rom Kiel, Germany comes this band, called Inner Axis and it is time for them to release their second album. It is called We Live By the Steel, and the title says it all. From that and the artwork you know how it sounds – there are no surprises there from the band who released their debut album in 2011 and are now about to release their second effort. It is an album where the quintet shows that they know how to make heavy metal. It is a typical heavy metal album in all regards from the three-chords stuff, to the catchy stuff and all of that. Typical heavy metal singer and the lyrical themes about living and dying by the steel and the sword with bravery and blades of death, can it be more Hammerfall, Manowar, Metalium, Majesty or insert any other band of choice, than that? I don’t think that this album offers anything fresh, anything new, or anything exciting. Not very varied either and to me the playing time feels a little bit long to me and you sort of just wait for it to end rather than wanting it to run again. And once again I am struck with how little creativity most musicians seem to possess, this album shows another band making handiwork rather than artwork. To me music should be about the art, rather than something made to description and being as predictable as this album. Sure they are skilled at what they do, their craftsmanship can’t be doubted but craftsmanship builds chairs, furniture and standardised music and other boring things while artistry makes symphonies, paintings, movies and great music and I much prefer artistry compared with craftsmanship. So in the end I can’t say that I have gotten much out of this album, it is just another pretty ordinary heavy metal album
