Destroying the Hush: A Look at the Lyrical Themes of Agent Steel
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Agent Steel formed in 1984, right around the time thrash and speed metal began to take off in America. Along with Megadeth, Slayer and Metallica (Metallica originated in the Los Angeles area, but later moved north to the bay area) Agent Steel represented a group of promising young thrash/speed metal artists. Their first two albums Skeptics Apocalypse and Unstoppable Force, released through Combat Records (then-home of Venom, Exodus, Dark Angel) consisted of vintage heavy metal riffing, eerie banshee wails and unequaled speed.
The group broke up in 1988 and reformed in 1999 and released the Omega Conspiracy album, which kept the classic metal flair, while updating their production values and equipment. By this time, Bruce Hall replaced original vocalist John Cyriis. Due to legal pressure from Cyriis, Agent Steel assumed the name Order of Illuminati. In 2003, they returned to their original moniker and released their next album titled Order of the Illuminati. Both of those albums came under the banner of Metal Blade. Their latest release Alienigma, released by Mascot Records in 2007, shows the group continue the direction established on the previous two recordings. Recently, they performed at the Bang Your Head Festival in Germany and the Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium.
Agent Steel never reached the pinnacle of the big three from their neighborhood, which may be explained by their break up during the height of their career. Still, after an eleven-year hiatus, the group returned to major metal label, Metal Blade, which says a lot about the loyalty of their fans and the strength of thier art. Agent Steel has always been a group of tremendous musical talent and unmistakable features. One such feature that separates them from other groups of this fold is their lyrics. Since the beginning, Agent Steel has touched on topics relating to the occult and the unknown.
Long before the abduction-centered lyrics of Hypocrisy and the bizarre sci-fi death metal of Nocturnus, Agent Steel wrote on the topic of celestial bodies. This theme becomes immediately evident with one glance at an Agent Steel album cover. Their first full-length recording Skeptics Apocalypse features a view from outer space with the earth depicted below. At the top of the picture, an unknown heavenly body eminates a bright light, suggesting an extra terrestrial source.
Later in the group’s career, starting with their return album, Omega Conspiracy, Agent Steel’s art become much more elaborate. The artwork of Omega Conspiracy shows a close up of an alien reminiscent of H.R. Geiger’s work with distant aliens leaving a flying saucer. The alien depicted on their latest album Alienigma has a sinister and godlike quality not found on the creature adorning Omega Conspiracy. Fantasy artist Dimitri Patelis created both covers.
“I really like Dimitri Patelis’ artwork; and his illustrations of Aliens are very cool and twisted, so when we wrote Omega Conspiracy we wanted a unique theme for the cover art,” begins vocalist Bruce Hall. “Our lyrical themes are sometimes way out there, so we feel the Dimitri’s art fits perfect with Agent Steel and we hope to keep him creating original artwork for us in the future.”
Agent Steel always issues artwork consistent with their album themes. Many songs throughout the group’s career center on the topic of aliens, U.F.O.s, and life beyond our earthly confines. “Children of the Sun” and “Bleed for the Godz” deal with ancient man and his relationship with the gods, and the idea of us being alien spawn. The following lines from “Children of the Sun” put these ideas into a clear perspective:
“They wept for our race
For the seed was misplaced
Their science was left to decree…
They're watching from their sensors above
They lifted us up and they taught us to grow.”
The title Alienigma may be perceived as a word created in connection to the above-stated ideas, according to Hall. “It was just a great play on words and it offers thinking people a jumping off point. I guess it all depends on whether you see yourself as having a god or whether your creator is really a god at all. I tend to believe we will suffer no judgment when out last breath is spent. Then again, how in the fuck could I or anyone else know what happens when we finally expire? People who claim they do are brainwashed or they are brainwashers. The former I feel a bit of sympathy for and the latter and just scum on your shoe and don't deserve your faith or trust.”
Although Alienigma bears a title created by mere diction artistry, some of the tracks reveal songs related to alien ancestry. Hall explains the concept of “Hybridized,” as “the idea of being abducted and genetically altered rather than being an ‘alien.’ “I love that term, ‘alien,’ by the way. I still believe we are the aliens and we just happen to have been engineered here.”
Modern culture often delves deep into similar ideas. Blockbuster films and television shows such as The X-Files, Aliens Vs. Predator and even the latest Indiana Jones film touch on this topic, but this is only a Hollywood perspective. Literature and documentary films present historical facts and stories not found on the silver screen. For guitarist Juan Garcia, older media drew him to the topic of extra terrestrials.“The documentary “The Outer Space Connection” really got both me and John Cyriis into the whole concept of aliens, and conspiracies; it made for interesting lyrics that’s for sure.”
Many of the themes of ancient man’s encounters with heavenly bodies recall the book Chariots of the Gods by Eric Von Daniken.
“Eric Von Daniken was a huge influence on the Agent Steel during the Skeptics era,” admits Garcia. “Also, the documentary narrated by Rod Serling Outer Space Connection, the Billy Meir story of the Pleiades, and UFO sightings in Switzerland back in the day were all good inspirations to write a kick ass album!”
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