XS' top 15 Christian Bands of the 80s list....

The thread says top 15 Christian bands from the "80's" and people are listing bands that didn't put out stuff on a label till the 90's. If you had the demos in the 80's cool beans, but I doubt it.

Luri mentioned them, but I forgot about Neon Cross!

James B. wrote:

The thread says top 15 Christian bands from the "80's" and people are listing bands that didn't put out stuff on a label till the 90's.    If you had the demos in the 80's cool beans, but I doubt it.

Yeah, Tourniquet, Haven and Veni Domine made my list...but I could not think of other 80s bands I would place over them...and I needed 15.

corplhicks wrote:

Non-fans of Tourniquet and/or Vengeance Rising actually have my sympathies. I get it.
... they could be accused of trying to hard.

^^ This right here.

Every time this topic comes up, people tell me I'm nuts for not recognizing the awesomeness of Tourniquet/V.R., and every time, I go and give both bands another listen on YouTube to see if they'll finally "click."

I did that again this past weekend (via Human Sacrifice for V.R. and Stop The Bleeding for TqT) and... mmmm...(shrugs) nah, still don't see the big whoop, sorry. Musically both acts were badass, no doubt, but in both cases the vocals (esp. on V.R.) annoyed the crap outta me. Don't get me wrong, I can respect the influence both bands had on the CCM Metal "scene" but neither one has ever really grabbed me by the whoozis so by this point I've given up trying to "get" them.

I do understand why those guys made such an massive impact on the "CCM-only" klds who were used to lighter-weight fare like Stryper, Petra, etc., etc though...cuz I'm sure that after a steady diet of that stuff, VR and Tourniquet must've been like a bomb going off, i.e. "HOLY COW THIS IS THE HEAVIEST MOST EXTREME THING I'VE EVER HEARD!" ...but I wasn't one of those kids. I'm not from an particularly religious family, we were the "church on Xmas Eve and Easter, if we feel like it" kind, and my parents didn't give a hoot who or what kind of music I listened to.

Aside from Stryper and Barren Cross, who were both on secular labels and got MTV play, I found out about the bulk of the late 80s CCM Metal wave thru a guy in my freshman college dorm who was one of those "full-on armor of God" guys who listened to Christian rock/metal and nothin' but. We started chatting when he saw me walking around campus in a Stryper shirt, and when he found out I wasn't a Christian but just a garden-variety metal fan who happened to like a few of "his" bands, he started loaning me tapes, recommending bands to me, giving me issues of Heaven's Metal to read, etc., etc. I guess he was trying to "save" me, but he did introduce me to a bunch of cool bands, so I am grateful to him, wherever he is now, haha.

...soooo, where was I going with this? Oh yeah. Anyway, by the time I heard Vengeance Rising and Tourniquet for the first time I was already well versed in The Big Four plus Exodus, Annihilator, Overkill, Kreator, Sepultura, Nuclear Assault, Dark Angel, etc., etc. So to me they didn't have that kind of game-changing effect, they were just a couple more thrash bands added to an ever-growing list.

Fat Freddy wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Non-fans of Tourniquet and/or Vengeance Rising actually have my sympathies. I get it.
... they could be accused of trying to hard.

^^ This right here.

Every time this topic comes up, people tell me I'm nuts for not recognizing the awesomeness of Tourniquet/V.R., and every time, I go and give both bands another listen on YouTube to see if they'll finally "click."

I did that again this past weekend (via Human Sacrifice for V.R. and Stop The Bleeding for TqT) and... mmmm...(shrugs) nah, still don't see the big whoop, sorry. Musically both acts were badass, no doubt, but in both cases the vocals (esp. on V.R.) annoyed the crap outta me. Don't get me wrong, I can respect the influence both bands had on the CCM Metal "scene" but neither one has ever really grabbed me by the whoozis so by this point I've given up trying to "get" them.

...soooo, where was I going with this? Oh yeah. Anyway, by the time I heard Vengeance Rising and Tourniquet for the first time I was already well versed in The Big Four plus Exodus, Annihilator, Overkill, Kreator, Sepultura, Nuclear Assault, Dark Angel, etc., etc. So to me they didn't have that kind of game-changing effect, they were just a couple more thrash bands added to an ever-growing list.

I listen to mostly secular metal and I think "Stop the Bleeding" is awesome. If you're the kind of guy who hates King Diamond's voice and think Zak Stevens' voice was an improvement over Jon Oliva's then I can see how this album is a non-starter. The riffs and drumming are top-notch though, and I'd say that regardless of what the lyrics were about. Again, I don't defend their other albums because they are pretty much crap.

I also won't defend VR. I've always found them to be massively overrated. I like them a little bit at times, but they are NOTHING compared to Dark Angel, Sepultura, Death, and dozens of other bands one could name.

Quote :

I listen to mostly secular metal and I think "Stop the Bleeding" is awesome. If you're the kind of guy who hates King Diamond's voice and think Zak Stevens' voice was an improvement over Jon Oliva's then I can see how this album is a non-starter. The riffs and drumming are top-notch though, and I'd say that regardless of what the lyrics were about.

I love King Diamond (tho I prefer his Mercyful Fate stuff over KD solo), and I love Savatage with both Jon and Zak (tho I prefer Jon). So yeah, on paper, Tourniquet sounded like they'd be a no-brainer purchase back in the day, that was why I bought Stop The Bleeding, sight unseen (or perhaps that should be "sound unheard?")... but it just never clicked.

