Sergeant Steel
Riders of the Worm
Boyz Tyme Records
2015
Sergeant Steel strikes back with their third full-length album “Riders of the Worm”. It’s always a joy listening to this crazy bunch of Austrians. They surprise us in a positive and constructive way every time! This time they started by spreading rumors they were going in for a hip-hop thing! You can see some clips about that on their YouTube channel. Of course, it was a joke and those who keep in pace with the band did perceive that from the very first moment. Then again, working for a second time with a legendary producer like Michael Wagener (Metallica, Ozzy, Skid Row, Janet Jackson, Dokken, Extreme, White Lion, etc.), leaves no room for musical experimentations such as this! Producers like Wagener do not risk working with bands that they are not on top of their game. That’s another reason why Sergeant Steel is one of the very few European bands which deliver the goods in their own personal & humorous way…
Two of the guest appearances in the new album include the prominent vocalist Mark Slaughter (Slaughter, Vinnie Vincent Invasion) on “Young and Hungry” and the famed guitarist Kane Roberts (Alice Cooper, Solo, Sebastian Bach, etc.) on “Silver Spoon” (this track would have been huge back in the day!). The other guests include: Nadine Fambach on backing vocals (tracks: 1, 5, 9) & co-lead vocals on “Can’t Take My Hands”, Jorg Brunnbauer on blues harp (track 5) and both Roland Hofner & Gerhard Hofner on brass section (tracks 8, 9). Needless to say, the production is rockin’ & powerful! You simply cannot go wrong with a producer like Wagener behind the mixing board.
“Riders of the Worm” has all those hard rock elements that we all loved back in the day and we’re still in search of in albums of today. It ain’t easy to find such rousing hard rockin’ albums in our time. This is the epitome where rock music meets the comical element and the result is amusing. At this point I should notice that Sergeant Steel should not be confused or regarded as a European version of Steel Panther, for as the vocalist Phil told me, they do not share the same humor with the aforementioned act and they do not prefer their attitude. Alternatively, Sergeant Steel’s songs have that 80s humoristic side that some big bands of the 80s used to have in a few songs… SS have taken that humoristic element and added it to their tracks & their attitude all the way…
Each time I play this album I feel really nice and joyful. Those who are fond of this kind of music will get my point of view at once. Sergeant Steel is the genuine brainchild of the L.A. 80s hard rock scene, that’s the damn truth! In a nutshell, “Riders of the Worm” will rock hard all the hard rock & hair metal lovers out there…. so be ready and play it to the max…
Two of the guest appearances in the new album include the prominent vocalist Mark Slaughter (Slaughter, Vinnie Vincent Invasion) on “Young and Hungry” and the famed guitarist Kane Roberts (Alice Cooper, Solo, Sebastian Bach, etc.) on “Silver Spoon” (this track would have been huge back in the day!). The other guests include: Nadine Fambach on backing vocals (tracks: 1, 5, 9) & co-lead vocals on “Can’t Take My Hands”, Jorg Brunnbauer on blues harp (track 5) and both Roland Hofner & Gerhard Hofner on brass section (tracks 8, 9). Needless to say, the production is rockin’ & powerful! You simply cannot go wrong with a producer like Wagener behind the mixing board.
“Riders of the Worm” has all those hard rock elements that we all loved back in the day and we’re still in search of in albums of today. It ain’t easy to find such rousing hard rockin’ albums in our time. This is the epitome where rock music meets the comical element and the result is amusing. At this point I should notice that Sergeant Steel should not be confused or regarded as a European version of Steel Panther, for as the vocalist Phil told me, they do not share the same humor with the aforementioned act and they do not prefer their attitude. Alternatively, Sergeant Steel’s songs have that 80s humoristic side that some big bands of the 80s used to have in a few songs… SS have taken that humoristic element and added it to their tracks & their attitude all the way…
Each time I play this album I feel really nice and joyful. Those who are fond of this kind of music will get my point of view at once. Sergeant Steel is the genuine brainchild of the L.A. 80s hard rock scene, that’s the damn truth! In a nutshell, “Riders of the Worm” will rock hard all the hard rock & hair metal lovers out there…. so be ready and play it to the max…