Translated from the original French
The first opus by the Holy Soldier is out!! And the symphony they deliver to us here is absolutely grandiose. Long considered the best band without a contract in Los Angeles, HOLY SOLDIER has just offered us a very, very classy first album. David ZAFFIRO (ex-BLOODGOOD) produced them. And what production!! This is metal with a capital M!! Careful, let us make no mistake about it: there is no question of big lumpen heavy here. No, HOLY SOLDIER has done everything in finesse, in limpidity and in power. The band has always wanted to create a musical climate, rather than getting stuck in the eternal chords of rock... When you listen to "See No Evil" or "The Pain Inside Of Me" or again "When The Reign Comes Down", beyond the words, HOLY SOLDIER puts "something" across: there is an atmosphere, a climate that one feels. Few bands have the capacity to make their music speak as much...
The tempo of the tracks is generally slow, which allows the band to bring out the harmonies whose secret they know. And Steve PATRICK has a great deal to do with it, in the story. His vocals are properly muscular, and even if certain vocal curves recall Michael Sweet (STRYPER), it is clear that Steve has developed his own personality as a vocalist. The choral vocals are very present, and extremely powerful on every track. Careful: make no mistake!! HOLY SOLDIER does not go in for vermicelli soup. HOLY SOLDIER goes in for powerful heavy, at times a smash ("Tear Down The Walls", "We Are Young, We Are Strong") but always heavy sculpted in finesse. The two guitarists (Jamie CRAMER and Michael CUTTING) form an extremely united pair; each complements the other very well. As for the bassist Andy ROBBINS, and the drummer Terry RUSSELL, it appears in the mixing brilliantly executed by Joe CHICARELLI (who has worked notably with PAT BENATAR, Franck ZAPPA, LONE JUSTICE, etc,...) that both have managed to give the rhythmic support the band needed.
On the lyrics side, HOLY SOLDIER takes on the subject of abortion ("See No Evil"), but also solitude ("The Pain Inside Of Me"), sin ("When The Reign Comes Down": excellent lyric), childhood ("Eyes Of Innocence"),...
In the "melodic heavy" style, HOLY SOLDIER has put out for us one of the most beautiful metallic symphonies. Metal with a capital M. An excellent first assault from our Holy Soldier, who has class, and who manifestly has the stature of a future giant of Christian metal.
Other coverage for this album
Dead Zine 2002Reviewed by SORGThis is power/glam at its finest! This long out of print cd was just reissued last year by the band themselves and all I can say is "it's about time"! It's sad to see something this good go unnoticed. Every song on here is good. Holy Soldier, being one of the first pioneering Christian metal bands, followed the lead of Stryper blending accessible pop melodies with sincere metal feelings and…Heaven's Metal #23Reviewed by Doug Van PeltHere it is folks...the Holy Soldier debut album. It's been three years since you may have first heard about them in Heaven's Metal, and the hype has been heavy. This buzz has reached the point in the metal world to where people are saying, "Man, it better be good with all this hype." Well, Holy Soldier delivers. This 10-song album is nothing short of melodic heaven. These Southern California…Similar sounding releases
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