{"id":106025,"date":"2026-04-24T00:00:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T23:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=106025"},"modified":"2026-05-07T09:59:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T08:59:17","slug":"album-review-living-fast-running-across-steel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-living-fast-running-across-steel\/","title":{"rendered":"LIVING FAST – Running Across Steel (2026) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

LIVING FAST
\nRunning Across Steel<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nWitches Brew (2026)<\/span>
\nRating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve seen several photographs of South Florida headbangers Living Fast and they remind me of one of those obscure 80s bands you would have found on a label like Mausoleum Records. In fact, the sound belongs in that era too, this album being the debut full-length from this quintet who announced themselves on the scene two years ago with the Wall Breaker<\/em><\/a> EP.<\/p>\n

When the title track hits it\u2019s both anthemic and formulaic, the vocals of Stefano Gugliotta being commanding warbles circa 1985, leading this pack of hungry musicians into battle. It\u2019s solid enough, if somewhat derivative, but what isn\u2019t these days with so many bands attempting to emulate the past. Anyway, it\u2019s all here, galloping \u2018n\u2019 gloomy designs that provide the perfect soundtrack to a tome of sword and sorcery literature. So, while the path for Living Fast is well trodden, the dollops of nostalgia warm rather than annoy as the simplistic rattles of \u2018Metallians On The Road\u2019 ambles slickly \u2013 although it\u2019s lyrically abysmal. There\u2019s that dash of New Wave Of British Heavy Metal in the smooth, almost stark gallop of the drums and the guitar chords are coolly melodic and fluid.<\/p>\n

\u2018Never Let You Go\u2019 and \u2018Easy Comes, Easy Goes\u2019 resonate with echoes of the 80s Scandinavian scene; the vocals are deftly unorthodox, bringing an organic wail to their style. There are layers of intrigue to behold, although much of it seems to occur in the mind of the audience who may be prone to occasional wanderings into slightly off-kilter flashbacks. \u2018Speed Metal Knights\u2019 begins with the rumble of huge drums before the band launches into more throwback torrents, this time living up to the title as those thrashy zips come to the fore.<\/p>\n

Throughout this outing you\u2019ll hear numerous influences ranging from vintage Saxon and Judas Priest to Raven, Exciter and Accept, although on a much lower budget. However, there are some clever little melodies littered throughout this opus, particularly the hook on \u2018Dystopian\u2019 which is a real joy, but sometimes all you crave is a straight up rocker and Living Fast don\u2019t disappoint. The pacey \u2018Endless Nights\u2019, the dramatic \u2018Live For Today\u2019 and the equally stirring \u2018Black Canvas\u2019 are all gems which I became immersed in, and while the vocal yelps can grate at times, there are subtle variations within to constantly keep you entertained. Give this one a chance if you like straight-laced organic metal.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LIVING FAST Running Across Steel Witches Brew (2026) Rating: 7\/10 I\u2019ve seen several photographs of South Florida headbangers Living Fast and they remind me of one of those obscure 80s bands you would have found on a label like Mausoleum Records. In fact, the sound belongs in that era too, this album being the debut […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,5723],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-living-fast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106025"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106026,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106025\/revisions\/106026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}