UMUR "Skeptics Apocalypse" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Los Angeles based power/speed/thrash metal act Agent Steel. The album was released through Combat Records in June 1985. Agent Steel formed in 1984 and "Skeptics Apocalypse" was preceded by a couple of 1984 demos.

The material on "Skeptics Apocalypse" is a raw and powerful type of speed/thrash metal, featuring hard edged heavy metal riffs and rhythms and the occasional thrashy ditto. The music also features quite a few melodic guitar elements like harmonies and leads, so while the music is generally pretty raw it´s not savage and there is a good balance between the raw and the melodic. Lead vocalist John Cyriis has a raw delivery but also a lot of melodic sensibility. He is able to perform some piercing high pitched screams and do it often. The band´s influences range from contemporary US acts like (early) Fates Warning and Abattoir, to UK acts like Judas Priest (the 2008 reissue of the album features a cover of "The Ripper" as a bonus track) and Iron Maiden. The latter influence is for example heard on closing track "Back to Reign", which sounds like early Iron Maiden but with Bruce Dickinson on vocals.

Agent Steel are a tight playing unit and there is quality on all positions in the band. Cyriis of course stands out as his vocals are front and focus of the music, and because of his strong voice and high level performance, but the rest of the band are very well playing too. "Skeptics Apocalypse" also features a well sounding production and upon conclusion it´s a high quality debut album by Agent Steel. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

Time Signature CoVinyl Part 3

I was lucky enough to find a reasonably priced 1985 Roadrunner pressing of this album in fairly good condition so I figured I might as well grab it.

And I'm glad I did, because - despite all the UFO and conspiracy theory cheese associated with Agent Steel - this is actually a very good speed metal release which offers a mix of high tempo speed metal bangers and mid-tempo traditional metal tunes. After a theatrical spoken intro in the form of 'The Calling', 'Agents of Steel' kicks in. This track was a bit of a hit back in the day, and it's easy to hear why. It's short, simple, aggressive and catchy. It's probably the most conventional track on the album which progresses from more traditionally structured tracks towards more innovative ones with a track like 'Children of the Sun' having an almost Mercyful Fate quality to it and 'Back to Reign' blending Maiden-style metal with a more aggressive approach.

The production is fairly typical of a mid 80s release, which means that you will have to live with the reverb that people overused back then. Fortunately, some restraint has been shown, so the reverb - while there - is not really too bad. Overall, the album actually has a quite rich production. The wongwriting is not quite consistent with some tracks being simplistic and others being more complex, but that just makes for some welcome variation overall. John Cyriis' vocals fall somewhere between a young Geoff Tate and King Diamond; some listeners might find his style too cheesy, but I quite like it. The listener is treated to some pretty good dual guitar lead sections as well as blistering fast thrash metal style guitar solos, and there are actually a lot of pretty cool riffs on this album too, in particular in the midtempo tracks.

I quite like the cover artwork which, with its picture of part of Earth's surface seen from space, combines simplicity with a sense of almost Lovecraftian dread. You know, what could be out there watching... waiting... that sort of stuff. It's not the kind of artwork that you can spend hours looking at of course (unlike, say, "Somewhere in Time" or "Powerslave"), but it fits the lyrical themes of the album pretty well. Also, I mean, the Agent Steel logo is fucking awesome in all its 80s glory, and placing the album title smack in the middle is a bold move as well.

Overall, this is a great speed metal release which should appeal to fans of not only speed metal but also traditional heavy metal and thrash metal as well as early power metal. Younger fans of contemporary retro speed metal should definitely go back and check this one out to. If you find a copy - be it an original one or one of the rereleases (or even a digital copy) - do yourself a favor and grab it.

Kingcrimsonprog Call it Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, US Power Metal or just plain old Heavy Metal; Agent Steel’s 1985 combat records debut album Skeptic’s Apocalypse is a frentic, buzzsaw of an album that pounds along with an almighty force.

This album is the pure flawless distillation on Metal at the time. No wonder it caused a stir back then. It rocks all the way through, from the (excluding a brief intro) meaty opening track; “Agents Of Steel,” which sounds like if someone took an early Venom song, produced it well, and then inserted insane falsetto shrieks and impressive virtuoso lead guitar work, to the catchy album closer “Back To Reign” – that mixes Iron Maiden’s gallop with some of that Show No Mercy-era Slayer tinny bounce and Feel The Fire-era Overkill vocal power,

Singer John Cryiis is incredibly diverse; sounding by turns like Katon W. De Pena of Hirax, Bobby Blitz Ellsworth of Overkill, Geoff Tate of Queensryche and strangely Philly Byrne of Gama Bomb (check out “Evil Eye/Evil Minds”). His ultra-high moments even give King Diamond a run for his money at times.

In terms of the instrumentalists; Guitarists Juan Garcia (also of Evildead) and Kurt Kilfelt are both an absolute master of the instrument, coming up with lots of memorable lead lines and solos. Drummer Chuck Profus puts in a really solid performance behind the drum kit. The production really leans into the ride cymbal and toms (almost as if the fills were recorded separately afterwards) and makes the drumming really stand out. The bass guitar, courtesy of George Robb can unfortunately be a little inaudible on some songs (or conversely almost too audible in other songs, for example the Queen Of The Reich copyist “Guilty As Charged” has quite loud bass).

Highlights include the speedy/thrashy “Bleed For The Gods” and the more dynamic and versatile “Children Of The Sun” which has a sort of Warning-Era Queensryche feel meets the vibe of Metal Church’s debut (a Seattle-sound if you will – but not in the flannel shirt meaning of that phrase!) and the slightly darker “144,000 Gone” which sounds like a mixture of Anvil and Iron Maiden but more depressing.

If you like Iron Saviour or Gamma Ray’s sci-fi lyrics with Judas Priest influences this is worth checking out, or if you like the production, music and vocals on debut albums by Anthrax, Exciter or Armoured Saint this is really worth checking out. If you want something Thrashy but clean, familiar but distinct, well-produced for the time but still charming and unmistakably 80s, then this is the perfect meeting point. It also helps that its just 30 minutes with absolutely no filler, so it doesn’t get old or outstay its welcome. Don’t overlook it for too long, I can’t believe I never tried this when I was younger.

Windhawk Agent Steel is a US-based thrash/sped metal band with a long and quirky history. Skeptics Apocalypse is their début album, and it caused quite a stir when released in 1985.

Musically Agent Steel play some sort of speed metal or thrash metal. Fast paced, melodic riffing over simple and at times primitive rhythms, with fast paced melodic soloing in the middle and John Cyriis melodic wailing combined with aggressive sneers is what's on offer on this release. Speed is more important than complexity on most tracks here; and the melody lines are simple and quite straight forward. This limits the bands opportunities when writing songs, as there are few options to create variations here. The band tries to slow down a bit on a few songs, but at this point in time are unable to utilize the slower pace for much more than showing that they probably are quite familiar with NWoBHM in general, and Iron Maiden in particular. Which probably are among the bands greatest influences musically.

The songs on this release are varied. The limitations of the bands style and songwriting skills makes the short songs the most interesting on this release; as the songs ends before the melody patterns becomes repetitive and uninteresting. The pure energy and enthusiasm of the band also sees to it that these rather limited songs comes across as interesting rather than primitive; and ultimately results in a release worthwhile adding to your collection if speed metal or thrash metal is to your liking.

On newer releases of this album a couple of bonus tracks is added. None of these are any good though; but should be of interest to fans of this band.