interview: Steel Raiser

The Italian band Steel Raiser began in 2006 and their fourth album Acciaio (Steel) is out now. It came out in February of 2019. A true metal fan’s band, the new album features songs with titles like “Heavy Metal Hero,” “Up the Fist,” and “King of the Night,” and other traditional titles of the language of heavy metal. Very loyal to the music, the band works with the tested ways to make sure that you get your money’s worth. There are 11 songs and the results should please the fans that love bands that live for the ways of classic-style heavy metal.

Acciaio is a fist-raising heavy metal album! The previous album is from 2015. How was life for Steel Raiser after 2015? Do you get some recognition in Sicily?

Hello everyone, I'm Salvo, bass player of Steel Raiser and it's a pleasure for me to answer your questions. Acciaio is the successor to Unstoppable, released in 2015, and represents the continuation of our musical journey started with Race of Steel. It is an album of pure heavy metal that will not leave disappointed our fans and lovers of the genre. Since 2015 many things have changed, both from the musical point of view with the entry of Carlos in the band, both from the personal point of view for each of us. Our lives have become a little more frenetic and our free time has decreased compared to the past, but we have managed to keep an open space for our musical projects. Obviously, especially in terms of content, all these changes and experiences (positive and negative) in recent years have contributed to the writing of Steel.

Sicily is a wonderful place for a holiday, a little less to live there and certainly unsuitable for making music, our music. There is a visceral lack of interest in heavy metal music and the few valid bands are not taken into consideration at all. However, this has never questioned the life of the band, also given by our propensity to always aim beyond our geographical borders.

After writing riffs and lyrics, writing songs and recording, the album is complete in 2019, how do you feel and are you excited to play some shows?

It feels free. In my personal experience, the last three years of life have not been the best, many negative circumstances have followed one another and left an indelible mark where they struck. Managing all this and in the meantime also devoting to writing an album is not easy, however, as always, the music saves. All that desire to shout to the world your anger, your desire for revenge is transformed into powerful notes and riffs that in the end make you almost free from all the shit that surrounds you. I always think that our fans understand all the feelings that we throw into our songs, maybe they are reflected in them and for this I am sure they will appreciate our album. And we cannot wait to be able to offer it live in front of as many people as possible.

Where can people hear or watch the new songs or videos?

It is possible to listen to the album in streaming on all digital platforms. In addition, anyone wishing to purchase a physical copy can do so through our Facebook page and in all online stores. "Heavy Metal Hero" video has already anticipated the release of the album about a month ago. In the coming weeks we are planning the realization and subsequent publication of a lyric video and at least one other official videoclip.

Steel Raiser has been active for a long time. In all those years how much touring has the band done?

Until today our live activity has been rather penalized by our geographical position. In Italy we visited several cities that welcomed us with great interest and enthusiasm, such as the last magnificent experience at the Rock Metal Fest in Pulsano. Different discourse for foreign countries, which has not yet seen us present and on which, beyond the economic issues that do not represent a problem, we are trying to work for some time.

Steel Raiser is Italian, but your record labels have been German during your career. Why is that?

We have always had an excellent relationship with the German record labels, initially with Pure Steel Records and now with Iron Shield Records. Our choice to collaborate with them rather than with Italian ones, for example, has always been dictated by the enthusiasm and the great support they have always provided us, as well as by the openness to collaboration that emerged from the beginning. Iron Shield devotes itself in a manner to the promotion of our albums, and it does so with a lot of passion and competence. Not surprisingly, after the recordings of "Acciaio" we immediately sent the material to Thomas (Iron Shield Records).

Did you use all the songs for the album? Did you record some extra songs?

As always we have developed and carried forward the ideas that we considered most interesting and functional for the album, "discarding", so to speak, those that we still do not consider mature enough to be part of a Steel Raiser album. However, what does not end on the album is recovered later to be reworked and improved. For "Acciaio" we had about 14 pieces that eventually fell to 11 that compose it. Perhaps we will hear them in the next CD to which we will start working shortly.

How is the line-up of the band in 2019?

Alfonso and Gianluca represent the backbone of Steel Raiser. They started this project and continue to carry on the mission. Over the years, just after the release of "Race of Steel", the line-up was completed with Giuseppe Seminara on guitar, Salvo Pizzimento (me) on bass and Antonio Portale on drums. From this line up a stable formation was formed that over time saw the entry of Carlos Cantatore to replace Antonio at the drums.

Steel Raiser has lots of fist-raising, headbanging heavy metal songs. That is your specialty. However, on the new album you also have a nice ballad called Wherever. Is the song dedicated to a person in particular?

The idea of the ballad comes from a riff of Giuseppe to which Alfonso then wrote the text. As any of our songs is not decided anything at the table, we simply considered "Wherever" valid and mature enough to be published. It is certainly a song of love, of a love understood beyond time and space, which lasts despite the difficulties of daily life, fueled by a fire that can never be extinguished. I do not give you the background of the song because they belong to Alfonso, but I can tell you that it took heart to write it and to sing it.

What would you like the U.S. fans of traditional heavy metal to know about Steel Raiser?

I would be really proud that our music would please the American listeners, who can give us their necessary support to continue to make our music, with the hope that one day we might come and play in your part. It would be for us a dream that comes true.

Do you have any other news?

As I said before, in the coming months we will try to promote our album at best and shortly before the summer we will start working on new stuff that will make up the successor of "Acciaio". Thank you for the space you gave us and for your support. Stay Steel.

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