Armored Factory Reset

I'm not gonna lie... it has been a bit of a struggle with new metal records this year. Hell, it feels like it's been a slow year for new music in general... but for metal especially. Here we are now seven months deep into 2026 and this is only my second new metal release that I've picked up. Has the year really been this dry, or am I just stuck in the past listening to old 90's hardcore records and not doing my homework on new shit? Whatever it is, there was no way that I was going to let a new Armored Saint album slip by me.

I know that I can always count on Armored Saint. They do what they do and they deliver every time without fail. Traditional metal fired straight down the barrel and it always hits the target for me. They have been releasing an album every five years or so since 2010, so it was good to see a new Saint album, Emotion Factory Reset land this year.

Man, John Bush doesn't age, and his voice still sounds strong on this latest record. It always amazes me when bands that were releasing their classic albums back in the 80's, can still release something as fresh and as exciting as this so many years down the road. Respect.

Punching The Sky

It has been five years since the last Armored Saint album, Win Hands Down. Having seen the band play live twice when they toured for that record, I have fond memories of it. When I heard that we were getting a new disk from the band in 2020, I was looking forward to what they would deliver. As soon as preorders went up in the Metal Blade store, I was quickly grabbing my copy.

The album is a solid slab of Armored Saint. It took me a few spins to warm up to Win Hands Down, and that was the same deal with this new one, Punching The Sky. It takes a bit for the songs to hook me, but after a few spins, I finally start to settle in and really enjoy it.

When I ordered my copy, I went for the special edition. Lavender colored vinyl, numbered and limited to 300, and includes a bonus patch and 7 inch.

Over the Covid Summer Lockdown, since all touring was shut down, a lot of bands were getting together virtually and recording some songs for fun and posting the videos online. Armored Saint decided to do a stripped down acoustic version of Isolation, from their 1987 album, Raising Fear. Glad that they took the opportunity to include it on the bonus 7 inch here.

Delirious For Some Saint

I listened to a lot of Armored Saint in 2015. Having seen them live twice during the year, and eventually coming to love their new album, the Saint stayed on my radar and logged a ton of time in my listening playlists. I picked up three pieces of vinyl over the year, and I suddenly realized that I was only a few pieces away from completing my Armored Saint discography. While the band was still fresh in my mind, and before the year closed, I moved one step closer with another record.

While I had March Of The Saint and Raising Fear as a kid, I somehow skipped out on the album released between the two...Delirious Nomad. I don't think that I bothered checking out that album until the early 2000's, when I'd gotten back into Metal and was downloading albums like there was no tomorrow. Even when I first heard the album, it didn't leave much of an impression on me, and I left it to collect dust.

Over the past couple of years, though, my appreciation for Delirious Nomad has grown and grown, and I now recognize it as stone cold Saint classic.

With my Armored Saint obsession in full bloom, I figured that I'd hit up eBay, and see what kind of trouble I could get into.

When I found a listing that included a special promo folder and press release, I knew that I had to have it.

A cool little piece of history for the collection.

Win Hands Down

When Armored Saint released Win Hands Down earlier this year, there wasn't a whole lot of new Metal albums coming out at the time. I didn't rush out to buy the vinyl because I figured that I had all the time in the world...plus Metal Blade has a terrible habit of releasing the vinyl only in Europe, and it is a pain in the ass to chase down a copy in the States.

As we started to close in on the end of 2015, suddenly I was dealing with a flood of new releases, and struggling to keep up with buying them all. I was kicking myself for not picking up that new Armored Saint record earlier, when things were quite so hectic. Now that I was a bit pressed for money, I was going to have to find a way to fit the Wind Hands Down LP into the mad scramble to buy all the 2015 albums before the end of the year.

When the band posted on Facebook that vinyl was available in the Metal Blade store, and at a discounted price, I knew it was time to make my move.

Sure the title track for Win Hands Down grabbed be right from the start, but initially I was a bit underwhelmed with this new Armored Saint record. Time has certainly changed my opinion, as the record has steadily climbed up my Best of 2015 list these last few months. I don't think it is going to crack my Top 10 for the year, but don't let that fool you, this album ain't no slouch.

When I was adding the new Armored Saint album to my cart, I noticed that the vinyl for their Revelation LP was available as well...and at a very low price. Even though I shouldn't spend the money, I couldn't just walk away from a deal this good.

I remember finally checking out Revelation when my interest in Metal was rekindled around 2006/2007. I fell in love with it from the start with the heavyweight album opener of Pay Dirt, and I've toyed with the idea of picking up the vinyl ever since I first heard it. Feels to finally cross it off the list.

