My relation with Armored Saint is kind of strange. They are one of the many bands I have always heard of, read news about them, seen their new releases, but I have never listened to their albums. I guess I downloaded a few of them when I had eMule, but I do not remeber quite well if I had the chance of listening to their music. If memory serves me right this “Emotion Factory Reset” is the first album I have ever had the opportunity to get my hands on.
To my surprise, the first thing that immediately popped up was Jonh Bush’s voice – yeah, this one I know quite well from his Anthrax era which I consider great. No, I did not have the slightest idea he was with Armored Saint again. The second thing that passed through my mind was that I had the impression the band was faster and heavier, I mean, more related to American Power Metal. Well, that might have been so during their early years, but with “Emotion Factory Reset” not quite correct. I dare to say their music is much more related to Jonh Bush’s Anthrax “Persistence of Time” era. Put simply, the music here does not have that spontaneity we expect from a Metal band. The album sounds a little ‘tamed,’ if you understand what I want to say. Spontaneous does not mean raw or of low quality. No, no, no it only means the band let the music roll in a natural way.
It is the opening drumming of “Ladders and Slides” that immediately called my attention. It is the kind of flamboyant drumming that always call the shots and attract everyone’s attention. It addresses a little to the drumming of Kiss “I Love It Loud.” As it would be expected, the guitars follow the rhythm and the groove giving the song a special sonancy. The best track of the album, if I am allowed to say. To some extent, “Bottom Feeder” follows the same idea. On the other hand, “Epilogue” totally satisfied my initial sonic idea of the band.
I guess bassist Joey Vera was right when he stated:
Each “Armored Saint” record, to me, is like a new skin for the band, a different chapter. I don’t think we’ve ever repeated ourselves. Every album has been pretty different from the previous one, a snapshot in time. In 2026, “Emotion Factory Reset” is where our heads are at.
That is it.
Armored Saint “Emotion Factory Reset” will be released on May 22nd via Metal Blade Records.
Track Listing:
- Close to the Bone
- Every Man-Any Man
- Not On Your Life
- Hit a Moonshot
- Buckeye
- Compromise
- It’s a Buzzkill
- Throwing Caution to the Wind
- Ladders and Slides
- Bottom Feeder
- Epilogue
Watch “Hit a Moonshot” official music video here:
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!