Steel (band)


Steel is a one-off power metal project from Sweden that featured Dan Swanö and members of Opeth. Started in 1996, this collaboration emerged during the recording sessions for Opeth's Morningrise album. During a jam session, when the band were soundchecking the drums, they hit upon an idea to record a short piece for fun, entitled Guitars and Metal. This gave birth to Steel. Subsequently, they were asked to record more songs and when they did, the songs which were originally meant for a demo, actually appeared on a limited picture 7" EP, entitled Heavy Metal Machine released by Near Dark Productions. To this date, it remains their sole record.
Featuring only two songs, Heavy Metal Machine sounds very much like a typical 1980s power metal band, with high-pitched vocals, shredding solos, pounding bass lines and even 1980s-style sound effects. However, the record is not meant to be taken as a serious power metal attempt, explaining Swanö's extremely high-pitched vocals. As limited release, Heavy Metal Machine remains a collectors' item and is hard to come by.

Releases

''Heavy Metal Machine (1998)''

  1. Heavy Metal Machine - 3:34
  2. Rock Tonite - 4:11
Released on a limited edition 7" EP
The entire EP, along with one more song, Say Goodbye, was later released on the internet for free download.

Line-up