I can’t remember the last time I took the day to review a double dose of Frontiers offerings! Lord knows I better savor these slick, melodic stylings now, because I’ve got a week of punishing black, death, and thrash metal ahead of me (with perhaps a traditional metal/hard rock surprise thrown in, if the agenda permits). Whereas our first review of the day saw us reunited with Frontiers favorites Eclipse, this latter review sees us diving head first into the unknown with US based melodic hard rockers, SteelCity, and their third full length album, Reverence.
While I’ve heard the name SteelCity in passing over the years, largely spoken by those within the AOR community (looking at you Melodic Mafia), I haven’t gone out of my way to check out this band until now, for whatever reason or another. What initially began in 2018 as a solo project of guitarist Mike Floros has since evolved into a full blown band, featuring the vocal talents of none other than Roy Cathey, frontman of Marc Ferrari’s post-Keel venture, Cold Sweat. If that doesn’t hint at the direction this album is headed in, well, I’m not sure what does.
Reverence is an unabashed throwback to the days of hard rock’s domination of MTV, FM radio, and arenas around the globe. Over the course of its 50 minute runtime, there are shades of many bands that one will pick up, but none greater than Whitesnake. Between Cathey’s soulful vocals, the ripping Sykes-esque guitar work of Floros, and those over the top arena friendly hooks, I can practically feel my hair being scorched by a bottle of Aqua Net. This is especially the case on loud n’ rowdy rockers like “BA.N.K.”, “Walk Away”, and “I Ain’t Dreamin’ ‘Bout You”.
Occasionally, the album tends to veer off somewhere between traditional metal and lush AOR, which is ironically where SteelCity sounds most at home. This isn’t to discount the bluesy Whitesnake-core that dominates this affair, but ferocious headbangers like “Hammers Fallin'” and “Midnight Dancer” simply hit the spot, as does the dramatic tension of “Blinded” and “No Angel”. Like I said, it’s nothing revolutionary, but it does fire on all cylinders, making this young buck nostalgic for an era he wasn’t even alive for. If you were there for those glory days, well, let’s not kid ourselves: The ’80s probably never ended for you to begin with.
Taking these factors into consideration, while your tried and true kvlt metallist might not get much out of Reverence, there’s no reason your friendly neighborhood hard rocker wouldn’t. This album is all guns blazing from start to finish, retro in its disposition from writing and performances to production and atmosphere. The band is tight, the songs are smokin’, and Cathey can still drive it on home behind the mic as well as he could 35 years ago. Then again, I’d expect nothing less from a guy who studied the likes of Coverdale, Hughes, and so forth. If you’re looking for a quick hard rockin’ getaway, SteelCity is the place to go!
7 out of 10
Label: Frontiers Records
Genre: Hard Rock
For fans of: Whitesnake, Rainbow, Blue Murder