HOLY SAINT - HOLY SAINT-1990 (DEMO)

THIS DEMO CONTAIN(9-TRACKS)
1-CRYING OUT
2-LOVE NEVER FAILS
3-WALKING A FINE LINE
4-777
5-CHIRST IS THE ANSWER
6-COME ONTO ME
7-CALL ON YOUR NAME
8-GIVE YOUR LIFE AWAY
9-MESSAGE OF THE BAND
The annals of Christian metal history are littered with the remains of talented bands that, for reasons unknown, never signed a deal with a label. Bay Area based Soldier was perhaps the most well known, a melodic metal outfit that in 1988 released an eleven song demo, Babylon, with a professional sound rivaling many label backed releases of the era. My favorite, however, had to be Apostle. A power trio hailing from Florida, Apostle delivered a classical influenced brand of power metal which it best put on display on its quality demo tapes Chariots Of Iron and Hymns.Paradox, a talented four piece unit from San Antonio, showcased its high energy brand of metal on the two demo tapes it put out in the late eighties, Ruler and Power And Glory.Other unsigned Christian metal acts of note include Taker, Paragon, Armada, Revelation, Chariot, Chosen Stranger, Full Armor, Divine Right and last, but certainly not least, Holy Saint.Holy Saint may not have been as well known as many of its contemporaries but its members were certainly not lacking in musical ability.Getting started in 1987 with a four song demo entitled Sound The Alarm, the band followed up three years later with its self-titled second demo, an eight song cassette only release that in 2005 was re-issue don CD by Retrospect Records. Holy Saint gives prominence to a melodic heavy metal sound bringing to mind Dokken, Stryper, Motley Crue, Holy Soldier, Eternal Ryte, Rage Of Angels and a host of others from the same era. The album moves mostly in mid-tempo territory - “Come Unto Me”, “Give Your Life Away”, “Call On Your Name” are all quality tracks of note – but includes a couple of up-tempo numbers in “Love Never Fails” and “Christ Is The Answer”. A bit of diversity, on the other hand, can be found in the ballad “Call On Your Name”, the bluesy “Walking The Fine Line” and a fusion based instrumental entitled “777”.Chris Brooks proves quite the talented front man with his clean and high end vocal style.Yes, he does display an occasional shaky moment, nevertheless, his performance can be characterized as commendable throughout. Give the band more experience and time in the studio and this guy would rank with the likes of Mike Lee (Barren Cross), Les Carlson (Bloodgood) and Stephen Patrick (Holy Soldier).Guitarist Radical Rad makes his presence felt with his energetic and crunchy riffs while contributing lead guitar work of a fiery and at times bluesy variety.On drums we get Bruce Atomic. Another guy who is obviously not using his real name, Atomic is actually a terrific timekeeper who brings a tight sounding and slightly technical style reminiscent to that of John Fowler (Rage Of Angels) or Robert Sweet (Stryper).Pat Tharp rounds out the rhythm section on bass.Production values, of course, are of the demo variety. But we are going to cut these guys some slack in that it is obvious they did not have much in the way of a budget to record the project. The only complaint worth mentioning, nonetheless, is that the backing vocals on several tracks – most notably “Crying Out”, “Love Never Fails” and “Christ Is The Answer” – are a bit overdone. Again, this is something that would be rectified with a capable producer and more time in the studio. The packaging of the CD re-issue is on the bare bones side of things. No lyrics. No liner notes. Just a simple CD insert with the artwork on the front and band photos on the back. Finally, those of you who own the original cassette version will notice that the bands message at the end of the tape was not included.“Crying Out” opens to offbeat sound effects and narration that gives way to a few brief seconds of open air rhythm guitar. The song proceeds to chop its way forward in edge-laden fashion, not culminating until reaching a resolute chorus backed by an overriding mix of backing vocals. Radical Rad adds to the scene with a stretch of gritty lead guitar work.The energy level increases with the up-tempo sounds of “Love Never Fails”.The song jumps out of the gate in high gear, an abundance of spirited momentum taking over as the way is paved for a high-octane chorus in which a clamorous environment is put into place.Another run of fiery lead work helps put the song over the top.The lyrics here come across evangelical in nature:.
HOLY SAINT-SOUND THE ALARM-1987















THIS DEMO CONTAIN(4-TRACKS)
1-CHIRST IS THE ANSWER
2-THE REVELATION
3-LET FREEDOM RING
4-COMING HOME















Holy Saint was a pioneering Christain metal band spanning the late 80's to the early 90's.
The band members,
Chris Brooks/vocals,
Radical Rod/guitar,
Bruce Atomic/drums,
Pat Tharp/bass;
toured both regioanlly and nationally preaching the uncompromising and life changing gospel of Jesus Christ; as well as some great metal for their time. While the band is no more, the lives they touched, the music they played, and the message they preached lives on!Formed in Rochester, NY in 1986. Holy Saint stuck around for nearly a decade even though they were never afforded the opportunity to record for a proper label. Towards the end of their existanec they band moved to Nashville, TN and changed their name a couple times.For the most part, the songs are all mid-paced heavy metal romps, although "Call On Your Name" is a ballad, which is pretty typical of most 80's Christian metal. The production on this album is a bit thin, although all the instruments can be clearly heard. Radical Rad's guitar work sounds great, but would have sounded fuller if it had been recorded on multiple tracks. As it stands it is obvious there is only one guitar recorded to one track. Chris Brooks gave the vocal performance of his life here.The new version of "Christ is the Answer" isn't quite as beefy as the original demo version. I actually prefer the '87 version."Crying Out," "Love Never Fails" and "Give Your Life Away" are some of the heaviest songs on the disc although by today's metal standards, I suppose even these songs are pretty light weight. "Love Never Fails" was one of the songs I had remembered the band working on at some of the practice sessions I attended. The instrumental give the band a chance to stretch out a bit musically and show off. Perhaps I am a bit to connected to this band to give a fair, unbiased review, but even with the thin production I find this album to be so completely enjoyable.This band had a big hand in the Spirit's work in my life(Chris Brooks Gave his spirit back to the lord,now he s waiting for us to meet him in heaven,..for more info you may go to visite one of his friend and fans(rogers website from ultimatum band( http://nolifetilmetal.com/holysaint.htm )I do not have the first demo(Sound The Alarm) if you have it contact me to my own website(http://www.holymetalrob.com/)