By Andrew Bansal
Los Angeles has been synonymous with a plethora of heavy metal over the years, but one band that has stood out in its own unique way is Armored Saint, for their brand of music that garnered them a fan base three decades ago and to this day lets them maintain a cult following which results in sold-out shows whenever they decide to take the stage on rare occasions. The album that played an indispensably crucial part in launching the band’s career was their debut full-length record ‘March Of The Saint’, which was released via Chrysalis Records exactly 30 years ago, on October 9th 1984.
The album boasts of an anthemic title track and instant classics such as ‘Can U Deliver’ and ‘Mad House’, but each of the 10 songs is worth its weight in gold in heavy metal terms and together form an album that’s a worthy representative of the purest form of the genre. John Bush gives the performance of a lifetime on vocals and is well complemented by his band mates in this lineup, bassist and principal songwriter Joey Vera, guitarists Dave Pritchard and Phil Sandoval and drummer Gonzo Sandoval. Besides the music itself, the album’s cover artwork bleeds quintessential heavy metal in a manner second to none, and regardless of the varying degrees of success in the subsequent stages of the band’s career, ‘March Of The Saint’ will always remain a cult classic. Celebrate its 30th anniversary by cranking it in full!