Lion's Den

The Lion's Den is the third album from the oddly named Steel Seal. This album caught me very much off guard and I have to say that I am impressed with the overall presentation of this album. Not only does it sound excellent but the band themselves are quality musicians and it reflects wonderfully in their music.The start of the album sets up the vibe for the rest of the record and that is soaring vocals, neo-classical guitar playing, thunderous drums and lots of keyboards. It's a very optimistic sound and very well put together in sound quality and musicianship. But it is in the second half of the album where the band really shine. The first half is good but all the memorable hooks is in the last half hour easy. Whilst you could say it gives the album pacing issues, it also provides The Lion's Den with a great climax.Break Your Chains, A Dream Within a Dream and Fate (Knocking At Your Door) are easily my favourite songs on The Lion's Den. They have a nice Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow vibe about them. Lots of great vocal melodies and some stunning guitar playing (much like the rest of the album), specifically the short snippet of Beethoven's 5th Symphony found throughout the previously mentioned song.Underground Symphony feature many quality bands but I would say that Steel Seal's latest effort puts them right to the top of the list. This album is a wonderful product and one that has been very well recorded. As far as power metal albums go, this could be one of the best I have heard this year. There is a lot of personality in this record and I would love to hunt down a copy of this for myself whilst recommending other do so for themselves.Published by Steven Lornie of Demonszone