Customer Reviews

Revelation

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a long time fan of Armored Saint, some may say i'm biased. Not so. As a matter of fact, i was afraid the time apart would make them rusty, and almost foreign to each other. Well, imagine my surprise when i put this cd in my stereo, only to have my senses knocked flat by an all-out heavy metal assault, the likes that havent been heard since Mtv and the music industry decided that metal was too extreme for the masses to indulge in. Every track held a new, brutal surprise. John Bush is in excellent voice...sounding as if he gargles with razor blades and bleeds acid from his vocal cords! The guitar work is ambitious, reaching for new heights of thrashdom, and succeeding with ease. The bass lays the groundwork for gut-wrenching crunch, proving Joey Vera hasnt lost the soul of metal, in this world where only alternative, college geek bands are considered acceptable, or in fashion. The drums are thunderous and brutal, leaving no room to question why Gonzo Sandoval is called "Animal." All in all, this album rears up, spits in the eye of conventional radio and the Mtv set, and declares.... ALL HAIL METAL! THE SAINT IS BACK!

Standing out on the playground, seeking refuge from the hum-drum lessons of Algebra and proper writing skills, recess is always such a fun time of the day, then that blasted bell tolls, signalling the end of the fun and with that, SCHOOL IS BACK IN SESSION...... and that's what Armored Saint does to us with REVELATION...They take us back to school, but this time the lesson is heavy metal. Armored Saint return to the basics with what is their crowning jewel. Revelation fires up with the powerful, yet sleek "paydirt" and kicks lower lumbar extremity all the way through to the equally powerful yet harmonic "upon my departure." Now, new metal heads unfamiliar with the Saint, do not expect thrashing blast beats nor doomy,gloomy double bass pounded black metal..Armored Saint deliver a record of what is, and what was in the good old 80's plain old fasioned heavy metal with big razor sharp guitar riffs, solid thumping bass, straight forward tight drumming, and throaty, yet intelligible vocals. "Paydirt" explodes into a fist pumping riff and harmonized chorus breaks, ending in a footstomping guitar rich frenzy..then comes "The Pillar" with an intro riff that stands up to all the classics of our time and continues to provide headbanging motivation into my favorite track "After Me, the Flood." Most fans of the band know that Bush was recruited for the vocal slot in Metallica, and one can only imagine how that may have turned out listening to this track. The riffage matches power and finess of Metallica's later efforts and marks a direction in which basic heavy metal should have gone (take note metalli-men, a return to form is needed! )"Tension" has the groove to break up the straight ahead riffage of the first three tracks, while "damaged" displays the low end rhythms paying homage to Black Sabbath as it drudges along its path. "Den of Thieves" showcases the Saint's ability to inject harmony and catchiness into their songs with a really cool solo break, then the ryhtmm section takes over to power on "Control Issues" with a bottom ended bass heavy thumping. "Deep Rooted Anger" returns the power riffing, while "what's your Pleasure" showcases a faster tempo without sacrificing tightness...taking traditional galloping rock-n-roll and injecting a shot of crunch to it. Then "Upon my Departure" closes class out returning to the use of hooks and melodies to accent the power. In short, Revelation is packed with memorable moments, with all songs standing on their own as seperate moments, united into one enjoyable listen. This is done with solid riffing, slick applications of hooks and harmonies, and vocals with range and gusto, which can actually be understood. Revelation is a true return to form, capturing the real power and potential that the Saint's 80's releases hinted, bit lacked due to major label productions. This is a definite release to be considered album of the year, and metal fans need to own it. Period. Class dismissed.

As a long time fan of Armored Saint I was extremely happy to hear that they had re-formed. I was not disapointed, especially since one of the tracks was co-written by Dave Pritchard. The album is a pure dose of what Heavy Metal and Hard Rock need right now. I am glad that Bush went back to his pre-Anthrax style. The songs are incredible and the rythym section of Gonzo and Vera hasn't lost a step. As usual, Bush delivers a verbal assault that is powerful and the two guitars work well together. I am happy that the March of the Saint continues and this album makes the wait worthwhile. Anyone who likes pure straight ahead metal will like this album.

