Exiled Hope and Steel Forge - alchemy from coast to coast

Exiled Hope/Steel Forge

Realm of the Exiled

10 January 2025

In melding the identities of both Exiled Hope (U.S.) and Steel Forge (U.K.), the two entities converge into a new neosymphonic heaviness on this collaboration. This is not a split recording. While the music of Exiled Hope, the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Sofía Lee Frasz (Maryland, U.S.), tends to lean in the direction of melodic and atmospheric gothic, Steel Forge (Liverpool, Merseyside, England) at this point in their career, up until this point has gone for a do-it-yourself raw, horror heaviness. The first thing that struck me about the recording was the production. The production is the best one yet from both bands. They have been laboring in the underground making DIY recordings, but this one right here, in my view, is a solid step up in sound quality. It immediately felt better to my ears when I first heard it.

What is the result of the alchemy of Exiled Hope and Steel Forge? Besides the clearer production, the new creation, I would say, is a melodic heaviness with extreme vocals, generally speaking. While the midtempo and Sofía’s melodic singing in "Beyond the Veil" is on the more mellow, atmospheric side, there is lots of the heavier side achieved through the other songs' more uptempo feel and the use of extreme vocals. The results speak for themselves, Exiled Hope in general is not this heavy, does not use this much guitar melodies and does not use growling vocals as its main voice, and Steel Forge by itself has not achieved this level of elegance in its sound, has not used keyboards for a gothic or atmospheric identity, and does not use singing. While Exiled Hope wrote the majority of the music and Steel Forge wrote the majority of the lyrics, it took both of their efforts in order to execute. According to Metal Archives, Exiled Hope has been active only since 2019, and Steel Forge since 2015; therefore, we are really in the early stages of seeing what both of these bands will be achieving in the future.

In my opinion, Exiled Hope's singing and growling on this collaboration is the best so far, and the production for Steel Forge here is the best so far, and the guitar melodies is also a nice improvement. For all these reasons, fans looking for up-and-coming, newer music, set your compass for this collaboration.

Realm Of The Exiled by Steel Forge/Exiled Hope

https://exiledhope.bandcamp.com

https://steelforge1.bandcamp.com