You talk about your compilation album misfires. This CD, if I'm guessing right, was released by Arrival Records (the Christian imprint of K-Tel, that nifty low-budget label that pumps out $5 compilations like a Pez dispenser) to capitalize on the popularity of Christian metal in the late 80s.
Obviously, the people who slapped together this quaint cheese ball had a very, very loose definition of the word "metal." For you see, there are cuts here that aren't even close to metal, even by the 80s standards. Ric Cua's "Wear Your Colors"? Rick Springfield-esque arena rock. Rez's "Love Comes Down"? Blues rock. The Altar Boys' "You Are Loved"? Early alternative. And. . .Petra? PETRA!?! Their cut, "Shakin' The House" is from their CCM radio-friendly pop rock album Back to the Street and that's mostly keyboard-oriented. I mean, c'mon guys. . .
To their credit, though, some choice cuts appear: Bloodgood's "Crucify" opens up the album, followed by Barren Cross' "Rock For The King". Messiah Prophet's "Master Of The Metal" makes an appearance, as does Saint's "Time's End", Stryken's "Rock On", and Philadelphia's "Search And Destroy". The last two are ultra-rarities, which makes the pathetic sound quality production on Righteous Metal something else to lament.
The argument at the time was "Christian metal is weak." Righteous Metal didn't help much. Although the follow-up- the creatively titled Righteous Metal II- hit closer to the "metal" mark, Righteous Metal works best as an example of what not to do when putting together a metal comp. . .
4/10
Other coverage for this album
Heaven's Metal #15Reviewed by Doug Van PeltK-tel's Arrival Records has released the first Christian metal compilation of signed bands. They even beat Pure Metal's long-awaited Heavy Righteous Metal. The first reaction many of us die-hard metalheads is gonna be "Ah, they put Petra on there! And The Altar Boys!" You must remember that this album was basically put together almost a year ago. Arrival had to choose from Christian metal bands…