Now that I have the vinyl for Revelation, it reminds me just how close I am to completing my Armored Saint collection. Maybe I'll be able to keep focused and complete this shit in 2016.

Armored Saint EP

The first Armored Saint EP is another record that I've been after for a while now. I'd find myself hot to chase it, but then for one reason or another, I'd let the eBay auction end without bidding. It's not like these are hard to come by, and I've always figured that I could pick one up at any time. With no one bothering to fight with me over this eBay auction, I figured that now was a good time to pick it up for cheap.

Metal Blade reissued this EP back in 2012 with a couple of bonus songs from the original recording session. While it was tempting to grab a copy on the great looking red vinyl, there was no doubt that I needed the original 12 inch pressing. Three songs here...with Lesson Well Learned showing up on the Metal Massacre II comp, False Alarm ended up on the March Of The Saint LP, and On The Way, which only shows up here. I'd never heard this exclusive track before, so it made my day to discover this hidden gem. I do love me some early Armored Saint.

To top things off, I just found out that Armored Saint will be playing in Massachusetts with Saxon this May. You are goddamn right, I want to go.

Armoured Saints

I think I've cleared out the backlog of new releases that I've had piled up here, so now that we've got that out of the way, let's dig into some old eBay wins.

Over the past couple of months, I've touched upon the subjects of original vinyl pressing and Metal. Back in September I started the chase, and one of my first wins was a copy of my favorite Armored Saint album.

I've read that the band prefer their previous album, Delirious Nomad, and look to that as the high point in their career, but for me, Armored Saint's peak has always been Raising Fear. Raising Fear, Chemical Euphoria, Terror, Underdogs...some of my favorite Saint songs. This thing is solid from start to finish.

I was able to score this record for about four dollars. One of the things that probably helped keep the price low was that the seller listed it as a record from "Armoured Saints". Too bad he wasn't selling any "coloured vinyls" as well. I would have added it to my order.

Record Store Day 2013 - Part 2: The Used Shit

The very first Record Store Day, back in 2008, was held with very little fanfare. There were no RSD exclusive pressings. It was basically just a day to recognize those record stores that had made it through the tough digital download times, and were still standing. That first year, Jeff and I made a stop at Enterprise Records in downtown Portland. Enterprise specializes in used records and makes no fuss over Record Store Day. Tired of all the hype, it seemed fitting that for the 5th anniversary of Record Store Day, Jeff and I make the trip into Portland to visit Enterprise and dig through the dustbins for lost treasures. With the two of us the only customers in the store, and Seger's great Back In '72 album playing on the store's stereo, we rolled up our sleeves and starting flipping through the stacks of used vinyl.

I picked up some Judas Priest vinyl at Enterprise 5 years ago, so it seemed fitting that I fill some holes in my Priest record collection this Record Store Day. While the songs were writen at the same time as Turbo, Ram It Down showed the heavier, faster side of Priest. The band put away the hairspray and synths, and with Halford's opening scream, Ram It Down exlaims that Priest were back. Finding this album still sealed made it one of my favorite finds of the day.

While I was initially disappointed when Priest released Turbo, I still enjoy it. This album is full of memories from my 16 year old self...hanging out with friends and cruising out to the beach with this tape in the deck and turned up full blast. Perfect, cheesy Heavy Metal songs for the summer.

Here we go...now, Stained Class is true Priest classic. This album must have melted faces all over the place when it dropped in '78. Seriously...good luck finding anything heavier than this from that time.

I was a casual Loudness fan back in the 80's. I do remember going to see them live during the summer of 1987. I don't really remember much about seeing their set, instead I held on to memories of my friend throwing ice cubes at the guitarist of TNT and hitting him in the face, and the group of us chanting "Slayer" during Stryper's set.

Thunder In The East is when Loudness finally made their mark in the U.S., and got me to pay attention. I've always intended on holding out and buying a Japanese pressing of this album, as it felt like something cool to do...but seeing this US pressing for $4 in the used bin while holding an armful of 80's Metal records...well, it was too much to resist.

John Bush had a couple of good albums with Anthrax, but Armored Saint is where he really shined. March Of The Saint was the band's full length debut, and one of my favorites.

On the more Punk side, I picked up the DMZ LP. Late 70's Punk with some raw surf guitar influence...this shit is unexpectedly good and hyper.

Throw in a book signing from John Densmore of The Doors, a few CDs, and the new Circle Jerks DVD, and I'd say I pulled in a pretty good haul for the day!