Armored Saint

Armored Saint emerged as one of the rare authentic metal outfits amid the flashy Sunset Strip landscape, favoring a straightforward approach to the genre that aligned closely with New Wave of British Heavy Metal groups such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Saxon. During the 1980s the act put forth three key albums—March of the Saint, Delirious Nomad, and Raising Fear—before halting activity in the early 1990s following the death of founding guitarist David Prichard. When the musicians regrouped in 1999 they maintained their position bridging thrash and hard rock, culminating in the 2020 release of their eighth studio album, Punching the Sky.

Established in 1982 with John Bush handling vocals alongside guitarists David Prichard and Phil Sandoval, bassist Joey Vera, and drummer Gonzo Sandoval, the five-piece issued a three-song self-titled EP through Metal Blade in 1983 and soon moved to Chrysalis. There they delivered the modestly received March of the Saint in 1984, Delirious Nomad in 1985, and Raising Fear in 1987, cultivating an intense local audience without achieving wider commercial success. After returning to Metal Blade toward the close of the decade, the band produced its debut live set, Saints Will Conquer, in 1989.

Tragedy struck when Prichard received a leukemia diagnosis and died in 1990. The group carried forward by bringing Jeff Duncan into the lineup and issued Symbol of Salvation in 1991, only to disband the following year once Bush accepted an offer to front New York thrash act Anthrax. By the late 1990s Armored Saint reconvened, with Bush maintaining roles in both Anthrax and Armored Saint while Vera simultaneously joined prog-metal band Fates Warning. The reunited ensemble unveiled Revelation in 2000 and the double-disc anthology Nod to the Old School a year later. In 2010 they returned with sixth studio album La Raza on Metal Blade, then followed with Win Hands Down in 2015. Two years afterward the PledgeMusic-supported live recording Carpe Noctum captured their 2015 performances at Wacken Open Air and a headline show in Aschaffenburg, Germany, before the 2020 arrival of eighth full-length Punching the Sky.