Customer Reviews

Symbol of Salvation (2 Bonus CD)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

...sadly this is how a lot of people remember Armored Saint today. I too thought of the group this way as I actually heard John Bush with Anthrax before I knew of Armored Saint. I loved his vocals so I decided to purchase an album from his "old band" to see what it was like. Low and behold our local CD store had a deluxe 3 disc edition of Symbol of Salvation for sale for a cheap price of $15. I quickly picked it up. Wow, I wasn't just impressed...I was blown away. Symbol of Salvation is just an amazing album with smart lyics and great vocals. After hearing Salavation, I find it a shame that Armored Saint is now mostly remembered as "John Bush's group before Anthrax" as they are a super talented band that should be remembered more than just that. I have since bought every Saint album and have actually learned to like the band even better than Bush's Anthrax outings. So if your Anthrax fan and are deciding on whether or not to purchase some Armored Saint...DO, especially this awsome 3 disc edtion of Symbol of Salvation. If your gonna remaster a disc, this is the way to do it! Two extra cds of demos and interviews...I must be in heaven!

It is so nice to see a re-release of Armored Saint's best work. The remaster is crisp and loud, and just a superb transfer to listen to.

The big shocker is Disc #2, which contains the demos for most of the songs contained on SOS. The late Dave Prichard's guitar work is incredible. The quality is better than most live discs out there today. There is a raw, gritty, and heartfelt vibe to the entire thing; which breathes new life into these great songs.
This is a great buy for any Armored Saint fan, as well as for anybody needing lessons when it comes to what Old School Heavy Metal was (and is) all about. Cheers!!

An album created under the most difficult of circumstances, legendary L.A.-based metallers ARMORED SAINT rebounded from the terrible tragedy that was founding member and creative guiding-light Dave Pritchard's untimely death and rose phoenix-like from the ashes to deliver what was THE metal album of 1991: SYMBOL OF SALVATION.

Long-time stalwarts of the then-fertile Los Angeles metal scene, ARMORED SAINT had been treading the boards since the 1984 release of their stunning debut album MARCH OF THE SAINT. A classic in the metal genre, MARCH failed to reach a mass audience despite the fact that heavy metal was all the rage at this time. MARCH OF THE SAINT was an exciting amalgamation of youthful exhuberance, aggression and impressive musicianship not common amongst local bands at the time - thus making ARMORED SAINT a bit of an anomaly. Opting to forgo the Glam Metal route - which saw most of their peers preening, posing and leering suggestively in the back-pages of local mags like BAM - the SAINT mob chose a heavier musical-path to follow. Reared on juggernauts with a more metallic-bent such as JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN, SCORPIONS and SAXON, the SAINT boys had no intentions of hiding or diluiting their predilection for the heavier acts in the musical spectrum in an effort to gain popularity - their image and music would speak for itself.

Subsequent studio albums DELIRIOUS NOMAD and RAISING FEAR continued the SAINT'S aforementioned trend of Eurometal-inspired quality songwriting. Unfotunately, these records also failed to generate much interest from the record-buying public and shortly after the release of RAISING FEAR, the band's deal with Chrysalis Records was severed.

It was 1987 and metal was in it's heyday. And ARMORED SAINT - one of the scene's most promising young acts - found themselves adrift in uncharted waters.

During this time of uncertainty, the band began writing and demoing material for what was intended to be their fourth full-length record. Prior to the recording of the album that would become SYMBOL OF SALVATION, lead guitarist David Pritchard was diagnosed with leukemia and tragically passed before recording could commence on the new songs.

Not to be deterred, the remaining members banded valiantly together and along with the returning Phil Sandoval on lead guitar, recruited ex-ODIN axepert Jeff Duncan into the fold to fill the void left by Dave's untimely death.

The newly reconstituted unit entered the studio to commence recording on their new album. Still reeling from the loss of their friend and bandmate, ARMORED SAINT were now instilled with something not easily categorized or labeled - call it divine intervention if you must. Whatever it was, the sessions produced an LP of remarkable confidence and passion. ARMORED SAINT had been to hell and back and rose to the occasion; delivering with the album of their career.

Released in 1991 through Metal Blade Records, SYMBOL OF SALVTION saw SAINT operating and maneuvering at the absolute height of their profession. Indelibly-laced with thought-provoking lyrics and astonishing musicianship, SYMBOL was for all-intents, the crown-jewel in the SAINT catalog.

The staggered, stutter riff at the start of "Reign of Fire" introduces the masses to the new and improved SAINT - a band ready to assail all that dare cross their path of destruction. The guitars of Sandoval and Duncan slash and stab atop the pummeling rhythm section of bassist Joey Vera and kit-basher Gonzo. Lead vocalist John Bush leads the troops into battle and proves his METAL by applying his typical conviction and venom to this supernatural tale. When he screams about "hexes" and "spells and magic inside of a Reign of Fire," you do tend to believe him.

"Dropping Like Flies" tackles the subject of revenge against a galloping Maiden-like riff and segues nicely into the hit single off of SYMBOL, "Last Train Home." Pulling into the ARMORED SAINT loading dock right on-schedule, "Train" is vintage SAINT and it's simple yet intoxicating riff rocks and rolls with the confident swagger of a band maturing right before our very eyes. A throbbing Joey Vera bass-line and prominent kick-drum accents navigate proceedings as a travel-weary Bush waxes mournfully of his gypsy existence riding the rails of life and transform "Train" into quite the gem.

The unusual percussion and drum patterns which precede the main riff to "Tribal Dance" are a precursor to the musical malevolence fast-approaching as at the 3:27 mark, the track explodes amidst a furious riff and an undulating, psychotic rhythmic bed. A prescient song about the drug trade, "Dance" is a time-bomb threatening to detonate unexpectedly and dances precipitously at the edge of some incendiary dual-guitar inter-play between Sandoval and Duncan.

