| Influences | Okay, Rainbow, Zeppelin, Sabbath, Purple, Dio, Lizzy, Maiden, Priest, Kiss, AC/DC, Heep, Rush, Malmsteen, Ozzy, Motorhead, Metallica, EdGuy, UFO, Whitesnake, Van Halen, basically most 70s and 80s Hard Rock and Metal
REVIEWS
PURE METAL
"...a groovy 70s/80s NWOBHM outfit. I think the metalhead or rocker of an older vintage may well appreciate the music SoS offer us....Maidenesque galloping rhythm guitar and bouncy Harris-esque bass lines with a Murray-esque ultra melodic fluid solo. Very cool guys! ....SoS will definitely gain favour amongst the 40 and 50 something rockers and muso types out there that is for certain. Musically speaking the band is top notch and they can play rings round many younger bands that's for sure...for older and classic rock fans this album is a 4 out of 5
CONCRETE WEB
"The 8 tracks, two of which are instrumentals ("Brian's Boogie" and "Swedish Chuff"), are all blues influenced Classic Rock tunes...with a slight Jimi Hendrix influence, I would say (but others may see that differently)...which captures perfectly the mood of times when the first NWoBHM ruled the UK and the world alike (hey, let's not forget that quite a few bands playing Rock rather than Metal were often included to that insurging genre of the late '70s)...I'm certain that those of us who were actually around in the NWoBHM heydays are simply gonna lóóve this, unconditionally!" 83/100
DEAD EARNEST
Hello – for today's lecture on “seventies rock”, we feature a band who's actually just recorded a new album in 2008. Remarkably, it illustrates our point to perfection. You know last time we spoke about the need to open your album with a track that really sets the tone for what follows – well, this band are following that ethos to perfection. The opening track, “All I Need Is You”, starts quietly enough with acoustic guitar, whispered rhythm section and Steve Winwood-esque vocals as it gradually builds a head of steam and climbs into this towering electric guitar break that occupies the middle of a track which takes off, circles overhead, shows you what it's made of then comes in to land – a sort of mix of Wishbone Ash and Traffic only with no keys or horns – just that eloquently played stirring guitar. That they then “boogie” their way back home comes as no surprise as a rollocking instrumental allows the guitarist to show what he's capable of, and, OK, so this idea was done to death in the seventies, it's almost like welcoming back an old friend you loved dearly many years ago. The album is actually quite powerful for its kind, with plenty of fuel in the tank to keep the guitar sky-high and mesmerising, while the vocals are of the Winwood-Moore variety, and the rhythm section rock away merrily, while the songs, instrumental breaks and structures are decidedly of a seventies variety. As a mix of songs and instrumentals that showcase the talents of electric guitarist Gavin Coulson, it's a solid and engaging album if this era is your thing to this day. OK, so Gary Moore did it all thirty years ago on his first two solo albums, but that was thirty years ago and he's not done it since, all of which makes this a more than welcome treat on the ears. Rarely have cobwebs been dusted off so well.
CLASSIC GURUSTE
...raw sound with a touch of class magnificent guitars and bass, Shield Of Steel offer cool seventies style riffs with the rush of Malmsteen-type guitar work...cool, clear vocal on "All I Need Is You", the title track "Communion" is a cross between Megadeth and Malmsteen, a great original arrangement...."Maybe I'm A Leo" is another stand out track, a good arrangement with a classic feel...if you like early Rainbow with a touch of metal this album is a must. A great debut album from a band im sure has more to offer.
Written by hells_unicorn on December 6th, 2008
Despite the obvious need for innovation in metal, sometimes the better path to take is to go with what works, and often this will included going back to its roots. Despite its heavy influence on the entire genre, the NWOBHM was a very short happening that only really spawned a handful of bands with staying power, particularly beyond 1 or 2 stellar albums per band. Forming out of the underground UK act Black Rising, the Wakefield outfit Shield Of Steel presents their own brand of hard rock and heavy metal with an eye for tradition, though providing a collection of 8 songs that have not been heard before.
The production of this album alone is a direct giveaway that the band has no intention at following the current trends of metal or rock music, namely the addiction to some have at getting a ridiculously loud mix. The dimensions of the arrangement are very mellow, loose fitting and reminiscent of the glory days of analog recording in the late 70s and early 80s. For anyone who is familiar with the sound of acts like Uriah Heep, Rainbow, Angel Witch and Paul Di’Anno era Iron Maiden, this is in the same basic league in terms of its production quality.
Most of the songs go for an extremely guitar oriented style, in a way that is much more overt than the guitar and bass competition approach of Manowar and Maiden. The lead style has a slight Neo-classical character to it, though more in the Uli Jon Roth and Ritchie Blackmore style that still kept some of its Jimi Hendrix improvisatory roots than the strictly structured approach of the Malmsteen School that rose out of the later 80s and had a huge renaissance in the late 90s. This is particularly noticeable on songs like “Swedish Chuff” and “Fool’s Gold”, which are very well done shred instrumentals that mix simple riffs with extremely showy melodic and virtuoso lead lines.
Basically guitarist Gavin Coulson steals the show on this album, despite a pretty solid performance out of the other musicians. There is just so much interesting lead work going on during this entire album that you can’t help but be distracted from Pete Goodfellow, who actually does a fairly good job on the vocals, and isn’t all that far removed from a slightly deeper version of Jeff Scott Soto. He gets in a few really good sections on the condensed and strictly guitar driven homage to Rainbow’s “Gates Of Babylon”, otherwise known as the title track “Communion”, and gives the listener a good dose of classic late 70s attitude on the Deep Purple inspired “Paranoia”.
Although clearly relying more on tradition than innovation, this is something that younger fans of metal that may just be discovering the early works of Diamond Head and Dio could get into. The production is definitely outside of any concept of modernity, which may prove to be a hindrance for anyone addicted to digital technology. But this is a sure thing for anyone well versed in the mysticism of classic, grade A heavy metal, from Rainbow to Axel Rudi Pell. If you thought that the NWOBHM didn’t last long enough, or otherwise didn’t put out the amount of music that it should have, this is definitely an album to look into.
Originally submitted to (http://www.metal-observer.com) on December 5, 2008.
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