Artist: SACRED STEEL
Album: LIVE BLESSINGS (2CD+DVD)

Year: 2006
Media type: CD

SACRED STEEL rose from the ashes of TRAGEDY DIVINE in August 1996. With just 5 demo songs in their back SACRED STEEL got a deal with Metal Blade Records in the beginning of 1997. Their debut album „Reborn In Steel“ was released in the end of 1997 and got excellent reviews like e.g. „A must have for any True Metal fan!“ (Gotz Kuhnemund, Rock Hard, 8,5 out of 10 points) or „An ass-kicking album! Don’t miss it!“ (Detlef Dengler, Heavy oder was!?, 10 out of 12 points). In July 1998 the band recorded their second album „Wargods Of Metal“ in the famous Mohrmann Studios in Bochum together with cult producer and living legend Bill Metoyer (SLAYER, W.A.S.P., FLOTSAM & JETSAM etc.). 

Right after the recordings SACRED STEEL played in front of 15.000 maniacs at the Wacken Open Air. Needless to say that the critics regarding „Wargods Of Metal“ again were overwhelming! Early 1999 saw them conquer Europe together with NEVERMORE, LEFAY and NOCTURNAL RITES. After playing several festival gigs in summer (like the „Mind over Matter“ festival in Austria) SACRED STEEL again played the Wacken Open Air. In August SACRED STEEL headlined a tour through Germany, Holland and Belgium supported by DESTINY‘S END and WARDOG. More and more gigs followed with the likes of SODOM, SUBWAY TO SALLY etc. In January 2000 the time had come to finally record their third Album „Bloodlust“ with engineer Achim Koehler (PRIMAL FEAR, SINNER etc.) in „House Of Music“ Winterbach. The album was produced by SACRED STEEL themselves with Achim Koehler and the result was mindblowing and got raving reviews everywhere. To promote that album, SACRED STEEL supported PRIMAL FEAR‘s „Nuclear Fire“ European tour together with Finnish Melodic Death shooting stars CHILDREN OF BODOM in February / March 2001. 

Shortly after that tour SACRED STEEL began to write the songs for their fourth album „Slaughter Prophecy“, which was to be the first SACRED STEEL release to profit from their newly signed record deal with Germany‘s MASSACRE RECORDS, after the Metal Blade contract had expired with „Bloodlust“. The album again was produced with Achim Koehler in the „House of Music“. According to the band there?s been no need „to change a winning team“. „Slaughter Prophecy“ again featured the typical SACRED STEEL 80?s inspired Power Metal yet with some added Death Metal influences as well as a wider spectrum of the songs ranging from doomed anthems like „Lay me to my grave“ , a Lovecraftian epic - clocking in at about 9 minutes („Invocation of the nameless ones““), to the sheer brutality of the Possessed meets Nasty Savage titletrack. SACRED STEEL then played some more national and international gigs with the likes of CANDLEMASS, ELIXIR, OSTROGOTH and some festivals like e.g. the famous Headbangers Open Air. In May 2004 SACRED STEEL entered the studio again (guess which one and who the producer was.) to lay down the tracks for their fifth album entitled „Iron Blessings“. With their most diverse and complex recording to date SACRED STEEL have managed to crush their critics once more with a combination of traditional power hymns and even more aggressive compositions. „Iron Blessings“ definitely is a landmark Metal recording with absolutely no compromise! While most of their contemporaries slow down or strife to become more accessible, SACRED STEEL are still longing to reach new extremes and define the words HEAVY and METAL!!! As the band always likes to state: „If metal ain’t heavy, it ain’t heavy metal!“ WE ARE HEAVY AS FUCK AND METAL TO THE BONE!! Nuff said. 

TRACKLIST 2CD/DVD :

01. Blessed by the Gods (Intro) 
02. Open wide the gate 
03. Tonight the witches ride 
04. Battle Angel 
05. Faces of the antichrist 
06. Victory of black steel 
07. Carnage rules the fields of death 
08. The rites of sacrifice 
09. Dark forces lead me to the brimstone gate 
10. Sword of the king 
11. Stormhammer 
12. Metal is war 
13. Master of thy fate 
14. True force of iron glory 
15. Sacred bloody steel 
16. We die fightinhg 
17. Blood on my steel 
18. Heavy metal to the end 
19. Slaughter prophecy 
20. Battle cry 
21. Wargods of metal 

LINE-UP:

Gerrit P. Mutz Lead Vocals
Jorg M. Knittel Lead Guitar
Oliver Grosshans Rhythm Guitar
Jens Sonnenberg Bass Guitar
Mathias Straub Drums