| Sacred Steel | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Ludwigsburg, Germany |
| Genres | Power metalSpeed metalThrash metal Heavy metal |
| Years active | 1996 - present |
| Labels | Metal Blade(1996-2002) Massacre Records(2002-present) |
| Website | www.sacredsteel.de |
| Members | |
| Gerrit Mutz Jonas Khalil Jens Sonnenberg Kai Schindelar Matthias Straub |
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| Past members | |
| Jörg Michael Knittel Oliver Großhans |
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The band has roots back till in the 80s when almost all of the members were already playing in bands that could gather underground acclaim. But not before the foundation of Sacred Steel, they were able to draw larger attention and success. After opening for bands like Blitzkrieg they were signed to Metal Blade Records in April 1997 being the first German band ever to do so. Their debut album 'Reborn In Steel' was released October 1997 and with great press and fan response, Sacred Steel became one of the top German metal acts in a short time, maybe also due to the renaissance of True metal and successes of bands like Hammerfall.
They released two more albums on Metal Blade: 'Wargods Of Metal' in 1998 (produced by Bill Metoyer of Slayer and Helstar fame) and 'Bloodlust'. 'Wargods Of Metal' got them a pre-Grammy nomination for 'Best Heavy Metal Performance' and could all in all broaden success and press response of the debut album. Their third album was 'Bloodlust' in 2000, a concept album that saw the band broaden their stylistic horizon but, of course, staying a committed true metal band to the bone.
They played many festivals in Europe, mostly underground ones but also the renowned Wacken Open Air twice and went on tour with many bands, e.g. Primal Fear and Children Of Bodom.
After signing to Massacre Records they released 'Slaughter Prophecy' in 2002 which again saw the band playing around with a wide variety of influences that revealed the decades-long love of the musicians for all kinds of heavy metal. Some of the new songs even bordered on Doom metal or Death metal. The last album of the original lineup was 'Iron Blessings' that was released with a big bang in October 2004 - that very release show has been turned into a live CD and DVD under the title 'Live Blessings' (released 2006).
After a year-long hiatus Jörg Michael Knittel and Oliver Großhans, the two original guitarists, left Sacred Steel to pursue their Death-Metal project My Darkest Hate. Jens Sonnenberg switched from bass guitar to guitar and two new members were quickly brought in: Kai Schindelar on bass guitar, the former guitar tech and roadie Jonas Khalil as additional guitarist.
2006 saw the release of the first album with the new lineup which had been recorded with Sodom producer Harris Johns. 'Hammer Of Destruction' was a 'back to the roots'-album for the band and had very strong songs that reminded of rather archetypical heavy metal bands like early Metallica, Iron Maiden, Jag Panzer, Megadeth or Helstar. It was again a success with fans and media and even spawned a video clip to 'Maniacs Of Speed'
Sacred Steel can be located somewhere between classic European True metal and heavier Thrash- or Speed-Metal, but also draw lots of influences like Fantasy Metal or Doom metal. They have albeit managed to create a very genuine style from their first album on which is mostly due to the unique and unusual vocal performance of singer Gerrit P. Mutz. Their lyrics deal with typical genre topics like battles (especially visible on the concept album 'Bloodlust') or Heavy Metal in general and never fail to offer an honest and dedicated, yet good humoured stance (e.g. the anthems 'Sacred Steel' and 'Sacred Bloody Steel').
| Era | Lineup | Album(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1996–2005 |
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| 2005–present |
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The Bonus DVD contains a full concert of Queens Of Metal 2009, a Studio report and one live clip from Summer Breeze 2009 Produced by Sacred Steel. Recorded and engineered by Christian Schmid at Music Factory Studio Kempten, Germany, August/September 2008 Mixed an mastered by Achim Köhler at Indiscreet Audio Studio 2009
Spoken Prayer on “Broken Rites”, vocals on “Shadows Of Reprisal” and additional lead vocals on “Metal Underground” by R.D. Liapakis.
Cover Artwork by Péter Sallai Booklet Illustration by Timo Würz Photos by Bianca Hahn