Saints Will Conquer

The final Armored Saint recording to feature Dave Prichard before the guitarist's untimely passing, Saints Will Conquer is a respectable but rather plain live offering that did little to further the group's artistic or career interests. Prichard handles his instrumental duties with verve and efficiency, and his partners-in-metal also keep their end of the musical bargain on this rather short eight-song set. John Bush (vocals) and Joey Vera (bass) are most notable throughout this and every Armored Saint recording, as they both project a decidedly British metal essence with great personal style. While the group never ascended to the heights of '80s metal success or influence, songs like "Can U Deliver" and "Long Before I Die" might qualify as near-classics. And with one of their era's most potent metal lineups, none of these tracks suffer from shoddy live performances. Among the many curious song omissions is the group's minor hard rock radio hit "Isolation," which would have been a much better down-tempo choice than "No Reason to Live." "March of the Saint" is another fan favorite conspicuous by its absence from the track list. Metal fans new to this band would do much better to seek out the 2001 anthology Nod to the Old School for a nice overview of Armored Saint's musical credentials, as Saints Will Conquer lacks the conceptual effort required of a great live recording. ~ Vincent Jeffries