For a brief moment I was afraid I had stepped into a Top Gun moment when the new Steelwing album started with that snazzy keyboard that sounded too much like Kenny Loggin’s “Danger Zone”. That was quickly dispelled when “Solar Wind Riders” just sheered through my brain at a well-paced speed; Steelwing’s latest effort in Zone of Alienation is another Swedish import that taps the traditional heavy sound in all the right spots. This band had me hooked with ‘10’s Lord of the Wasteland and it’s all uphill form here.

What can I really say about Steelwing? I suppose it begs to yell out the band’s praises from the highest rooftop; these guys are the new era of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and a slew of other bands that catapulted our movement to great heights while retaining most of the magic of the original ideas without corporate change or success-laced dilution. The main difference is that these guys do it without benefit of MTV, and therein lay the beauty of what a band like this can do with the purest of motives behind it.

Every track on Zone of Alienation literally screams out in an ancient voice that still renders even the hardest metalhead relatively weakened with its voracious appetite in commanding subservience to the cause. The riffs are 80’s-inspired melodic relevance, yet they manage to engage the modern mindset nicely with such powering tracks like “”Tokkotai” or “Full Speed Ahead!”; this says nothing of the title track, that is one of the finest pieces of traditional metal my ears have heard in a few years! This is precisely what the old school sound calls for, all the while regaling the ardent fan with songs that can easily fit in with today’s burgeoning camp. “The Running Man” is Judas Priest-101 with its “Freewheel Burning-esque” riff that quickly dissipates into pure Steelwing and harkens back to a wonderful period of heavy metal history. This might well be the greatest underground band in this style that more people need to hear, hands down.

As a fan of this style literally from its inception to its rise, late 80’s stagnation, and now-classic celebration it’s refreshing to hear the similar style being done to such a veritable degree in the modern day. In an age where speed and over-production reign supreme an album like Zone of Alienation is just what the longtime fan needs to remember past glories and newfound pride in today’s stable of up-and-comers. Vocalist Riley has the singing chops infinitely perfect for the music under him; his high-pitch is as resonating as a 25-year old Rob Halford and just as strong. While the new crop of singers might be riding some coattails of the masters before them, nothing is left to imitation on this album; riley can handle the high screams and the mid-range deliveries with genuine ease and never overstates his presence for the sake of shtick. He’s the real deal, and Steelwing should ascend the ranks in the coming months simply due in large part to the music being of integral charm and heavy metal purity.

Zone of Alienation espouses all of the virtuousness and style that the movement not only requires but hopes for in the current day with strong, empowering songs with which to bang thy head.

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1.  2097 A.D.
2.  Solar Wind Riders
3.  Full Speed Ahead!
4.  Breathless
5.  Tokkotai (Wind of Fury)
6.  Zone of Alienation
7.  The Running Man
8.  They Came from the Skies
9.  Lunacy Rising

Total playing time:  41:48

Release Date: January 6, 2012
Label: Noiseart Records

Steelwing - Zone of Alienation

Reviewer: Chris

March 12, 2012