RISING STEEL – Fight Them All
- Posted on 04-10-2020
The hard-hitting French combo named Rising Steel dabble in 80s-inspired power metal, thrash metal, and old-school heavy metal and it should come as no surprise that several parts of this eleven-track offering sound fucking massive. Whereas some passages recall Judas Priest at their most aggressive, others are more akin to the more melodic aspects of Testament’s song material. Not bad, eh? When Rising Steel are firing on all cylinders and churn out face-melting riffs and gut-piercing vocals, all is well in the kingdom of metal and “Fight Them All” is as entertaining and catchy as they come.
What about the negatives then? Well, a handful of tunes are decent rather than excellent, and there are a couple of pieces that are just downright lame and pointless, one of which is the song entitled “Pussy”. The musicianship is good all around, the production is thick and crushing, and the majority of tracks are definitely worth listening to as they serve as the perfect homage to fist-pumping heavy metal while simultaneously harboring a sense of youthful vigor and enthusiasm. Highlights include the epic “Mystic Voices”, the melodically glorious and varied “Blackheart”, the pounding “Malefice”, and the atmospheric “Gloomy World”.
“Fight Them All” loses its momentum occasionally (primarily towards the end) and is therefore not an entirely solid output in terms of quality and focus, but most of the time it is a headbanging delight and fans of punchy heavy metal ought to check it out as there are some real juggernauts to be found here.