Steel Assassin
War of the Eight Saints

Raise your hand if you remember them.

Formed in Massachusetts in the very early Eighties, and when else, the Steel Assassin were the authors, during the years '83-'85, of a handful of demos strongly tied to the most classic heavy metal, something predictable considering the release date. Considered lost by the mid-decade, their name resurfaced, albeit always in a purely underground context, at the end of the Nineties, thanks to the compilation "From The Vaults," which featured the little material produced up to that point. Since a second chance is always given to everyone, here they resurrect at the end of the 2000s, boasting a new lineup, to try to recover at least a small part of the lost time.

Unusually in these cases, the group is practically the original one, except for the young singer John Falzone, the third to take up the microphone for Steel Assassins. Supported by Steel Sentinel, they returned to the scenes in 2007 with this "War of the Eight Saints," a work that, lyrically, takes inspiration from the War of the Eight Saints, a conflict that opposed Florence to the Papal State in the 14th century: for the record, these Americans know the history of medieval Italy better than we do. Musically, the group's coordinates move on a very valid American-style power, with a solid rhythm section and fine guitar work, all enhanced by a singer who makes a difference. Power with American stars and stripes, it is said, so we're more in the realm of Jag Panzer and Iced Earth than Helloween and Rhapsody; one frankly wonders why a (sub)genre like this has never managed to match the commercial success of its European cousin, given the number of valid bands, but so be it. The album opens with "Hawkwood," a captivating rhythm track, followed by "Curse of the Black Prince" and "Hill of Crosses," one of the best tracks on the record, which at times alternates between more intense passages and others more melodic and expansive. Ideally, the album could be divided into two distinct parts: if the first, which concludes with "Merchants of Force" and "Bloodlust Quest," the latter characterized by beautiful female vocals, leaves one positively impressed by the excellent quality of the tracks, although the group actually moves on fairly canonical territories, the second instead seems to struggle more, with a couple of tracks, "Tartarus" and "Metalfire," which, being rather anonymous and repetitive, dampen the tension built up to that point.

The grand finale, however, entrusted to the long title track, shows musicians in great shape, capable of worthily concluding an excellent album, perhaps a bit too long and with some passages not completely in focus, but yet another demonstration of how, with many sacred monsters now faltering, at least in the studio, the underground continues to be a true boon for enthusiasts, with valid bands that could easily compete with the big names of the genre but, for a thousand reasons, are destined to remain in the shadows. "War of the Eight Saints" has certainly brought luck to the Americans, since from that moment they have initiated a consistent discography, continued with the remake album "In Hellfire Forged" and then with the second album "WWII: Metal of Honour." As they say, welcome back and better late than never.