Armored Saint – Punching the Sky
Release Date: 23rd October 2020
Label: Metal Blade Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Metal
FFO: Anthrax, Pantera, Raven, Anvil, Testament.
Review By: Jonathon Hopper
I’ll be honest, LA metallers Armored Saint are one of those bands that have somehow passed me by. I don’t know why; I’m the right age (i.e. old), they emerged around the time when I was eating Metallica, shitting Megadeth and vomiting (in the nicest possible way) Slayer, and I’m a huge fan of AS vocalist John Bush’s work with Anthrax during the 1990s, preferring hands down his focussed yowl to the theatrics of predecessor Joey Belladonna.
As we both approach significant milestones (Armoured Saint 40 years on the metal front line with a nine-year hiatus to accommodate Bush’s Anthrax adventure, me 50 years with no break whatsoever for good behaviour), our paths cross for the first time.
And on the evidence of Punching the Sky – the band’seighth studio album and first since 2015’s ‘Win Hands Down’ – I’ve been missing out… Big time.
Opening with a haunting refrain played on the Uilleann pipes, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants – a song every bit as epic as its title suggests – kicks things off. A colossal, pounding wall of sound with all the force and might of Hagrid in a mosh pit.
End of the Attention Span follows, a searing indictment of lives lived through social media that combines shredding guitars with a chorus that’s catchier than a virus. “A great night… We’ll watch it through our screens.” It’s not a new sentiment but the delivery is crisp, the energy enough to make even the most ardent member of the Twitterati put down their phones and pay attention.
Someone get a copy to Donald Trump, quick!
Yet for all Armoured Saint’s years in the business, this is no case of ‘men shout and wave fist at the passing of time’. Bubble is a crunch-laden stomp through a semi-industrial wasteland that brings to mind ‘Renewal’ era Kreator breaking rocks with Saliva, while the lurching Pantera-esq Do Wrong to None is surely a floor filler in waiting, Bush imploring the faithful to “do wrong to none, but only trust a few”.
John Bush’s vocals meanwhile are every bit as captivating as when I first encountered them on Anthrax’s ‘Sound of White Noise’ all those years ago. From the urgent yelp of Bark No Bite to the show-stopper ethereality of Unfair, this is the sound of a band at one with themselves and their place in the World. Impervious to trends and fads yet utterly immediate and relevant in today’s fractious society. All that’s left is for playful closer Never You Fret with its American Indian flute intro courtesy of drummer Gonzo Sandoval to bring the house down and there you have it. If anyone wants me I’ll be immersing myself in Armored Saint’s back catalogue.
(4 / 5)
