Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby

Saint were one of the pioneering Christian heavy metal bands of the eighties. They are fondly remembered for 'Times End' (1986) and 'Too Late For Living' (1988) where they were similar in style to Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. They reformed in 1999 and self-released 'In The Battle' (2004), 'The Mark' (2006) and 'Crime Scene Earth' (2008). The main problem with the latter release was that Josh Kramer only sang on three songs; whilst bassist Richard Lynch sang the other six songs and his vocals were universally disliked. Retroactive Records have re-recorded, remixed and remastered the album to give us the CSE 2.0 version. Here Josh Kramer returns to do all the vocals and the classic influences of Judas Priest and Accept can be heard. The production now makes it sound like a '70s metal release with clearer rhythm guitar and drums. My personal opinion is that the album only really gets going towards the end with their cover version of the Judas Priest track "Invader". Jerry Johnson and Dee Harrington finally unleash some much needed riffage in "Bended Knee" and the lyrics in "Lost" are a tribute to the '80s metal scene. So whilst this is an improvement over their independent release, I would bear in mind the old saying "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear". So unless you are a die-hard Saint fan, I would suggest skipping this album and get their excellent new release 'Hellblade'.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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