The recent CD release by the Erie, PA prog-metal band Damien Steele has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the professional wrestler(s) of the same name.
The recent CD release by the Erie, PA prog-metal band Damien Steele has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with either of the two professional wrestlers using the same name or the similarly named D&D character. All of this is just purely a weird, cross-profession coincidence. Pure happenstance. We regret any confusion this may have caused and hope that both wrestling and music fans recognize that we claim no affiliation or involvement with the wrestler. There was no intent on the part of Progressive Music Management to capitalize on his name or likeness in any way, shape, or form; or to mislead fans of either party. We had no knowledge of his existence before November 17, 2005 when a Google search revealed this unfortunate duplicate nomenclature.
The band Damien Steele has been performing and recording under the name since 1982 but has never had any internet exposure until fairly recently. You can find a few reviews dating back to 1999 on the 'net but prior to that, all press for the band was solely in the printed realm. When the band was planning their most recent CD release they checked many of the music releated sites like IUMA, etc. to make sure no one else in the prog-metal genre was using the same name and all seemed o.k. Who would have thought about looking for conflicts in other professions?!
Obviously, we hope to continue promoting the band Damien Steele having fans seek out the one they are looking for - wrestling or music - and again we apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused. Thanks for your understanding.
It is unbelievable and borderline criminal that this music has been sitting on a studio shelf, untouched, for almost 15 years! However, thanks to the buzz that has been circulating in the metal underground since 1999, Damien Steele is finally set to release their debut CD this winter. Recorded in the early days of prog-metal Damien Steele sounds fresh and exciting even today. A mixture of the very best Queensryche, Fates Warning and Iron Maiden, every song on this album is a winner. Steve Matusik and Mike Learn have their dual guitar moves down perfectly reeling off blistering harmony leads and signature metal riffs with ease. Drummer Ben Tomlin and bassist Paul Staub are rock solid but never boring. And the vocals of Mark Hopkins largely form the identity of the band. His soaring vocal melodies stick in your head long after the songs are over. The CD features all five songs that were on the original demo tape from 1990 plus four unreleased songs never available in any format until now. If you are a metal or prog-metal fan that has been finding modern metal music a bit cliche' or "cookie-cutter", then go back in time with Damien Steele when the genre was young and the bands were hungry and inspired. This is an instant classic and should satisfy the most jaded metal maniac!