SAINT - DESPERATE NIGHT

One of the finest albums of 2012 comes from the state of Oregon. Desperate Night is the title of the latest release from apocalyptic metal merchants, Saint. On the heels of their 2010 masterpiece, Hell Blade, this offering is just as strong and perhaps even a bit heavier. No one does 1980’s heavy metal better.

Opening with a intro entitled The Crucible, which reminds me of Slayer’s Raining Blood albeit at half the speed, the band tears into the first track Crucified which drives along at a solid up tempo clip. Tight, punchy with a great melody. Yet it gets even stronger with the next track The Key; heavy, catchy and you will immediately hit the replay button.

Throughout this outstanding release the energy and power just flow out of each song. End of the World with its warning to those who claim to know when the end will arrive, plows along and leads you right into one of the strongest tracks with Let It Rock. This track is pure head banging joy, the guitar moves like a freight train on a pure downhill track. In the Fray is up next and doesn’t let up for a moment with its strong combination of bass and guitar performances that just lock in and keep the freight moving.

As a matter of fact most of this album delivers exactly what you’d expect from Saint, with a caveat that it might even be better than you think. Inside Out follows the political slant of New World Order from 2010’s Hell Blade; however the chorus is even stronger with its gang vocal. Album closer Escape From the Fire is one of the heaviest tracks Saint has ever recorded, much akin musically to Judas Priest’s Painkiller era. As a matter of fact a lot of Desperate Night falls into that era of Judas Priest, at least to these ears.

The production values are top notch again with a more natural sounding snare drum this time out. The guitars sound simply fabulous and Richard Lynch’s bass is a tone monster, wow! Jerry Johnson shows again that he is a fantastic guitar player who fits the Saint sound and his solos are a real highlight.

The only things that left me flat were the completely out of place Zombie Shuffle, a bluesy track with its swing time beat and the reworked version of To Live Forever. TLF appeared on their album A Perfect Life released in 1999, and it really doesn’t fit this album at all. It is a much more commercial pop metal song, the lyrics come across as cliché and I’m not gonna beat a dead horse.

One item of note is that apparently this is the last album with Josh Kramer on lead vocal. Of the 13 tracks (two of which are instrumental intros and outros) Josh contributes vocals on 8 or 9 songs. I understand that Richard Lynch contributed a vocal on 1 or 2 songs. However Saint has already found a new lead vocalist in Brian Phyll Miller. Miller delivers the goods on the title track, good vocal tonality and strong delivery; after hearing this track it would seem that the vocal department is in good hands.

Desperate Night is a traditional metal fans delight. Fans of Judas Priest, Armored Saint, Saxon, and Accept should find something here to enjoy. A 9 axe review is what I’m giving as Saint continues to show that they’re relevant and up to the challenge of playing some of the best metal in the scene.
9 axe

SAINT - THE REVELATION

The Revelation is the latest metal fest Retroactive Records has issued for Saint; however some history is in order. In 2006 Saint released an album entitled The Mark. A concept disc based totally around the Book of Revelation. A strong album to be sure but with limited resources and with an inadequate studio mix; this record never reached its full potential.

However with the success of 2009’s Hell Blade, Richard Lynch and crew decided in 2011 to take this album back to the studio and remix it to give it the life it desperately needed. I believe they have achieved just that. With a fuller drum sound and more striking guitar attack this new version of The Mark now entitled The Revelation is a balls to the wall full on Heavy Metal platter that deserves your attention. It’s a heavier album than 2009’s Hell Blade, sorta like comparing Screaming for Vengeance and Painkiller. Both discs absolutely crank but each in their own ways.

Dee Harrington provides the guitar work on this album and he just nails it. The rhythm guitars are layered with drive and precision. Whether it’s on the straight forward opener The Spirit, mid tempo bruiser On and On, or former title track The Mark there is no shortage of stellar guitar play. Richard Lynch’s thunderous bass lines lock tightly with drummer Larry London which delivers a crushing rhythm section. Josh Kramer offers a stellar vocal performance on track after track.

