There are a zillion reasons why I love metal music. One of them is that you can listen to bands making music af if it were thirty years ago and still find it wonderful. Steel Hammer makes a mighty old school heavy metal that would make a difference back then, and surely makes it now. It’s remarkable how vocalist Esteban Restrepo’s tone of voice is so similar to Udo Dirkschneider’s. Some haters could say it’s a mere copy, that the band is outdated, etc and etc but to hell with haters! Steel Hammer is a pretty nice band! Solid, fast, angry, fiercyful, and, above all, inspired. The songs are very well written, the guitar duo creates strong guitar motifs that are simultaneously catchy and heavy, the bass keeps the going, and the drummer, well the drummer, is somehow far from reality. He is not only capable of keeping the pace, but even flourishes the songs with his precise and accurate blasts. I dare to say that this self entitled album, “Steel Hammer”, is a forty minute piece of a very resourceful heavy metal music.
Being formed in 2011, the band took a long run to get their debut album as “Steel Hammer” was realeased only in 2016. So there was plenty of time to learn from the masters. The first, and natural, reference would be Accept, but don’t let Esteban Restrepo’s tone of voice fool you. Steel Hammer reminds much more the early Grave Digger than Accept. I say that because of tones the band chose. They are deeper than Accept’s, and much more alike Grave Digger’s Witch Hunter, specially when it goes to the guitar duo.
