Sergeant Steel
Men on a Mission
Boyz Tyme Records
2013
There are some new releases that the lovers and devotees of the 80s hair metal, hard rock, sleaze/glam metal era find incredibly reminiscent of the music that used to be popular in the 80s. The same goes for those new bands that try hard to keep that 80s music alive at any cost. I’ve never hidden my endless love for 80s hard rock music and every time I come across a new band that’s true to the values, ethics & attitude of that era it makes me extra content… knowing that this kind of music will never cease to exist.
But let’s take things from the start and say that Sergeant Steel is an Austrian band which started out in 2007 and released its debut album, “Lovers & Maniacs” in 2011. Afterwards, they started working on their second release and along the way they met the legendary producer Michael Wagener (Metallica, Ozzy, Skid Row, Janet Jackson, Dokken, Extreme, White Lion, Warrant, etc.) who mixed and mastered their new album. Can you imagine the happiness the guys had when hey started working with the guy that has produced some of the bands’ records which actually made them love and deal with this kind of music huh?! By the way, the production is rockin’, smooth and crunchy. It exhales a fresh feeling and it doesn’t sound “retro” at any point.
Having a great variety of influences from acts such as: Ratt, Gun’s & Roses, Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Van Halen, Cinderella, Poison, Europe, Danger Danger, Bon Jovi (the 80s BJ not the pitiful band of today), Aerosmtih (80s) & Warrant among others, Sergeant Steel are not making the most common mistake of imitating or copying the 80s hard rock bands blatantly. They have filtered these influences and brought ‘em to today…. even though their looks are straight from that era. But who doesn’t love that 80s dress code?! Sergeant Steel are Austria’s answer to most of the Scandi hard rock (80s) bands that have taken over the scene during the last decade or so. “Men on a Mission” features lots of party-like & amusing tracks like: “Gods of Love”, “Mama Horny”, “Sweet 16”, “Men on a Mission”, “Cry Out Your Heart, Baby!”, “Wannabe Outlaw”, & “Taker of my Heart”, along with the splendid power ballad “Don’t Give It Up” & the catchy sing-along semi-ballad “Give Me a Call”. Generally, “Men on a Mission” is an imposing & complete hard rock album with refined melodies and strong musicianship. It’s true that if a bunch of the above-mentioned tracks were released during the 80s then this album would have gone big by the numbers for it does have a splendid music quality no matter if it won’t probably sell thousands or millions of copies. Sergeant Steel are ready and they can go bigger… let’s hope that the “80s metal Gods” will also be generous upon them…
But let’s take things from the start and say that Sergeant Steel is an Austrian band which started out in 2007 and released its debut album, “Lovers & Maniacs” in 2011. Afterwards, they started working on their second release and along the way they met the legendary producer Michael Wagener (Metallica, Ozzy, Skid Row, Janet Jackson, Dokken, Extreme, White Lion, Warrant, etc.) who mixed and mastered their new album. Can you imagine the happiness the guys had when hey started working with the guy that has produced some of the bands’ records which actually made them love and deal with this kind of music huh?! By the way, the production is rockin’, smooth and crunchy. It exhales a fresh feeling and it doesn’t sound “retro” at any point.
Having a great variety of influences from acts such as: Ratt, Gun’s & Roses, Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Van Halen, Cinderella, Poison, Europe, Danger Danger, Bon Jovi (the 80s BJ not the pitiful band of today), Aerosmtih (80s) & Warrant among others, Sergeant Steel are not making the most common mistake of imitating or copying the 80s hard rock bands blatantly. They have filtered these influences and brought ‘em to today…. even though their looks are straight from that era. But who doesn’t love that 80s dress code?! Sergeant Steel are Austria’s answer to most of the Scandi hard rock (80s) bands that have taken over the scene during the last decade or so. “Men on a Mission” features lots of party-like & amusing tracks like: “Gods of Love”, “Mama Horny”, “Sweet 16”, “Men on a Mission”, “Cry Out Your Heart, Baby!”, “Wannabe Outlaw”, & “Taker of my Heart”, along with the splendid power ballad “Don’t Give It Up” & the catchy sing-along semi-ballad “Give Me a Call”. Generally, “Men on a Mission” is an imposing & complete hard rock album with refined melodies and strong musicianship. It’s true that if a bunch of the above-mentioned tracks were released during the 80s then this album would have gone big by the numbers for it does have a splendid music quality no matter if it won’t probably sell thousands or millions of copies. Sergeant Steel are ready and they can go bigger… let’s hope that the “80s metal Gods” will also be generous upon them…