ARMORED SAINT-Carpe Noctum

Metal Blade Records

I have always loved Armored Saint, a band that never ever gave in to any ongoing trends and followed their own path in metal and rock. They made some classic albums in the 1980’s and 90’s like ‘March Of The Saint’, ‘Delirious Nomad’, ‘Raising Fear’ and ‘Symbol Of Salvation’. After guitarist Dave Prichard died and singer John Bush tried his luck with Anthrax, Armored Saint was put on ice but made some years ago a triumphant return with a couple of albums, the excellent ‘Win Hands Down’ being the latest and best. In 2015 the band played on Wacken Open Air and almost two years later Metal Blade has released the live recording of that gig. It must have been a short set that day as there are only eight tracks featured on ‘Carpe Noctum’. It is a bit on the short side (38 minutes), which is a pity especially when you have to pay a full price. You can’t tell me that there are no other recordings available that could have been added. It is what it is. On this CD there is a strong mix between recent tracks and some golden oldies like ,,March Of The Saint, ,,Last Train Home’’, ,,Stricken By Fate’’, ,,Aftermath’’ and ,,Reign Of Fire’’. The oldies combine well with the more recent songs ,,Win Hands Down’’, ,,Left Hook From Right Field’’ and ,,Mess’’ with as result that you can hear Armored Saint go full steam ahead on this one in their typical no nonsense style: metal with strong guitars, Gonzo and Joe Vera laying down a solid and heavy background and Bush topping it off with his strong voice. Like I said it would have been nice if some more tracks had been added, but I guess we will have to wait for a next studio effort from these down to earth and above all capable musicians.