Who said CD artwork is dead? Don’t tell CAGE mainman Sean Peck, as this brightly colored, comic book styled lyric sheet and cover (depicting Odin, the Grim Reaper and Satan watching over a Cage concert) is the antithesis of the digital download age. Hats off to artist Marco Sasso, who has worked for Marvel Comics. Then there’s the music, a non-stop eardrum pummeling of aggressive, twin guitars and Peck squealing, belching and King Diamond imitating his way through a dozen numbers that most definitely would incite cardiac arrest (most notably PSYCHOTIC WALTZ on drummer Norm Leggio), should the San Diego outfit get the brilliant idea of ever performing this album in its entirety! If you’re foolish enough to try and headbang along to the damaging dozen, you’re likely end up in the ER, suffering from self-imposed whiplash. Where’s that neck brace METAL CHURCH offered for sale in their eponymous debut? Think JUDAS PRIEST’s ‘Painkiller’, twelve different ways. While some might complain about lacking variation in tempo (there is within each track), as it’s always on 10, not me! Even moreso than the last two records, Peck stretches his vocal chords, adding layers to his Lon Chaney (Man Of A Thousand Faces) delivery: piercing highs (serial killer ‘Skinned Alive’), black metal growls (‘King Of The Wasteland’), a newer/neutral tone and the eerie aping of that infamous corpse-painted Dane (‘Annaliese Michel’). All would be for naught, if the music wasn’t as infectious as their previous five albums. In fact, parts of Supremacy Of Steel harkens back to Unveiled (the allegorical ‘Braindead Woman’), not bad for a band who will celebrate two decades of existence in 2012. As always, the lyrics touch on a wide range of topics: some fictional, others historical, like Civil War battleship ‘The Monitor’ and a paean to WWII aircraft ‘Flying Fortress’, for which CAGE filmed a video. ‘Metal Empire’, on the other hand, is simply in praise of the music we all love. Even with the voiceover and effects that explain the entire premise, the comic book character ‘Dr. Doom’ is the lone stumbling block. As much as I enjoyed the excellent pair of concept albums (Hell Destroyer and Science OF Annihilation), this is the most consistent entry in their catalog. Highest recommendation!