Sacred Steel (band)
| Sacred Steel | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Ludwigsburg, Germany |
| Genres | Power metal, speed metal, thrash metal, heavy metal |
| Years active | 1996 - present |
| Labels |
Metal Blade (1996-2002) Massacre (2002-present) |
| Website | www.sacredsteel.de |
| Members |
Gerrit Mutz Jonas Khalil Jens Sonnenberg Kai Schindelar Matthias Straub |
| Past members |
Jörg Michael Knittel Oliver Großhans |
The band formed in the 80s when almost all of the members were already playing in bands that could gather underground acclaim. However, after forming Sacred Steel they were able to draw larger attention and success. After opening for bands like Blitzkrieg they were signed to Metal Blade Records in April 1997 being the first German band ever to do so. Their debut album 'Reborn In Steel' was released October 1997 and with great press and fan response, Sacred Steel became one of the top German metal acts in a short time, maybe also due to the renaissance of True metal and successes of bands like Hammerfall.
They released two more albums on Metal Blade: 'Wargods Of Metal' in 1998 (produced by Bill Metoyer of Slayer and Helstar fame) and 'Bloodlust'. Their third album was 'Bloodlust' in 2000, a concept album that saw the band broaden their stylistic horizon but, of course, staying a committed true metal band to the bone.
They played many festivals in Europe, mostly underground ones but also the renowned Wacken Open Air twice and went on tour with many bands, e.g. Primal Fear and Children Of Bodom.
After signing to Massacre Records they released 'Slaughter Prophecy' in 2002 which again saw the band playing around with a wide variety of influences that revealed the decades-long love of the musicians for all kinds of heavy metal. Some of the new songs even bordered on Doom metal or Death metal. The last album of the original lineup was 'Iron Blessings' that was released with a big bang in October 2004 - that very release show has been turned into a live CD and DVD under the title 'Live Blessings' (released 2006).
After a year-long hiatus Jörg Michael Knittel and Oliver Großhans, the two original guitarists, left Sacred Steel to pursue their Death-Metal project My Darkest Hate. Jens Sonnenberg switched from bass guitar to guitar and two new members were quickly brought in: Kai Schindelar on bass guitar, the former guitar tech and roadie Jonas Khalil as additional guitarist.
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Wikipedia