Holy Soldier formed in Los Angeles in 1985. They released their self-titled debut album in 1990. In 1991 it won two Dove Awards. One was for 'Metal/Hard Rock Album of the Year', while the other was for the song 'Stranger' ('Metal/Hard Rock Recorded Song of the Year'). In 1992 the band released their second album, LAST TRAIN. It hit #10 on the Billboard CCM chart. The songs 'Last Train' and 'Dead End Drive' were nominated for Dove's in the 'Metal/Hard Rock Recorded Song of the Year' category, while 'Virtue & Vice' was a #1 hit on rock radio. Band members were: Jamie Cramer (guitars and backing vocals), Steven Patrick (lead vocals), Andy Robbins (bass guitar and backing vocals), Terry Russell (drums and backing vocals), and Scott Soderstrom (guitars). David Zaffiro produced the album, while Bill Bafford executive produced its re-issue on Roxx Records in 2017.
'Virtue & Vice' is a melodic metal tune about an identity crisis, that draws from Romans 7: "It's like Dr. Jekyll meets Mr. Hyde/That's who I really am deep down inside/Virtue and vice, fire and ice/Which one is really me?/Virtue and vice, nasty and nice/Tell me which one will it be?/A civil war is raging in the fortress of my mind/Both sides hate the other/Evil and divine". 'Crazy' is a rock song of despair: "I couldn't help but fall to pieces when you said that we were through/Now I can't believe it's over/I'm going crazy over you/A casualty of broken love/The embers dark and cold/And the deep abyss of emptiness has finally filled my soul.../Without you I, I can't go on/I'll lose my mind before too long". 'Hallow's Eve' is a rock ballad about Christ's return and the resurrection of the dead: "From the east, crimson dawn weaves a scarlet web/As hallowed spirits fill the sky/The earth gives up her dead/I see the last of long ago, though waking from a dream/A thief is coming in the night, the door is opening". There's a great electric guitar solo!
'Gimme Shelter' was penned by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. It was track one on The Rolling Stones' 1969 album LET IT BLEED. This sizzling cover has lyrics very relevant still in 2019: "Ooh, see the fire is sweepin'/My very street today/Burns like a red coal carpet/Mad bull has lost its way/War, children, yes/It's just a shot away (2X).../Rape, murder/It's just a shot away (2X)". 'Love is on the Way' is a rock ballad desiring a second chance in a relationship: "I was there, but I was never there to hold you/When you needed love, love was unaware/So, baby, let me love you/I can't stop thinking of you/Run with the wind, the wind in your hair/Love is on the way (2X)/Never leave you lonely/Always by your side/Love is on the way". 'Dead End Drive' is a fast paced metal story song that serves as a warning: "The last thing I can remember/We were flying down Deadman's Curve/The devil, he was laughing with delight as the car began to swerve/Well, I hit the brakes/I was just too late/A cripple at the hands of fate/Dead end drive/Do and die/A drinking, driving suicide".
Next up is 'Tuesday Mourning', a rock ballad of grief: "Staring into the shadows/Lying there, gripped with fear/But you made the monsters disappear.../How I wish for yesterday/Tell me it will be OK/But I miss you still today, oh/Mama/Tears are falling from the skies/I know you wouldn't want me to cry/But you never said 'Goodbye'/Oh, mama". 'Fairweather Friend' is a pulsating metal tune aimed at a writer with evil intent: "My fairweather friend/Hide behind your trusty fountain pen/My-my, my fairweather friend/Casting stones won't save you in the end/He went for the throat but he left a little note/Cause he didn't have the guts/To say the things he should have said in the presence of his prey!" Last up is the title cut, 'Last Train', a thought provoking rock ballad about the afterlife: "No, you'll never find me when I leave the world behind me and take the last train/Destiny will guide me as I climb aboard and finally take the last train/That blood red engine pulls a chain of crimson and takes me home". It's very memorable!
On LAST TRAIN Holy Soldier creatively straddles the musical genres of rock and metal. Five of the songs are fast, while four are slow. The lead vocals and excellent electric guitar work are definite strengths here. This album reflects on the dark times we are living in (rape, war, murder, over drinking, and Satan trying to take over our lives in general). This is balanced though by a couple of songs pointing to a day when Christ will return and take us home to live with Him in heaven. You will also find songs about human relationships. Lost love and grieving the death of a loved one are expressed. I'm rating this album 95% and recommending it to fans of Sacred Warrior and Bloodgood. For more info visit www.roxxproductions.com, www.holysoldier.com, and/or connect with the band members on social media.