AGENT STEEL - Order Of The Illuminati
June 26, 2003, 21 years ago
(Artillery Music)
LA's Agent Steel lash back with their second album since the reunion, Order Of The Illuminati fueled with the fire of bands like Cage (sorry... first thing that came to mind - maybe it's short-shorn power vocalist Bruce Hall's resemblance to Sean Peck). The album is a scorcher, drenched with energy, fusing power metal, thrash and old school speed metal into a rhythmic yet melodic maelstrom that is thought-provoking both from a musical and (conspiratorial) lyrical standpoint. Hall enunciates exaggeratingly like Dickinson many mouthfuls of cool lyrics touching on a ton of forbidden topics, like Trouble with the bible, adding violence into the mix for cinematic vividness. Steely, crunchy production and tight as a drum execution of the many, swift twists and turns tops the feast forthrightly.