I'm not denying that Tourniquet is/was awesome musically, they definitely have got chops out the wazoo, but even tho I could never accurately explain it, there's just something about the vocal style on Stop The Bleeding that's always rubbed me the wrong way. (shrugs).

Vengeance was a shock to the CCM system when it arrived. Bands like Saint, Barren Cross, and Bride had done some dark heavy metal. But Vengeance brought the rage. In retrospect, it's a decent, if sloppy, thrash record. I think it's a record of non-thrash guys trying to play thrash, if I remember correctly. But anyway...

Tourniquet blew me away when I bought STB. The next album even more so. When Metal Blade picked them up and they did Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance, it floored me. That's probably my favorite Tourniquet album.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I think it's a record of non-thrash guys trying to play thrash, if I remember correctly.

That's my impression too.  I do like some of it though.

It just seems way too hyped in the Christian metal scene IMHO.

I'm more into which albums have stood up over time than which ones were first.

Quote :

When Metal Blade picked them up and they did Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance, it floored me. That's probably my favorite Tourniquet album.

I love "Theodicy on Trial" and "Phantom Limb". They (really just Ted) were heavily influenced by Carcass on that one IMHO.

I'll throw my skull cap in. Don't know if these were all "80's" bands, but I am too fat and lazy to look it up.

My fav:
Eric Blair [just a demo, but so what]

They were "Spiritual", at least:
King's X

Everything else:

Deliverance
Armor
Impelliterri
Bride [The first two were awesome - anything after sucked]
Dual Edge
Lust Control
One Bad Pig
The Lead
Holy Soldier [again, the first two]
Tourniquet
Shout
Joshua
Idle Cure [not be hatin'. Some of the BEST AOR secular or Christian]

Admittedly, I responded without looking at everyone's previous posts. So, throw The Crucified, Detritus, Seventh Angel, Scarlet Red, and Believer onto my list. Don't know if any of those were 80's, but so what.

Fat Freddy wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Non-fans of Tourniquet and/or Vengeance Rising actually have my sympathies. I get it.
... they could be accused of trying to hard.

^^ This right here.

Every time this topic comes up, people tell me I'm nuts for not recognizing the awesomeness of Tourniquet/V.R., and every time, I go and give both bands another listen on YouTube to see if they'll finally "click."

I did that again this past weekend (via Human Sacrifice for V.R. and Stop The Bleeding for TqT) and... mmmm...(shrugs) nah, still don't see the big whoop, sorry. Musically both acts were badass, no doubt, but in both cases the vocals (esp. on V.R.) annoyed the crap outta me. Don't get me wrong, I can respect the influence both bands had on the CCM Metal "scene" but neither one has ever really grabbed me by the whoozis so by this point I've given up trying to "get" them.

I do understand why those guys made such an massive impact on the "CCM-only" klds who were used to lighter-weight fare like Stryper, Petra, etc., etc though...cuz I'm sure that after a steady diet of that stuff, VR and Tourniquet must've been like a bomb going off, i.e. "HOLY COW THIS IS THE HEAVIEST MOST EXTREME THING I'VE EVER HEARD!" ...but I wasn't one of those kids. I'm not from an particularly religious family, we were the "church on Xmas Eve and Easter, if we feel like it" kind, and my parents didn't give a hoot who or what kind of music I listened to.

Aside from Stryper and Barren Cross, who were both on secular labels and got MTV play, I found out about the bulk of the late 80s CCM Metal wave thru a guy in my freshman college dorm who was one of those "full-on armor of God" guys who listened to Christian rock/metal and nothin' but. We started chatting when he saw me walking around campus in a Stryper shirt, and when he found out I wasn't a Christian but just a garden-variety metal fan who happened to like a few of "his" bands, he started loaning me tapes, recommending bands to me, giving me issues of Heaven's Metal to read, etc., etc. I guess he was trying to "save" me, but he did introduce me to a bunch of cool bands, so I am grateful to him, wherever he is now, haha.

...soooo, where was I going with this? Oh yeah. Anyway, by the time I heard Vengeance Rising and Tourniquet for the first time I was already well versed in The Big Four plus Exodus, Annihilator, Overkill, Kreator, Sepultura, Nuclear Assault, Dark Angel, etc., etc. So to me they didn't have that kind of game-changing effect, they were just a couple more thrash bands added to an ever-growing list.

Yeah, I totally understand this. It was music that one had to really grow into, discover at a crucial time, otherwise it can all just register as "meh."

I also like odd vocals once in a while--King Diamond, Accept, several hundred thrash vocalists, but in those cases the vox are well-integrated into the musical atmosphere, an appropriate union. In the case of VR or Tourniquet, it was like oil and water. Didn't mix/hasn't aged well.

Temple of Blood wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I think it's a record of non-thrash guys trying to play thrash, if I remember correctly.

That's my impression too.  I do like some of it though.

Yeah, bingo. An 'A' for effort, but the strain is obvious in those albums.

Wow, this thread made me dig up an album on Youtube that I have had on vinyl for over 35 years.  Servant's "World Of Sand" album.

Unfortunately I can't say the album has aged very well but despite some cheesy moments in the "epic" track "Sudden Death", I still think that song holds some power; mainly because of its horrific subject matter - members/family members of the band were killed in a car crash.  It actually reminds me a LOT of Styx which isn't surprising given the time it was released.

I can understand how Vengeance isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but for me I loved the over the top vocal delivery. Another thing was the solos. They would be chugging along at break neck speed then kick into a bluesy solo. I thought they did a good job of combining the bluesy sound with thrash.