SACRED STEEL – Ritual Supremacy

The waiting is over, German trve metallic force Sacred Steel has returned to show the world again the real spirit of metal without any outside influences, a basic type of sound, shimmering and gleaming, with no acoustic plastic anywhere in sight.

After A Long Hiatus

The last album the band released stems from 2016 which means the time between two albums was never as long as between Heavy Metal Sacrifice and the new Ritual Supremacy, nine years instead of the usual three. That means the last album comes from better days, before Covid and before the world seems to have gone deliberately crazy. On top of that, the line up has changed and Antonio Ieva, formerly of German metal powerhouse Brainstorm on bass, and Jörg Langenfeld, who also plays guitar in Subconscious, entered the band in 2023. What does that mean for the band and their sound?

No Changes To The Formula

The good news for fans of Sacred Steel is that the band does not stray from their path. They have started as a solid no-frills metal band and today, almost three decades and ten albums later, they are still that, no more and certainly no less. Bandleader and singer Gerrit Mutz shows as much dedication to the classic sound as he did on Reborn In Steel in 1997. If one sees an album that says Sacred Steel on the front cover, one knows that this is exactly what it contains.

Serious Metal

The album starts with the title track which is an absolute joy to listen and bang your head to, fast, with virtuosic guitar work, aggressive vocals and a general thrashy feel, much more than one is used to from the band. After starting with such a statement it is difficult to keep the level of energy up so Sacred Steel does not even try, but delivers a typical stomping track that could be on any of the ten albums, “Leather, Spikes And Chains”. Okay, lyrically this is old Judas Priest level, close to embarrassing, but nothing one should be surprised by. The issue with that song and the unspectacular “The Watcher Infernal” is rather that they take the momentum out of Ritual Supremacy that the title track has manage to build.

Fortunately, “A Shadow In The Bell Tower” picks it up again and gallops in just three minutes through a hommage to classic US Metal and the long “Entombed Within The Iron Walls Of Dis” shows that the band is capable of keeping up with the best in the epic metal genre. Following that Sacred Steel lets doom in which reminds of Mutz’ second band Dawn Of Winter, delivers speed metal in “Demon Witch Posession”, combines blast beats and ballade-esque sounds in “Covenant Of Grace” and finishes the album with a great, melancholic “Let The Blackness Come To Me” which shows how much the guys have grown as songwriters over the years. Amist those, another typical and unspectacular song called “Omen Rider” keeps the listener grounded and serves as a palate cleanser for the, albeit limited, stylistic variety Ritual Supremacy provides.

High Quality, Yet More Of The Same

Sacred Steel is Sacred Steel, Ritual Supremacy stand proud in a line of heavy metal albums that all deliver the goods without trying to be different or stand out of the long history of heavy metal and uncounted other bands playing that style. What sets them apart is the overall quality of albums and songs, the conviction with which they fire their guns, the unwavering belief in a sound that is equally old and timeless. With the strong production of their tenth album Sacred Steel earns their place on the shelf and if there were not two, maybe three tracks that cannot keep up the generally high quality level of Ritual Supremacy, it would be a good bet for the album sitting on the throne of traditional heavy metal in 2025. It is still a strong contender, but leaves an opening for others to exploit if maybe another album comes along that does not have fillers like “Leather, Spikes And Chains” and “Omen Rider”. Still, even if these two are less convincing than the rest, Ritual Supremacy offers eight very good reasons to get the album. Here is one of the strongest:

Album Tracklist

1. Ritual Supremacy
2. Leather, Spikes And Chains
3. The Watcher Infernal
4. A Shadow In The Bell Tower
5. Entombed Within The Iron Walls Of Dis
6. Bedlam Eternal
7. Demon Witch Posession
8. Covenant Of Grace
9. Omen Rider
10. Let The Blackness Come To Me

Band Line up

Gerrit Mutz – vocals
Jonas Khalil – guitar
Jörn Langenfeld – guitar
Antonio Ieva – bass
Mathias Straub – drums