When the group broke up after Symbol of Salvation in 1991 and vocalist John Bush hightailed it over to Anthrax, everyone thought the band and was dead and gone. Then, out of nowhere in 2000, the band reuinted for a tour and album. What a reunion it was as the album Revelation is spactacular. It's as if the band never broke up! Anthrax guitarist was busy with his side group S.O.D. so John Bush took the opportunity to hook up with his formor bandmates to give the fans one more Saint album. Hopefully this isn't the last from the truely underrated band!

It's a shame that the band went their separate ways many years ago before coming back with not only their best album ever, but one of the strongest rock/metal albums in many years. This is just a monster, filled with huge riffs and awesome vocals. This would bury anything that Mr. Bush has done with Anthrax, in my opinion. It's too bad they didn't come back together on a permanent basis! Having seen the accompanying tour, I can state quite strongly that the Saint is better and heavier than ever! If you love metal played the way it was meant to be played with great lyrics, killer vocals and sledgehammer type riffs, then you will FLIP over this. Pick it up- You will NOT be sorry...

I never really paid much attention to Armored Saint during their heyday in the early 1980's. The band's first album in 9 years,"Revelation" is an apt title. It's revealed to me what I've been missing all this time. This album manages to fuse together the brutality and DIY ethics of early punk combined with the melodic and competent sounds of progressive and thrash metal. Songs such as "The Pillar" and "After Me, The Flood" are standout tracks. The band have the right idea in sticking with the basics. All brutal. All mighty. All metal. All Saint....

I bought "Revelation" by ARMORED SAINT 3 days ago. I absolutely love it. I waited a long time for a new Saint CD, and the payoff is worth it. Know this, the new music is MEANT to be played loud, check out "Den of Thieves", and "Creepy Feelings". Pure Armored Saint at its piledriving rocking best. Buy this CD, you will NOT be disappointed.

After a nine-year hiatus, Los Angeles metalmeisters Armored Saint have gotten back together again to produce a worthy successor to their 1991 masterpiece, Symbol of Salvation. At the time of their break-up in '92, the Saint had a number of unreleased songs which now appear here for the first time along with several newly written tracks. Compared to Symbol, Revelation offers less stylistic variation (most of the songs tend to have the same steady speed and rhythm), but that is no sin, since the quality of the material is uniformally excellent. Die-hard Saint fans will not be disappointed, as Revelation is full of signature twists and turns. At the same time, the band continues to explore new musical territory with genuine innovation, as in the Latin style "No Me Digas." In one word, though, Revelation is HEAVY. No Metallicesque degeneration into mere "rock"! The music and lyrics are self-assured, unpretentious and unabashedly old school metal, something the world could use a lot more of. A special virtue of Revelation is the fact of its production by Saint bassist Joey Vera, who has succeeded in achieving an incredibly precise and yet not over-produced sound. So buy it. I'm sure it will make you a better person. Saints will conquer! Stay Armored!

Revelation will absolutely blow your mind if you are a metal fanatic. Jon Bush's vocal melodies are fantastic and extremely powerful. They are melodies you will soon find yourself singing along to. The guitars played by Jeff Duncan and Phil Sandoval are mean and crunchy sounding. The virtuoso, Joey Vera plays extremely solid bass lines throughout the disk with moments where he really shines. He also plays some guitar on this disk and even a lead or two. Gonzo pounds the skins with great intensity and along with Joey they are among one of the best rhythm sections in metal. The standout tracks for me are The Pillar, Creepy Feelings, Den Of Theives, Control Issues, Deep Rooted Anger, and Upon My Departure. This isn't to say that any of the other tracks are lacking however. The rest are all quite good as well. This CD brings in a small tinge of Anthrax to the table, due to the fact, Jon is the vocalist for Anthrax as well as the Saint. Revelation is heavier than Symbol of Salvation, yet retains the great sense of melody. I think this will definately be one of the best metal releases of this year and will stand the test of time.

This CD definitely rocks. The production is good and the playing is excellent. Good heavy metal guitars and solid vocals. The songs themselves are just ok though. I liked "Paydirt" and "After me, The Flood" the best, but even these didn't stay with me that long after listening to the CD. I've listened to it multiple times through and while I enjoy the basic sound of it, the songs aren't strong enough to resonate. A day later I'm not still thinking about any of them. This is like an ambient heavy metal CD, put it on in the background while you're doing something else.