Steelmaid – Raptor

Releasedate: 17-04-2010; Label: Karthago Records
By: Lara Cappelli

Steel Maid is a German Heavy Metal band. “Raptor” is their second album.

When reading Steel Maid biography, guitarist Dirk Johannsen states the band has a long track record. It all started 30 years ago when he attended a concert of the band Kiss for the first time. From then on, rock music took over him and influenced his whole life. Steel Maid are styled after this and don’t try to hide it. Their aim sounds like an attempt to recall old atmospheres made by bands just like Kiss and Iron Maiden. Driving rhythms are aplenty there, which might be pretty tricky for such bands as it often comes to be a synonymous of repetition. With Steel Maid this somehow doesn’t happen; they sagely use very different melodies to lighten and make particular every track. Al Firicano voice perfectly fits with the music, thanks to its high register frequently spiced with choir sings. “Raptor” sees its clue with “The Falling Angel” present both in original and acoustic version. In these, voices are not changed much and remain aggressive and high to create, in the acoustic version, a weird but still particular contrast with the backing calm melodies. With Raptor, Steel Maid don’t carry anything new and actually never demanded to; nevertheless the outcome is definitely effective.

Links:
Steelmaid Official