Greetings earthlings, and welcome to another edition of From My Collection! Today’s featured album is one I’ve been meaning to revisit for quite some time. I figured this week would mark the perfect opportunity to do so, for a few reasons. First and foremost, it rules. All of the albums I highlight in the FMC series rule (well, most of them at least), but this one kicks more ass than usual. Secondly, it turns 40 this month (remind me to highlight more ’85 releases as the year progresses). Lastly, like far too many of these entries, this week’s FMC doubles as an in memoriam, as Agent Steel drummer Chuck Profus passed away last week at the age of 61. Profus played a key role not just in the development of this album, but Agent Steel’s sound altogether, and was one of the most prolific drummers of his era. Today, we pay tribute to him and these Masters of Metal with a look back on Agent Steel’s debut album, Skeptics Apocalypse. Rest in power Chuck!
Like most ’80s underground U.S. metal stories do, the tale of Agent Steel begins with Dave Mustaine. In 1983, singer John Cyriis found himself fronting an early incarnation of Megadeth. Yes, believe it or not, Mustaine spent the first year of the band’s existence going through a revolving door of actual singers, before settling on handling vocal duties himself come the end of ’83, for better or worse. During Cyriis’ brief stint with the band, he found himself butting heads with Mustaine (what a shocker), as Mustaine didn’t care for the extraterrestrial nature of the material Cyriis brought to the table. This led to the two parting ways and Cyriis forming his own outfit: Agent Steel.
Co-founded with drummer Chuck Profus, the duo quickly assembled a hungry group of fellow young metallists, eager to take this world and beyond by storm. There were guitarists Juan Garcia and Kurt Kofelt, the former of whom played with Cyriis in cult speed metallers Abattoir. Rounding out the lineup was bassist George Robb. Together, the five self-released two demos in 1984, 144,000 Gone and Second Demo, before catching the attention of the ever-expanding Combat Records. Come 1985, Agent Steel found themselves with a record deal, and that summer, Combat unleashed what many could argue as speed metal’s finest four, Skeptics Apocalypse.
The album opens with an eerie introduction entitled “(The Calling)”. Whereas most bands who crafted intros at this point harbored unhealthy fixations with Satan, Agent Steel opened their debut platter with an equally creepy prelude, filled with distant synth noises and a cryptic voice over an intercom, rambling on about auras and voids. This is soon dashed by the explosive “Agents of Steel”: The song that many, myself included, consider to be the pinnacle of Agent Steel’s output. The best way I can describe it to someone who’s never heard it (Where have you been?) is if Queensrÿche’s debut EP were played at 78 RPM. Cyriis’ vocals soar to absolutely stratospheric highs. The twin guitar attack of Garcia and Kofelt rip through your speakers like Tipton and Downing on crack. All the while, Profus holds it down with a performance that could only be rivaled by Dave Lombardo and Gene Hoglan. This was speed metal at its absolute fastest and most ferocious.
Despite the unrelenting speed attack of the opening track, and the album itself, for that matter, it should be noted that aside from a few select moments, Skeptics Apocalypse is NOT a thrash album. Yes, it was released in the heart of the thrash revolution. Yes, the majority of headbangers picking up this album upon its release were self-professed thrashers. That said, Skeptics Apocalypse lacks the mosh riffs and antisocial attitude that fueled the likes of their thrashing peers, sonically lying closer to the US power metal scene and traditional metal acts like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. These influences are apparent on a cut like “Taken by Force”, which doesn’t sound too removed from the fare of say Jag Panzer or Omen. The riffs boast a serious bloodlust, and Cyriis’ vocals boast a near operatic prowess on the chorus.
“Evil Eye / Evil Minds” is one of the rare aforementioned thrash moments on this album. The vocals are melodic, and the speed is roughly the same as the opening “Agents of Steel”. However, there’s a violent bite to the riffs on this one that makes one think if you stripped the traditional metal pretenses, this could very well fit in on Exodus’ Bonded by Blood. These thrashing undertones continue on side A’s closer, “Bleed for the Godz”, but with a stronger power metal emphasis, especially on the chorus. Yet again, Cyriis’ insane vocals steal the show: An intense mix of snarls, growls, screams, and howls, sounding like the demented offspring of Geoff Tate and Cronos.
As we flip over to side B, we’re greeted by the ominous “Children of the Sun”. Not to be confused with the Billy Thorpe FM rock classic of the same name, this “Children of the Sun” is a masterclass in USPM with a prog twist. It’s a winding composition, filled with lumbering riffs, tempo changes, and cryptic vocal melodies. The old school Maiden template is proudly on display, but make no mistake: This is far from a cheap rehash of NWOBHM gold. This is a new metallic exploration altogether, foreshadowing the direction Agent Steel would pursue on their sophomore album, 1987’s Unstoppable Force.
“144,000 Gone” is a rerecording of Agent Steel’s debut song, released a year earlier in demo form. Again, the Maiden similarities are clear as day, even down to the way the song unfolds, starting with a menacing, midtempo buildup, before Cyriis unleashes one of his signature supersonic screams that leads to the tempo kicking up and an onslaught of headbanger riffage. One can’t help but imagine themselves clad in denim and leather upon hearing this one, thrashing around the mosh pit circa ’85 and losing it to the unrelenting power of steel.
The midtempo USPM mania continues with “Guilty as Charged”, which may very well be the best song EP era Queensrÿche never made. By this point, the Tate-fronted troupe were more focused on reinventing themselves as the heavy metal Pink Floyd, eager to shake off any remnants of the USPM scene they helped spearhead just a couple years earlier. Agent Steel, on the other hand, embraced this formula with open arms, giving their own singular spin on it that stands strong to this day. While “Guilty as Charged” might be the least innovative song on Skeptics Apocalypse, it’s still a killer old school metal song that deserves to be cranked to 11.
Rounding it all out is the colossal power metal hymn, “Back to Reign”. This song, like “Guilty as Charged”, also gives off strong Queensrÿche vibes, but with far more epic leanings. Garcia and Kofelt’s twin guitars are so in sync that it’s almost terrifying. Much like the Great Pyramid, this couldn’t be the work of mere mortals, right? Cyriis emphasizes the clean side of his vocal spectrum, utilizing operatic screams and ultra-clear highs. The fact that his name isn’t immediately mentioned alongside the likes of Tate, Halford, Dickinson, and King Diamond in conversation is criminal.
Skeptics Apocalypse cemented Agent Steel as an unstoppable force within the U.S. metal underground, subsequently leading up to their 1987 sophomore effort, the aptly titled, Unstoppable Force. But as the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and by 1988, Agent Steel were history. Kofelt jumped ship after the release of Skeptics Apocalypse, joining up with cult thrashers Holy Terror, while Garcia would go onto form second wave thrash titans, Evildead. In the years to follow, Agent Steel would regroup, splinter apart, and regroup again faster than you could say, “E.T. phone home.” As of 2025, there is some iteration of Agent Steel currently active, helmed by Cyriis and performing live when the godz allow them to do so. That being said, nothing since has come close to the magic of this here platter: 30 minutes and 39 second of high speed perfection. “MASTERS OF METAL, AGENTS OF STEEEEEEEEEELLLL!!!”
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