Cover shot STEEL PANTHER

Steel Panther is not a band that I would have chosen to listen to in the past and I never really gave much thought to glam metal, although I do appreciate the theatrics of it all. Personally I am more into death metal, but when the opportunity came for me to have a listen to Steel Panther’s new record “Heavy Metal Rules“, I took it as a chance to step outside my comfort zone.

Over the last ten years, Steel Panther has been caught up in a lot of controversy, being a parody band that emulates hair and glam metal bands of the 80’s they readily embrace the misogyny and homophobia that was rife in music at the time. With the latest record featuring tracks like “Always gonna be a ho” and “Gods of Pussy” it seemed like not much has changed. As I made my way through the record, there is no denying that they are talented musicians, Michael Starr has a huge voice that effortlessly emulates the 80’s sound and I enjoyed the self-indulgent guitar solos from Satchel. “Heavy Metal Rules” features several power ballads which is a common feature on hair metal records, yet with the vulgarity of the lyrics taken to an extreme level, the songs go from parody to absurd, making them hard to listen to. The crazy thing about this record is that the lyrics are actually toned down in comparison to their previous work, which slightly steers them away from past homophobic and racist remarks.

Heavy Metal Rules will most likely be enjoyed by Steel Panther’s die-hard fan base, but for me personally, there is only so many times I can hear “you can suck my dick” in one day.

EM rating: 1 out of 5

Heavy Metal Rules” is due out September 27th and is available for purchase here, you can stay up to date with Steel Panther on social media