Sacred Steel - Iron Blessings (2004)

Why don't I hate Sacred Steel? They're pretty much the black sheep of power metal, with their grim and dark lyrics of war and Satanic battles (titles this time include "Screams Of The Tortured", "At the Sabbat of the Possessed (The Witches Ride Again)" and "Annointed By Bloodshed" and they use more and more harsh vocals (I think I've go a handle on that term now) to join Gerri Mutz's strangled squawk/singing (to be fair, he is improving - slightly), and it's not exactly melodious stuff (aren't I using a lot of brackets here?).
But the heaviness and speed just draws me in, and... I don't know... I had a pretty good time with this, and I suppose it's as close to black metal as I'll ever get.
Which is fine by me.

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