(Heavy Metal) Steel Horse - Wild Power (Japanese Edition) - 2009, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Steel Horse is a new heavy metal band, something very challenging in the 2010's. Almost all the riffs, melodies and structures of heavy metal in its classic form have been invented. You won’t be able to shock a new listener with the originality and innovation of your music. That happened about five years after the creation of the heavy metal music, no more. Besides that all the metal production has been based in listening heavy metal music and give it a step forward by twisting the tempo, tuning, or simply making a reconstruction of the notes in order to make melodies still catchy but that not remembers other ones previously heard. This is very difficult and there have been a lot of bands in Spain that haven't failed in this purpose. If we take a listen to Steel Horse, we see that they are different; as those guys, and mainly the songwriter Willy Gascón, have done well their research, listening and work.

The 9 tracks of this album sound completely fresh, so you listen to this album without thinking in other songs you have heard. OK, maybe you think in Judas Priest and Accept, but only as they could have recorded this album in their good years, what they haven't done, and (at least about Judas Priest) it's quite difficult for them to make that again. It's a catchy album that you can listen twice or three times on a day. Maybe the key is that any song sounds different to the previous one; that's why I said about the need of listening for a lot of heavy metal to be inspired and be able to make critically original songs.

"Sons of fire" is the first song, a fast killer, with lots of melodies even in the lyrical sections, what makes a very interesting song. Vocals are good as well. Slightly different is “Run to survive”, where the powerful vocals are the main attraction, with a lot of energy and a little bit of rage. Well accompanied by the guitars. “Burning soul” slows down the engine and introduces a good work of the entire band in different figures and expressions, with one of the heavier riffs in the release. “Wild power” gives the title to the album, and the song itself in nothing but their powerful anthem, an excellent song in everything. Next is “Nemesis”, the instrumental one where the band shows more its Iron Maidenish influences (as if it wasn’t possible to compare with Iron Maiden any trace of instrumentation in heavy metal records). And we go with other of the anthems, “Raise your fist”, with a very catchy chorus and some hidden melodies that deserve a second look. “Line of fire” is the fastest song, with a killer drums but also great vocal melodies. “Winds of time” is the mid-tempo ballad that gives us a break from energy and break and shows the band cutest moments (haha). The album ends with “Night terrors”, nice ending song with some experimental melodies and riffs a little bit away of the rest of the record, a song full of melody and rhythm changes.

Is this album future masterpiece? Time will tell, but future is promising and this band has the wild power needed to handle it.