"Another Day" is just one amongst many songs on SYMBOL which drip with sadness and loss. "DAY" sees SAINT attempting to re-evaluate the barren landscape of a post-Dave Pritchard world with a melancholy tear-jerker extolling the hurt and the pain of losing a loved one. A powerful and poignant track which is saddled with an almost indescribable emotional heft, "DAY" embarks upon a journey of self-discovery and emerges on the other side cleansed and healed.

The title-track is up next and what an absolute MONSTER this one is. "Symbol of Salvation" tears asunder the very foundation of all that has come before due to a SEISMIC, surgically-precise riff. The buzzsaw-guitars of Phil Sandoval and Jeff Duncan share the spotlight as their wicked dual-axe-attack propels the album into heretofore unreachable, stratospheric heights.

The riffy and speedy "Burning Question" is a deep-album cut which includes a bravura vocal performance from Bush. His enunciation and phrasing during the song's chorus is discharged with lethal venom and is metal-affirming stuff. A personal fave.

If "Symbol of Salvation" is this record's battered soul, then "Tainted Past" is it's broken - but still beating - heart. A brilliant composition (which includes a brief solo recorded by Dave Pritchard before his death), "Tainted Past" revolves around a plaintive Bush vocal which laments the uncertainty and cruelness of life. Bush croons sadly "Each and every day I rise/From the ashes I've left behind" as behind him guitars strum softly and echo his anger as his inability to comprehend loss amplifies. The morunful solos at the song's mid-section convincingly convey the heartache the band must have been feeling at the time and elevate "Tainted Past" from mere ballad to CLASSIC.

The album ends on an uplifting note with the speed metal-like "Spineless." A frenetic affair which harkens back to the band's earlier days, "Spineless" careens uncontrollably on the back of an infectious riff for the totality of it's 4:17 before it crashes and brings the entire train-of-emotions to it's sudden stop.

Produced with impeccable style by Dave Jerden, Symbol of Salvation celebrates it's 20th-anniversary this year and maintains it's position as one of the greatest metal albums of all-time. Although ARMORED SAINT never achieved the lofty heights of succcess that they so rightly deserved, what we are left with is a stunning body of work which captured the essence of a working-class heavy metal band from Pasadena, California, whom strived to do it their way with no compromise. For these Delirious Nomads, metal was, and remains, a way of life. - Ronnie Jimenez

I only discovered Armored Saint by another reviewers comments and like alot of my purchases the reviewer was spot on. This Cd rocks from start to finish and I would highly recommend this cd to everyone into the voice of John Bush who I think should have stuck with this band as they are I think a level above Athrax and would have been huge.

I've been an occasional fan of this band. Every album they've produced has a few stand out songs and a few genuine classics but this album is truly amazing. Every song is excellent and is a CD that I play from beginning to end without skipping a song.

This album deserves FAR MORE recognition. It should rank among Priest's SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE and Maiden's NUMBER OF THE BEAST as a solid metal album. It's that good.

The first amazing song of this album is worth the price alone. This is what metal should be: loud, heavy, faat, groovy and awesome vox. John Bush kills on this album, he is truly one of the best singers of all time, and I will even say better than the likes of Eddie Veddar or Chris Cornell (yes I know their grunge rock/metal but still.) Bush's voice for me is like the perfect blend between Veddar and Cornell, he is truly the ultimate singer in both Anthrax and Armored Saint. This album is pure metal ownage.

Every once in a while, well into their career, a band will release an album that is a big step forward from what they had previously been known for. Queensryche did it in 1988 with Operation: Mindcrime, Megadeth did it in 1992 with Countdown to Extinction, and Armored Saint did it in 1991 with the release of their fourth full-length album Symbol of Salvation. The fact that they did it after losing guitarist Dave Prichard to cancer makes it even more impressive.

As good as Armored Saint's earlier albums were; Symbol of Salvation is even better. It's a smarter, more mature album, effortlessly merging thrash riffs with just enough melody to hold people's attention, and this inescapable mood and atmosphere that ties all of the individual songs together in a way that few non-conceptual albums seem to be able to pull off. The whole album is incredible, but the best of the best songs are Reign of Fire, Last Train Home, Symbol of Salvation, and Another Day, a song Alice in Chains only wishes they had written. Even the one-minute instrumental Half Drawn Bridge feels like an important part of the album. This is the album that finally captured the true energy of Armored Saint, and showed just what the band was capable of.

Of course, soon after this album's release, John Bush left to join Anthrax, putting an end to Armored Saint for the remainder of the decade. I don't think it's any coincidence that Anthrax took their big leap forward with Bush's first album Sound of White Noise, an album that bears a striking resemblance to this one.

If you're any kind of Armored Saint fan, Symbol of Salvation is a must-have. If you're looking into the Saint after hearing John Bush in Anthrax, I can't think of a better album for you to start with than Symbol of Salvation.

NOTE: The 2003 Special Edition reissue of Symbol of Salvation is an impressive 3-disc set. The first disc contains the full Symbol of Salvation album, digitally remastered, with a pair of video clips. The second disc features the original demo recordings for the album (which feature Dave Prichard guitar work) plus the beginning of a band interview with Metal Blade founder Brian Slagel, which continues on disc 3. The discs are housed in a slipcase. Even if you never listen to the bonus discs more than once, the remastering of the original album makes this a worthwhile upgrade.

Armored Saint at their best. The demos on this even doubles the dosage on this classic CD. If you are a fan of this genre, you will like Armored Saint. A "must-have" for any Hard Rock/Metal fan. Need I say more?