Some of the heaviest material Saint has written resides here just listen to The 7th Trumpet and be prepared for some serious headbanging. Babylon the Great is another brutal power metal track that Saint delivers with passion and power. However I would be amiss if I failed to mention Saint attempt an anthemic ‘ballad’ here as well with the track He Reigns, solid and memorable. Great metal songs appear throughout and if your not as familiar with this album as you’d like you definitely will want to be.

Not only were the tracks completely remixed as previously mentioned, but they were remastered by the brilliant J Powell at Steinhaus. Powell's previous work is of note and his studio magic in making good discs sound their best sonically is already noted.

The Revelation is a must for any fan of Saint or fan of world class power metal. The comparisons to Judas Priest continue, but if you feel that Primal Fear has sold out and the thought of another Nostradamus makes you cringe grab your copy of The Revelation and be prepared for a metal onslaught that will make you smile.

8 axes

SAINT - WARRIORS OF THE SON and TOO LATE FOR LIVING remastered reissues

After a much prolonged wait all three of Saint’s first releases have been gloriously remastered and reissued with original artwork. As part of Retroactive Records ‘The Original’ series Warriors of the Son and Too Late for Living join the already issued Time's End to complete this metal tri-fecta.

Warriors of the Son was originally issued in 1984 on Morada Records, prior to Stryper’s Yellow and Black Attack. Actually Saint issued this 6 song EP independently on Rotton Records. The cover art was different and had some different mixes, particularly the vocals on Vicars of Fate. Retroactive has reissued the Morada version. (This EP was re-recorded in 2003 with 2 extra tracks. A solid find if you can snatch a copy)

The recording hasn’t aged quite as well as one would hope, but according to Saint mastermind Richard Lynch they spent about $1000 on the original and that was 25+ years ago. Even though I fondly remember this EP as a metal masterpiece only Vicars of Fate and Legions of the Dead have transcended the years gracefully. The songs at times are a little too simplistic but laid the groundwork for what would come later. I dig this disc but if you’re a new comer to the Saint catalog I might suggest some of their other releases first. The elements of Judas Priest had yet to spring forth in this field.

J Powell at Steinhaus oversaw the remastering and was able to bring the bass drum back into the fray. The guitars still have a little more bite than they probably should (at times almost shrill) but chock that up to source material. Remaster from vinyl if my information is correct, again far and away better then what was previously available.

Warriors of the Son is still a headbanging feast, just a little primitive compared with Too Late for Living. Too Late… is the third release for Saint and was their second release for Pure Metal Records back in 1988. Light years ahead of WOTS in the production department and song writing as well.

Too Late for Living was the follow up to Time’s End and in many ways delivered the proverbial goods. Starting with the rather Accept like mid tempo title track, things seemed to move in a faster heavier direction with Star Pilot. An up-tempo metal anthem that highlights a stellar guitar solo from Dee Harrington. Accuser delivers some of the heaviest material on this release but clocking in at 1:59 it is far too short.

The next two tracks The Rock and On the Street feel almost commercial in their fast hitting choruses and short running times. Good songs but the vibe is just a little to polished. A thematic 4 song end of day’s story line next greets the listener, Returning, The Path, Through the Sky, and The War is Over.

Returning is a solid metal instrumental highlighting the guitar histrionics of the aforementioned Harrington, but not to be outdone by drummer extraordinaire John ‘The Machine’ Perrine. Through the Sky is Saint at their most powerful and fastest, double kick courtesy of Perrine but the vocals of Josh Kramer with his Halford like screams put this track in the stratosphere. Why more fans don’t recognize the brilliance here is beyond me.

The remastering brings greater clarity and power to an already powerful album. Metal like Priest, Armored Saint and Accept. The one flaw here is that this album is far too short, clocking in at only 33 min! Commercial considerations? Based on the costuming the band posed in for their promo shots that is a fair assumption.
It just seems to me that there should’ve been two more tracks to get this close to 40 minutes. Perhaps that is why this album takes a back seat to Time’s End.

