Like Anvil, Agent Steel, despite a huge cult following, and being primed for the major league of metal, never achieved the status they deserved. Now, ' Skeptics...' is very much of its time, embedded in '80s metal folklore, and again it rises from the ashes of its fallen empire. Such bands were, and still are revered worldwide, maybe this fact is due to their mystical nature, a little like so many bands on this blog who quite simply never made it big despite huge talent. Okay, so Agent Steel are not exactly genius, but of it's time, 'Skeptics...' with its lean towards the paranormal, UFOs and mysteries of the world, is a decent debut record. The vocal attack is high in that it can shatter glass, certainly from the Rob Halford mould of metal wails, and the metal is pretty furious speed metal, reminding me of a hyper Iron Maiden at times, except when the vocal attack is double-barrelled and accompanied by a more sinister growl.
'Guilty As Charged', 'Taken By Force' and 'Agents Of Steel' are fist-pounding metal, roughly produced - which of course adds to the magic - and although Agent Steel won't be scaring kids anymore, this kind of stuff reminds me of the classic Arthur C. Clarke television series of the '70s and '80s which at the time seemed terrifying, but in the modern era, despite creaking at the spine, still maintain a hint of quality. Whether we took note of Agent Steel's warnings I don't recall, but as we shift into another decade, and 'Skeptics...' seems so long ago, let's still raise a glass for '80s thrash, and remember, that it was a moment, and not some cheap fad. Agent Steel were part of that wave, and although 'Skeptics...' hasn't quite stood the test of time, thrash metal wouldn't be the same without such bands.
7/10
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