Published on Jan 12, 2001
Agent Steel is the kind of band who sometimes make you think
that some groups still worship the style of ’80s metal… yet they
also make you believers in it as well. So what if it’s the new
millennium, so long as the music constantly kicks ass?
Agent Steel has indeed done this on their latest disc
Omega Conspiracy. Taking the lessons they learned from the
bands they undoubtedly worshipped in the ’80s (as well as from
their own releases at that time), Juan Garcia and crew have created
an album that is surprisingly accessible and enjoyable, even if you
don’t want to believe that such a thing is possible… isn’t that
right, Mulder and Scully?
The band – guitarists Garcia and Bernie Versailles, vocalist
Bruce Hall, bassist Karlos Medina an drummer Chuck Profus – have
more than a retro metal glint to their musical blade, taking
lessons from such bands as Overkill and Judas Priest for their own
musical attack. (Note that I’m not saying they stole anything from
these bands… I get enough hate mail as it is.) But what sets
Agent Steel apart is that they’re not only able to bring this sound
into the 21st Century, but that they’re able to make it sound
fresh.
You want proof of this supposed alien form of music life? (God,
it’s amazing how many
X-Files references you can make when you review an album
that has an alien on the cover.) Just check out tracks like “Know
Your Master,” “Into The Nowhere,” “Bleed Forever” and “Illuminati
Is Machine”. Fact is, there’s not a single bad track on
Omega Conspiracy – something which is a rarity in the world
of metal.
Agent Steel is even able to repay their musical debt to Judas
Priest with a cover of “Beyond The Realms Of Death,” which is a
bonus track on the U.S. release. (The track was taken from a Judas
Priest tribute album that Agent Steel worked on.) To their credit,
the band stays close to the bone, and makes sure that their version
stands on its own while maintaining a respect for the original
version.
Agent Steel know that the truth is out there – namely, the truth
in regards to how to make a retro metal album sound incredibly
fresh.
Omega Conspiracy is the alpha dog in that quest, and will
easily find its way into permanent rotation on your CD player…
and there’s no mystery surrounding why that is.