Traditional metal of the highest order, both of these releases deserve to be in your metal collection. Leather jackets, bullet belts and denim jeans harken back to the time when heavy metal meant songs that stuck with you and you screamed your lungs out in unison. Both of these albums provide that in spades.

Warriors of the Son 7 axes


Too Late for Living 9 axes

SAINT - TIME'S END (The Originals Series)

Retroactive Records has continued to re-issue classic Christian Metal albums with their Original Series. Having started with the first three Bride albums last year they continue with the first three albums by metal titans Saint.

Time’s End is the second album for Oregon’s Saint. With a solid heavy metal sound reminiscent of Judas Priest’s British Steel era, this album was a classic when it was released back in 1986 and with this re-issue, its status as a classic is ingrained permanently.

This re-issue has been remastered by the wizard himself, J Powell at Steinhaus. Not only has the volume been increased, but the frequencies themselves through out the spectrum no longer bleed together preventing the listener from hearing the music as it was recorded.

Of particular note is how the guitar parts are much cleaner, i.e. I can actually hear the multi tracked rhythm parts in such songs In The Night or Space Cruiser for instance. The bridge section change in Space Cruiser feels fuller and stronger. It’s almost as if I can reach inside the music as opposed to it being one solid mass. (How many times did John Mahan track his parts! 3x’s?)

The songs are even more grinding than before. Steel Killer is just a sheer facemelter. Primed and Ready rocks even harder than before while the title track has more menace to it, all of the tracks have benefited from this updated studio mastering. BBE?

To me this is like when I first heard the album on vinyl and then obtained the original Pure Metal CD. The guitars are what struck me first with a crisper, biting sound. This time Richard Lynch’s bass resonates stronger, Josh Kramer’s vocal cuts through with ease. I purposefully put the original disc and this latest issue on back to back to help determine some of the differences.

Retroactive has reissued this in a tri-fold digipak. Added liner notes by bassist Richard Lynch help to make this a solid release.


Time’s End is an album that has stood the test of time and should be in your collection. Original studio engineer David Lohr (Elton John, Quarterflash) captured some great tones here and now you can enjoy his work in full. Saint fans rejoice this is a definitive reissue, grab yours NOW!

10 axes

SAINT - ALIVE FOREVER DVD

Saints latest release is a live DVD entitled Alive Forever. Recorded and performed earlier this year at The Grand Ballroom in Portland, Oregon. A solid set of heavy metal is performed by Richard Lynch and company.

A three camera shoot (at least that’s what I can detect) was used to capture this performance. Scorching through tracks such as The Blade (from 2010’s Hell Blade) and the title track of 2004’s In the Battle quite a bit of diversity is presented here in regards to Saint’s back catalog.

The complete set list is a follows;

The Blade
The Choice
The Mark
To Live Forever
The Path
Holy Rollin’
The Vision
In The Battle
Alpha and Omega
Hell Blade

It is curious though that nothing was performed from 2008’s Crime Scene Earth and to revive a rather obscure track from their 1999 EP, A Perfect Life. The song in question To Live Forever appears here and it doesn’t quite fit musically. Even a third track from Hell Blade like Too The Cross or New World Order would've been a nice inclusion.

Quite a collection of bonus material appears here as well, a mix of fan footage and professionally shot performances. It should be noted that the very early material is for the hardcore fan only, the original tape sources being over twenty years old with some obvious degradation. The fans who shot the footage were obviously trying for a souvenir, specifically the Cornerstone 1986 footage. Both of Saint’s professionally shot music videos for Hell Blade appear here, the tracks The Blade and The New World Order respectively.

It can be observed that Saint spent a lot of money on this production between the video shoot and the lighting used for the concert. Yet for me it seems that the show itself is too dark most of the time. Guitarist Jerry Johnson on first glance is nearly absent; perhaps due to the lack of light on his side of the stage. When the show was edited back together it seems that the editors kept going back to drummer Larry London, perhaps because he had the most consistent light source?

As best as I can determine this was a three camera shoot and capture Saint they did. Fans of Saint (as I have been since 1984) will want this in their collections. The technical items aside this DVD shows Saint doing what they do best, rockin’ hard.

6 axes