History
Early career
Armored Saint was formed in 1982 by brothers Gonzo Sandoval (drums) and Phil Sandoval (guitar), and guitarist David Prichard, while still enrolled at South Pasadena High School. Next to join were singer
John Bush and bassist
Joey Vera. Gonzo Sandoval came up with the name after getting stoned with the other band members and seeing the film
Excalibur
at a theater in Monterey Park. Armored Saint recorded a five song demo that landed the song "Lesson Well Learned" on the compilation album
Metal Massacre II
. Three of these demo songs were then used for the band's self-titled EP on
Metal Blade Records in 1983. The group then signed with
Chrysalis Records in 1984.
Armored Saint released their 1984 full length debut album
March of the Saint
followed by 1985's
Delirious Nomad
. The debut album yielded a minor MTV hit with "Can U Deliver?". After the release of
Delirious Nomad
, guitarist Phil Sandoval left the group to explore other possibilities. Their third album,
Raising Fear
, was recorded by the remaining four members of the band. Unhappy with their lack of success on the Chrysalis label, Armored Saint returned to Metal Blade in 1989.
Soon after the release of Armored Saint's first live album
Saints Will Conquer
in 1989, the band added
Jeff Duncan formerly of the L.A. club band
Odin
as second guitarist. While writing and recording rough four-track demos for their next album, guitarist Dave Prichard was diagnosed with
leukemia. Prichard succumbed to the disease before recording sessions for
Symbol of Salvation
began. After a brief hiatus, Phil Sandoval returned to the band after Prichard's passing. The following year
Symbol of Salvation
was released to widespread critical and commercial success. It was dedicated to the spirit and memory of Dave Prichard, whose solo performance on the four-track demo recording of the song "Tainted Past" was used for the album.
Following the successful
Symbol of Salvation
tour, John Bush was offered the lead singer position in the
thrash metal band
Anthrax. Unsure of Armored Saint's future, Bush accepted the job. The remaining members decided to call it quits and Armored Saint was officially disbanded.
After Armored Saint disbanded, Joey Vera kept busy playing with such bands as
Fates Warning,
Lizzy Borden and
Chroma Key. He released a solo album in 1994 and started a successful second career as a producer and engineer.
Gonzo and Phil Sandoval formed a new band called
Life After Death, a song oriented rock outfit influenced greatly by the legendary band
Thin Lizzy.
Reunion and Future
In 1999, with Anthrax on temporary hiatus, John Bush and Joey Vera decided to reform Armored Saint. The entire
Symbol of Salvation
lineup returned to the studio, and in 2000 the album
Revelation
was released. The album was a resurrection of the classic sound of Armored Saint. It features the band's first song with Spanish lyrics, "No Me Digas," originally conceived by John Bush and Gonzo Sandoval, and then revamped by Joey Vera. A small club tour opening for
Dio and
Lynch Mob followed.
The following year, the band released
Nod to the Old School
, a collection of rarities, demos and outtakes (many from the Prichard years), plus a few new tracks. Soon after, John Bush returned to the studio with
Anthrax and Armored Saint was once again placed on hiatus.
In 2004 Joey Vera joined
Anthrax
on a temporary basis to replace bassist Frank Bello. Early in 2005,
Anthrax
's
Scott Ian announced that their "Among The Living" lineup was reforming, leaving the membership of Bush and Vera undetermined. Bush stated his involvement with
Anthrax
was over; new
Anthrax
member
Dan Nelson took over vocal duties in 2007. This move gave hope to many that Armored Saint would once again start recording. A one-off show with the
Revelation
lineup took place in 2005, and in 2006 the band embarked on a new tour.
As part of their 20th anniversary and continuing celebrations, Metal Blade released a special edition of
Symbol of Salvation.
Also reissued was the band's long out of print live video
A Trip Thru Red Times
.
On their site, currently it says that they will be back with some new material in 2009.
Miscellaneous
In the early 80's, John Bush was invited to audition for
Metallica, who also courted Joey Vera after the death of their bassist Cliff Burton.
It was revealed in an outtake from the documentary film "Metallica:
Some Kind of Monster" that in 1982 Armored Saint and
Metallica were at a party and Phil Sandoval got into an altercation with
Lars Ulrich. Phil pushed Lars to the ground, after which
Dave Mustaine, who was still a member of Metallica at that time, got involved and ended up breaking Phil's ankle. Dave recounts that to this day when he sees Phil he feels bad for the incident, but that he just had Lars' back. Mustaine later made amends by apologizing and giving Phil Sandoval an ESP guitar as closure.
In 1992, Armored Saint appeared in the film "
Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth," performing the song "Hanging Judge" in the club that Terry Farrel's character visits.
Discography
Albums
| Year
| Title
| Label
| Other information
|
| 1983
| Armored Saint (EP)
| Metal Blade
| 3 song EP
|
| 1984
| March of the Saint
| Chrysalis
|
|
| 1985
| Delirious Nomad
| Chrysalis
|
|
| 1987
| Raising Fear
| Chrysalis
|
|
| 1988
| Saints Will Conquer
| Metal Blade
| Live album
|
| 1991
| Symbol of Salvation
| Metal Blade
| Reissued in 2003 with 3 disc Deluxe version
|
| 2000
| Revelation
| Metal Blade
|
|
| 2001
| Nod to the Old School
| Metal Blade
| A few new tracks plus rarities, demos and live material
|
Other appearances
| Year
| Title
| Label
| Other information
|
| 1982
| Metal Massacre II
| Metal Blade
| Compilation featuring "Lesson Well Learned"
|
| 1985
| Crazed - an all out metal assault
| JSI (Jelto Concepts Incorporated) records
| Compilation of various metal bands featuring "Can u deliver"
|
| 1988
| The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II (soundtrack)
| Capitol/I.R.S.
| Soundtrack to the movie of the same title. Featuring "You Can Run..."
|
| 1996
| Metalmeister
| Metal Blade
| Compilation featuring "Creepy Feelings"
|
Videos/DVDs
| Year
| Title
| Label
| Other information
|
| 1987
| A Trip Thru Red Times
| Chrysalis
| Live bootleg video. Re-released by Metal Blade in 2004
|
| 1992
| Hellraiser III
|
|
|
| 2004
| Lessons Not Well Learned
| Metal Blade
|