The compilation “Legacy of Blood, Fire & Steel” includes songs from “New Metal Leader”, “Hailstorm”, “Blood By Sworn” and “Born Of Fire”. It’s a great way to catch up with ROSS THE BOSS from the last 15 years.
You can hear the band’s transition from Patrick Fuchs, who sings on the first half of the compilation (“New Metal Leader” and “Hailstorm), to current singer Marc Lopes (“By Blood Sworn” and “Born Of Fire”).
You can also hear how (in my opinion) the band gradually improved each album and by 2020’s “Born Of Fire” they were one of the best Power Metal bands on the planet. That album was an absolute classic, great writing and singer Marc Lopes were the main reasons.
There was never any question about former Manowar guitar Ross The Boss, he’s been one of the most solid Metal players for decades. And certainly Patrick Fuchs is a great singer, who some people might prefer, but Marc Lopes in my opinion is one of the most complete singers in the industry. Case in point, he just got the gig for Metal Church, who have been an institution since the 80’s.
As with all compilations there will be some songs left off that people love, they stuck to the singles and what appear to be track they play live more. Regardless, it’s a very solid sampling of the four albums with three tracks from each album. I’ve broken up the playlist below.
Some of my personal highlights, ‘Blood Of Knives’ from the 2008 “Metal Leader” is a classic, I thought so the first time I heard it back then. “Kingdom Arise” is the opening (after a short instrumental) from 2010’s “Hailstorm” and a masterpiece of Classic Power Metal.
‘We Are The Night’ from 2018’s “By Blood Sworn” show’s why Marc Lopes is so amazing. He has his own style for sure, but you hear blended in some Jon Oliva and David Wayne, he can go more clean Melodic or tap dance on that “Thrash” style.
Finally, “Maiden Of Shadows” was a single released from 2020’s “Born Of Fire”. To be honest, that entire album was so strong I can’t even say this was the best track, but certainly a solid representation.
I’m not going to officially rate the album since it’s a compilation, but I will HIGHLY RECOMMEND this even if you have all four albums. It’s worth having to see how the band put this together and the progression of ROSS THE BOSS.
At this time, I do not know the status of Marc Lopes in the band, in today’s world musicians juggle more than one band at a time so in a perfect world we would get to hear his talents in ROSS THE BOSS, METAL CHURCH and hopefully other projects he has going.
METAL LEADER (2008)
01 Blood Of Knives
02 I Got The Right
03 We Will Kill
HAILSTORM (2010)
04 Kingdom Arise
05 Hailstorm
06 Great Gods Glorious
BY BLOOD SWORN (2018)
07 By Blood Sworn
08 This Is Vengeance
09 We Are the Night
BORN OF FIRE (2020)
10 Maiden Of Shadows
11 Born Of Fire
12 Denied By The Cross
After four studio albums it is time for an anniversary. And this may be celebrated with a compilation of the best ROSS THE BOSS songs from 15 years. “A Legacy Of Blood, Fire & Steel” comes exclusively on vinyl and contains all the highlights of the albums “New Metal Leader”, “Hailstorm”, as well as “By Blood Sworn” and “Born Of Fire”. With three of the four albums ROSS THE BOSS made it into the German album charts and peaked at #53 with the 2018 album “By Blood Sworn”.
LINE-UP:
Marc Lopes (vocals), Ross Friedman (guitars), Mike LePond (bass), Steve Bolognese (drums)
ON-LINE:
https://www.ross-the-boss.com/
https://www.facebook.com/rossthebossofficial/
