SONG REVIEWED: "The Pillar "
IT'S BEEN ABOUT NINE YEARS SINCE WE'VE SEEN A RELEASE FROM ARMORED SAINT. JOHN BUSH HAS BEEN BUSY SINGING WITH ANTRAX EVER SINCE "THE SOUND OF WHITE NOISE", AND IT WAS FINALLY TIME FOR THESE GUYS TO GET TOGETHER AGAIN AND RECORD SOME SERIOUS, NO-BULLSHIT, FIST-IN-THE-AIR METAL. "THE PILLAR" IS INDICATIVE OF MOST OF THE SONGS ON "REVELATION", WITH THICK DISTORTED GUITARS AND DRUMS KICKING OFF THE SONG. JOEY VERA AND JOHN BUSH WROTE MOST OF THE TRACKS ON THE DISC, AND I THINK THAT'S WHY IT HAS A FAIRLY UNIFORM SOUND. IN THE PAST, ARMORED SAINT WERE VERY SKILLED AT "RIFF PASTING"; YOU KNOW, WHERE ONE GUITAR PLAYER COMES UP WITH ONE RIFF, AND IT FITS REALLY WELL WITH THIS COOL LITTLE PIECE THAT THE OTHER GUITARIST THOUGHT UP... GLUE ENOUGH OF 'EM TOGETHER, AND YOU GET A SONG. WHEN WRITING "THE PILLAR", IT'S OBVIOUS THAT BUSH AND VERA CONCENTRATED MORE ON AUGMENTING THE SONG, THAN TRYING TO FIT AS MANY WILD RIFFS AS POSSIBLE INTO FIVE MINUTES. JOHN BUSH SINGS LIKE THERE ARE RAW CHUNKS OF MEAT BEING TORN FROM HIS THROAT, AND THE DOUBLE-GUITAR ATTACK OF PHIL SANDOVAL AND JEFF DUNCAN GIVES EVERY SONG A VERY FAT FEEL... YOU KNOW, THE KIND OF FAT THAT COVERED THAT REALLY UNPOPULAR, PROMISCUOUS CHICK IN HIGH SCHOOL (HOW'S THAT FOR AN OBSCURE REFERENCE)? ... ALL TWELVE TRACKS ON THIS DISC (THIRTEEN ON THE IMPORT) ARE NUT-CRUSHING... THIS IS DEFINITELY ONE TO PICK UP.
