Behold, a virtual cornucopia of Christian metal goodness, bound together in a boxed set inside an actual box. Not a slipcase, mind you, a box.
Okay, maybe I'm gushing too much, but let's face it. It's hard enough to produce a various artist comp, let alone a two-disc boxed set, that features a vast variety of songs from bands within the general spectrum that is Christian metal. The Heaven's Metal Collection does a fairly good job at presenting an audio history of Christian metal, from about 1978 to 1991, compiled by perhaps one of the leading authorities on the subject, Heaven's Metal Magazine (okay, I realize that they now go under the moniker HM, but this boxed set was released in 1992, when they were still old school).
There's a variety of styles for just about every taste here, going from the classic hard rock of the Resurrection Band ("Waves"), The Daniel Band ("You're All I Need"), First Strike ("Loneliness Kills") and Darrel Mansfield ("Jesus Will Reign"); the late 70s and early 80s metal of Jerusalem ("Sodom"), Barnabas ("Breathless Wonderment") and Leviticus ("The Suffering Servant"); bands representing the metal from the mid-80s to early 90s that I refer to as the Second Wave Metal, such as Stryper ("From Wrong To Right"), Barren Cross ("It's All Come True"), Saint ("Primed And Ready"), Messiah Prophet ("Heavy Metal Thunder"), Bloodgood ("Self Destruction"), Whitecross ("No Way I'm Goin' Down"), Neon Cross ("Son Of God"), Shout (um, "Shout"), Rage Of Angels ("Are You Ready For Thunder"), Sacred Warrior ("Children Of The Light"), Holy Soldier ("Love Me"), Jet Circus ("Step On It"), and Guardian ("Time And Time Again"); a little bit of progressive metal from Trytan ("Genesis"); thrash/speed from the likes of Vengeance Rising ("White Throne"), Deliverance ("The Call"), Tourniquet ("You Get What You Pray For"), and Believer ("Stop The Madness"); that meticulous balance between hard rock and metal from X-Sinner ("Lift Him Up"), Novella ("Give Me Love"), Bride ("Troubled Times") and Ransom ("Lasting Love"); punk thrash from The Crucified ("Mindbender"); and death metal by Mortification ("The Destroyer Beholds"). As an added bonus, there's a booklet that features article reprints of the bands featured in this set from Heaven's Metal Magazine.
Now, there's a bit of a catch twenty-two involved with this collection. When this boxed set was released, much of the tunage included were already rarities (such is the Christian music industry). However, now this boxed set is a hard-to-find item, especially in CD form. This came out the same year I graduated from High School, around the time when I was just starting to explore the world of Christian metal, and I'm still kicking myself for not getting it then. Oh, well. Anyway, anyone interested in an enjoyable Christian metal history lesson should keep a lookout for this.
8/10
Other coverage for this album
Heaven's Metal #36Reviewed by Phil SterlingYou'll be impressed by the packaging--you'll be amazed by all the music, you'll love the extended information inside--But what struck me at first glance was how complete this collection seems to be! Obviously, on any collection configuration, you can't include everything. If Doug Van Pelt did, we'd be listening to Metal music for eternity (not a bad idea, now that I think about it). This was one…
