Originally released around this time last year as a result of lockdown noodling, I’m pleased to announce that Danish act Steelbourne‘s debut effort, A Tale As Old As Time, has been picked up for a wider release by the always-enterprising Italian label Wormholedeath.

It’s certainly an album worthy of as wide an audience as possible; resolutely traditional in nature, the album is choc-full of rollicking metal anthems – respectful to the old Gods, of course, but with enough of a modern edge on tracks like Defiler to suggest a bright future for the band on their own terms away from the nostalgia circuit – and packed with highly assured performances from all concerned.

Troels Rasmussen  – probably best known to readers of Sentinel Daily as the former vocalist of Savage Machine – is a fine performer, combining the over the top bluster of Dickinson with the class and craft of Dio, especially on more thoughtful tracks like King of Kings, whilst guitarist Jacob Druedahl Bruun (who also drums on this recording) and bassist Benjamin Andreassen – both also ex-Savage Maciners – don’t lag far behind, both contributing superbly, especially on the album’s best track For Those About To Die.

Obviously there are whiffs of the trio’s former band at play here, but in real terms Steelbourne take Savage Machine’s template to exciting new levels on A Tale As Old As Time; When I made this release my release of the month last May in my Crusade of Power column I remarked that Savage Machine had never come up with material as consistently impressive as that which appears here, and a year down the line I see no reason to revise my opinion. This is seriously impressive heavy metal from a band that will hopefully now start to get the recognition they deserve. Get the album and prepare to bang your head – you can thank me for the tip (again) later!

A Tale As Old As Time releases on April 29th.