Traditional heavy metal: the staple ingredients of guitar melodies, blistering solos, galloping bass lines… Toledo Steel’s twin-guitar lead classic metal, combined with Rich Rutter’s unmistakable sky-high vocal hooks make this “Zero Hour” a joy for any classic metal fan. And they are coming for more…
toledo_steel_logoHello Matt, thank you for your time. The first question is mandatory, taking in acount this is a Spanish Metal site… how did you come to chose “Toledo Steel” as the name for your band?
A few years back I used to fence, so have always had a big love for swords.
In that case what better name then ‘Toledo Steel’? Spanish made steel that’s tougher than the rest 😉
Please summarize a little the history of the band till present
We formed the band just over 3 years, just a few friends meeting up to jam covers of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Grim Reaper etc A few months later, we started writing our own material playing shows in our hometown, then around the country and then now into Europe. The rest is all history…..
You have released your second Ep, the first one was in 2013, although you have doubled the number of tracks in this second effort. Next one will be a full-length? Are you composing new songs?
At the moment we are starting to write more songs for our first full length debut. It’s certainly a longer process as you feel that you want everything that you write to be better then everything else you have previously written.
What are we going to find in “Zero Hour”?
toledo_steel_portadaZero hour is a 6 track EP with razor sharp riffs, pounding drums and singalong songs. Total old school heavy metal worship!
What are your main influences?
I think as a band we all share a love for hard rock and heavy metal, but we also have different influences that add a certain twist to our sound. Myself I would say the good old nwobhm bands like Saxon, Grim Reaper and Priest, but also bands from Europe as well, like Tyrant, Krokus and the Scorpions.
My favorite track is Fallen Empire, a good combination of speed and power metal with some epic flavour too. What is your favorite song and which one works better in live?
My personal favourite is Escape from Alcatraz from the first EP or Toledo Steel from Zero Hour. Both fast paced songs that really get the adrenaline pumping when your sat behind the drum kit, also as they are both great singalong songs.
I think you have released your Ep by yourselves. The production is very good, but are you seeking a contract with a label or that is secondary goal?
I think our aim is to carry on releasing our material ourselves, until the right kind of deal comes up that will suit both us as a band and any label wanting to sign us up.
It also gives us the chance to build up our fan base before any label backed album etc is released.
How can the fan get your works?
Fans can pick up physical copies of our ep’s etc from our merch store: http://toledosteelshop.bigcartel.com
Also we have had both ep’s put onto sites like iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and many more!
toledo_steel2Is Toledo Steel a band in evolution or you will play more or less the same style in every single album?
As I said before, we’ve always wanted to expand and progress on our music and to add elements to it that is refreshing and appealing whilst still keeping our sound.
Have you been touring around or supporting some bands?
Yeah we’ve been fortunate to play with some killer bands from around the world on quite a few occasions now. Bands like Cauldron, Amulet and Portrait to name a few.
Some of our first shows were actually on a couple of dates of a tour that Cauldron were doing in England just over 2 years ago. It’s awesome travelling around, meeting cool people and playing with bands you love to listen to.
Yeah, Cauldron, those guys have many miles in their guitars. How do you see the Metal scene in your country?
England has a thriving metal scene, but for the style of metal we play, we find it much more loyal and dedicated in Europe. Having said that, there are a lot more kick ass bands from England appearing which is great to keep the flames of old school heavy metal burning.
A wish for 2016?
A Ferrari would be nice haha As for the band, we want to release an album, travel back to places and countries we’ve had the pleasure to play in so far but also visit new places and make a whole load of new friends in the process.
Hopefully we will meet in some metal event! Thanks Matt for your attention and best wishes to Toledo Steel!
Was great speaking to you guys. Cheers for the support and we will do our best to play in Spain soon! 😉