Wings of Steel: ‘Wings of Steel’ EP
WINGS OF STEEL
WINGS OF STEEL
Released on March 11, 2022 (Wings of Steel)
Review:
As soon as I heard the title track for Wings of Steel‘s debut EP, I felt this irresistible urge to buy it, which is exactly what I ended up doing. As is often the case when you do this type of impulse buying based on one song, it can sometimes backfire in a big way. You expect the songs to go in a certain vein and quickly discover that the one track you really like is an anomaly on the album and the rest of the songs are quite different. One recent personal example that comes to mind is when I purchased Ronnie Atkins‘ solo album Make It Count last year based on the one song that I had heard — the stellar “Rising Tide.” Unfortunately, I quickly realized that “Rising Tide” was the exception rather than the rule on Make It Count as the rest of the tracks ranged from ballads to mid-tempo melodic rockers. It’s not that the rest of the songs were bad on Make It Count but rather really not what I was expecting so no need to say that I was quite disappointed.
Taking into account that I purchased my copy of Wings of Steel‘s debut EP back in October 2022 but I am only getting around to reviewing the EP in May 2023, I have to confess that I was initially disappointed with the Wings of Steel EP upon hearing the whole thing because the title track is clearly the best song. Just like with Make It Count, I revisited the songs on the EP about five to six months later and found myself pleasantly surprised during my second time around. I can’t say the same for the tracks on Make It Count. The Wings of Steel EP kicks off with the opening track “Stormchild” which will have you thinking old school ’80s European type heavy metal with the guitar licks. Lead vocalist Leo Unnermark has a great and distinct voice that has a few similarities to the singing from Helloween‘s Michael Kiske. The guitar solo from Parker Halub is a thing of beauty and the track overall is very enjoyable with a big chorus and some nice melodies. I’ve already praised the title track many times in this review. Let’s just leave it at that it’s the standout track and will be in Wings of Steel‘s live set for the remainder of their music career.
“Rhythm of Desire” has a bluesy feel at times with the verses, which might remind you of vintage Great White. It’s actually pretty impressive that the Wings of Steel band members can cover so many different styles from the bluesy Great White type stuff to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal genre. “Rhythm of Desire” has slowly become one of the other highlights for me on the EP. The one track that feels a little odd on the EP is “Khamsin Riders” with its acoustic and almost flamingo sounding guitar parts. Unnermark sings the song in quite the high register. I suppose the song just shows how many styles that Wings of Steel can really cover. “Khamsin Riders” isn’t a bad track but pales in comparison to the other songs offered on the EP. Let’s hope that Wings of Steel don’t lean in this direction for future material. The EP closes with the song “Black Out On The Street” which I thought for the longest time was titled “Back On The Street.” In any case, it’s a slower but solid track with an easy to sing along to chorus.
As I write this review, Wings of Steel have already released another album titled Gates of Twilight, which saw the light of day only three days ago (on May 19, 2023). There is no need to say that I will be purchasing that album in the very near future. If you like classic European flavoured heavy metal, you’ll definitely want to check out Wings of Steel.
Track List:
01. Stormchild
02. Wings of Steel
03. Rhythm of Desire
04. Khamsin Riders
05. Black Out On The Street
Band Members:
Leo Unnermark – vocals
Parker Halub – guitars, bass
Mike Mayhem – drums
Production:
Mixed and mastered by Damien Rainaud
Band Websites:
Facebook
Bandcamp
Reviewed by Olivier for Sleaze Roxx, May 2023
Wings of Steel‘s “Wings of Steel” video: