Crimson Steel hit that rare balance of history, hunger, and absolute conviction. In this interview they trace the path from old friendships and scene connections to a band now carrying traditional heavy metal forward with purpose. With Show No Fear out and their momentum rising, they speak with clarity about identity, ambition, and the fire that keeps them creating.

Interview

TheNwothm: For anyone meeting you for the first time, how would you introduce Crimson Steel, who is in the band, and where are you from?

C.S: We are a traditional heavy metal/power metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. The members of the band are:

Tina Langevin – Lead Vocals

Joel McGee – Bass, Vocals

David Ryan – Guitar, Backing Vocals

Will Adkins – Drums, Backing Vocals

TheNwothm: What first connected the five of you as people before music even entered the picture.

CS: Joel and Tina were in a band together when they were teens. They lost touch over many years and by luck rejoined when they both moved near the Raleigh, NC area. Joel met David years back when David landed the guitar spot for a Ronnie James Dio Tribute band that Joel was starting up. We knew Will from the scene, but it wasn’t until he came to one of our shows that we made contact with him. Music really did connect us all.

TheNwothm: You were active for a few years under the name RipChorde. What pushed you towards drawing a line under that chapter and starting fresh as Crimson Steel.

David: As Joel has stated in other interviews, he is the founder of the project, and in the beginning, was joined by a guitarist who wanted to use the RR name. This was in 2018. Joel changed the name to Crimson Steel right before the Night Creatures album was released(2022), as he felt changes were coming in the band, and a new name would be needed. The name Crimson Steel is where the similarity ends to the first release. Even though the album was well-received, it is more of a Heavy Rock album. It is not the Traditional Metal sound that Joel envisioned when first starting the project. Joel considers that era of the band completed.

TheNwothm: When you think about the wider American heavy metal and hard rock landscape, where do you feel Crimson Steel fits in and where do you feel you stand apart.

David: We definitely bring a genuine traditional metal sound and mission to the scene. We stand out because our sound is uniquely Crimson Steel, which is composed of all our different influences and ideas coming together. Our writing styles mesh beautifully and create compositions/songs that have melodic transitions and frequently take what is musically expected and veer into different directions.

TheNwothm: What parts of your surroundings have shaped your attitude or the way you approach being in a band.

David: We have all come up playing in bands. We have been through working with different personalities and understand what is needed to make a group work well. We remain humble, listen to each other’s ideas, and respectfully agree or disagree. Also, most of us are in other bands, in addition to Crimson Steel. We all know that time management, respect, and being flexible are key to making multiple bands work. 

TheNwothm: Thinking back to your early years, what first pulled each of you towards heavy music and what kept you there.

David: We feel that heavy music should attack you and stick to you like super glue the second you hear it. We all grew up in a little bit of different times (our ages vary), however, that’s the power of heavy music and metal – no matter when you hear it, it can influence the rest of your life. Playing other genres of music just doesn’t fulfill the innate desire and need to play heavy music.

TheNwothm: Outside of the band, what personal interests or hobbies feed into your creativity in ways listeners might not expect.

David: Our band is comprised of many backgrounds and hobbies. Tina is singing all the time – a professionally trained singer with an impressive resume and roster of performances from metal to opera. In fact, she will be singing in the opera Suor Angelica by Puccini this summer. Will is a professional welder, so metal is a passion, LOL. Dave is a creative graphic artist and video producer, and loves customizing his cars with auxiliary lighting and even vinyl wrapping. Joel has a background in security, self-defense, and firearms training. Joel’s hobbies are going to see other bands, and restoring old vans into the “Boogie Van” style of the 1970’s-80’s.

TheNwothm: Your first full-length as Crimson Steel was “Night Creatures” in 2022. Looking back, what story or moment in your lives does that record capture for you.

David: As stated above, some changes were needed. Joel’s ambition has always been to take this project as far as it will go. Joel says that to him, “It represented a time of growth and determination. As in all journeys, sometimes you may need to pull over, reassess the trip, and the directions needed to complete it.”

TheNwothm: Your new album “Show No Fear” just came out. What was happening around the band during the writing and recording that made this the right time for a new full length.

David: The band is on fire, musically speaking. The full-length album sort of wrote itself; we had so much material and inspiration. We knew it was time to create a full album and knew what we had was special. We actually already even have music that is positioned to be expanded upon and part of our next album.

TheNwothm: The tracklist moves from “As Below, So Above” through to “Show No Fear”. Which song on the record challenged you the most to bring to life, and why.

David: Actually, “Bleed Into One” may take the cake on the most challenging song to bring to life – mainly because we knew we wanted to write a ballad duet. We nailed down the music, but we didn’t know, for some time, what the song was going to be about. We knew James Rivera (Helstar, Flotsam and Jetsam, Vicious Rumors, Destiny’s End) was on board. Tina nailed the solution with some great imagination and writing. Also, since we knew we were going to work with James Rivera on this song, we had to coordinate remote recording with James’ team, get samples sent back to us, incorporate their input, and so on. In the end, we’re super happy with how the song turned out.

TheNwothm: The artwork for “Show No Fear” is striking and dramatic. What conversations shaped the visual direction and how closely does it tie to the themes you wanted to express.

David: first, we didn’t know the album’s title, but we knew we wanted a striking visual of some sort of fictional fantasy. Dave, being the creative director in the group, came up with some mockups showing a male warrior in a battle scene on a mountain. The band loved the direction, but conversations led to the thinking that since we have a female frontwoman, why not have the hero on the album cover be a female warrior!  Joel added to the idea of showing the “Century Sword” visually becoming part of the female warrior. So she has metal running through her.

This now ties back into the “Century Sword” and “Bleed into One” concept of a Century Sword-wielding warrior queen fighting her demons. Perfect! We all agreed, and the art was revised to show what we have today as the final design. The final art showed a warrior standing on a mountain, yielding confidence, strength, and power. It was only a matter of time before Show No Fear was unanimously agreed upon.