Local Review: Steal Fate — Sovereign

Steal Fate
Sovereign
Self-Released
Street: 11.09.2025
Steal Fate = Evanescence + Metallica + Halestorm

Steal Fate’s Sovereign is a scorching debut album that puts the local three-piece in the frame with an explosiveness that’s hard to forget after you’ve heard it, even if you’re not usually a fan of the “speakers to 11” style of rock.

Featuring an invigorating mixture of ‘80s arena rock, heavy metal and the she-power alt-rock often heard while shopping at Hot Topic around the year 2005, Steal Fate’s sound is full and well-developed. Soaring, wide-ranged vocals from Sierra Rae, who also plays bass, appear to lead the way, while seemingly angry, crunching guitar riffs from KJ Thackeray combine with the fast, bass-heavy drums of Jared Bailey, forming a thorough, uproarious brand all their own. Together, they sound like an army trying to gatecrash through your speakers, and it makes you wonder how three people can get so loud.

On the first song, “Hold On Me,” one long, airy note quickly drops into the riffing of Thackeray’s ragged, heavy-metal guitar. Bailey’s drums come in soon after with a complex and forceful rhythm, followed by a heavy bass line from Rae, which enters at the first verse, rattling your chest and priming you for a rebellious adventure. Throughout the album there’s also some sort of atmospheric tone behind the instruments, lending Steal Fate a signature, high-ceilinged sound and adding to the mountain-top experience you feel while listening to them.

While “Hold On Me” lacks lyrical intricacy, the song serves its purpose by breaking the seal and introducing you to the emotions you’ll feel for the next 36 minutes. It’s both triumphant sounding, like the rest of the album, and sultry, as Rae pines in subservience to another, playing willing victim to greater forces of lust and love: “You’ve got a hold on me, yeah / I feel a shiver up my spine and I don’t mind.” This is not the only mention of personal suffering on the album — “Reconstruct (Break It Down)” and “To My Demise” each also serve to validate desire as a human experience.

“Reconstruct (Break It Down)” is one of the most exciting tracks on the album. Its strong chorus showcases Rae’s incredible vocal range, even as she paradoxically admits vulnerability in her lyrics: “I can’t fucking stand the sound of my voice / Choking, suffocating / This isn’t my choice.” The band, meanwhile, sounds anything but vulnerable, especially as a latter-half, scale-climbing guitar solo from Thackeray leads into a slightly random but well-placed synth part, accentuating and releasing some of the energy that I felt had already come near to bursting, even on the second track.

As you get deeper into the album, personal themes start to give way to political ones. In a moment on “The Stab” that’s vital to understanding Sovereign as a whole, the band samples a piece of audio from a speech given by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1913, during the era of his “new nationalism” policies. Thackeray’s raging guitar is layered over the audio snippet as you hear Roosevelt’s old-timey voice declaring, “The principles for which we stand are the principles of fair play and a square deal for every man and every woman in the United States.”

Roosevelt’s “square deal” is a highly relevant but ages-old ideal that stresses the sovereignty of the individual and condemns big business for undermining principles of economic fairness, social justice and environmental conservation. Later on in the chorus for “The Stab,” Rae sings, “I can’t deny the pain we feel / Strip them of their titles of authority / The world will heal.” Such sentiments are nothing but an urgent call to action for those who suffer from being jaded, complacent and afraid to feel, urging us to reclaim autonomy over our own lives.

Working to take life back into your own hands also means trying to enjoy life when and where you can. In “After Party,” the most lighthearted song on the album, a 90s alt-rock guitar riff sets an exuberant mood as Rae sings about getting high with her friends. You can hear people laughing in the background while Rae herself sounds less combative and more content. The bass breakdown at three minutes in is fun and danceable and encourages listeners to enjoy themselves, regardless of any impending comedown that such revelry may induce.

“Elysian” and “The Moment” together compose the album’s climax. “Elysian,” which is already being crowned a fan favorite, is a hard-edged anthem of resisting oppression. “When freedom falls, darkness calls,” Rae howls, “Dig the grave for another day / Reclaim the fate, levitate.” When she sings “In this elysian of earth,” her voice reaches the stratosphere. “The Moment,” meanwhile, again stresses the importance of living in the now: “The moment comes and it goes / It forms and it fades / The moment’s here and it’s gone / Love is the way.”

It’s difficult to oversell Steal Fate’s power as a group. Regardless of whether this type of rock, which was certainly more popular 20 years ago, is your cup of tea, you can’t fault them for caring as much as they do, and for trusting in the power of their music enough to try and use it to engender an attitude of revolt among current fans and new listeners alike. —Kyle Forbush

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