disk hard copies available from the band’s Bandcamp page. This will help support the band financially in a much more direct and useful manner, and may even assist in ensuring the release of their forthcoming full album. A thing that must truly come to pass.

The NWOTHM Score: 11/10