[Cover photo credit to Stephanie Cabral]
Seminal Metal band Armored Saint has announced an October 22nd release date for new CD/DVD, Symbol of Salvation Live, via Metal Blade Records in celebration of the album’s 30th anniversary.
The CD/DVD is available for pre-order in a number of formats including:
– 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
– silver vinyl (EU exclusive – limited to 500 copies)
– dusty rose pink marbled vinyl (EU exclusive – limited to 300 copies)
– silver / white corona vinyl (EU exclusive – limited to 200 copies)
– crystal clear vinyl (US exclusive)
– red / black splatter vinyl (US exclusive)
Vocalist John Bush refers to Symbol of Salvation as the band’s “cornerstone record” and the celebration release will include a combination live album and video of the band playing the album in its entirety at New York’s Gramercy Theatre during their 2018 tour.
Bassist Joey Vera explains:
“I felt like showing ‘Symbol’ in another light was a great homage to the record itself. Also, having all the fans be there and part of that event is a way for us to say ‘Thank you!’ For, without them, we can’t do any of this in the first place.”
According to the band, they went through some very tough times while initially writing the songs that would make up the key record, being without a label for three years prior to signing with Metal Blade, and in 1990 losing founding guitarist Dave Prichard to leukemia.
Vera adds:
“Because we had lifted ourselves out of these ashes, as it were, we felt a very strong desire to make every little thing count, it felt more important than anything we had ever done before. For one thing, we didn’t want Dave’s writing contributions to be in vain. Also, we were on a mission to let the world hear what we’d been working on for three years. Funny thing is, that during the separation of the metal genre between glam and thrash from ’85 to ’89, we kinda felt like we had to prove something to everyone else. But while making ‘Symbol’, we also had something to prove, except this time, we had to prove it to ourselves.”
The band also feels that live playing the album in 2018 was an “inspiration” when writing Punching the Sky (2020). As an added bonus, the vinyl and digital versions of the record contain five demo tracks from the Symbol Of Salvation writing sessions with Dave Prichard, which have never been released in this format.
Symbol of Salvation Live CD/DVD track-listing
1. Reign of Fire (Live)
2. Dropping Like Flies (Live)
3. Last Train Home (Live)
4. Tribal Dance (Live)
5. The Truth Always Hurts (Live)
6. Half Drawn Bridge (Live)
7. Another Day (Live)
8. Symbol of Salvation (Live)
9. Hanging Judge (Live)
10. Warzone (Live)
11. Burning Question (Live)
12. Tainted Past (Live)
13. Spineless (Live)
*additional bonus tracks on the digital/vinyl versions:
14. Nothing Between the Ears (1989 4-Track Demo)
15. Get Lost (1989 4-Track Demo)
16. Medieval Nightmares (1989 4-Track Demo)
17. People (1989 4-Track Demo)
18. Pirates (1989 4-Track Demo)
19. Symbol of Salvation (Live) [Radio Edit] **available digitally only!
FYI, this December, Armored Saint joins Black Label Society and Prong for a short run of shows in the USA, including the following dates:
“Doom Trooping over North America” tour dates
w/ Black Label Society, Armored Saint, Prong
Dec. 27, 2021 – Reno, NV – Virginia Street Brewhouse
Dec. 28, 2021 – San Francisco, CA – Regency Ballroom
Dec. 29, 2021 – Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern
Dec. 30, 2021 – San Diego, CA – House of Blues
Dec. 31, 2021 – Tempe, AZ – The Marquee
