| Musical Style: Heavy Metal | Produced By: |
| Record Label: Roxx Records | Country Of Origin: USA |
| Year Released: 2018 | Artist Website: |
| Tracks: 34 | Rating: No Quote |
| Running Time: 132:17 |
It’s mighty tempting, of course, to pigeonhole Soldier as merely a melodic metal band. That, however, would only be telling part of the story in that while Soldier no doubt draws upon a commercial basis - hair metal, pop metal and melodic metal if you will - a heavier side to the group reveals itself all the same. This realizes in the form of the straightforward heavy metal, nuances of speed to thrash metal and even bluesy hard rock that play every bit the role in defining its sound.
Tracing its origin to 1986, Soldier arose out of the Bay Area metal scene when founding member’s vocalist and rhythm guitarist Jimmy Arceneaux (pronounced Are-sen-nah) and bassist Marc Allyn decided to form a new band after exiting a top-40 act they were in at the time, Rexx. The two initially brought guitarist Rick Hunter into the fold subsequent to an audition only to later recruit drummer Al Whalen, who contracted Arceneaux following a referral from Hunter. With its line up set, Soldier proceeded to record its first demo, Louder Than Hell from 1986, and critically acclaimed second, the full length, 24-track effort Babylon released in 1988.
Soldier went on to become quite the prolific live act, and not just in its native Bay Area, where it shared the stage with local favorites such as Vicious Rumors, Vain and Y&T, but also Los Angeles from having played at the first HIS Festival, Metal Mardi Gras and the Metal Midnight Festival. In between, Soldier also performed with some of the better-known bands within the Christian metal scene, including Barren Cross, Bloodgood, Deliverance, Guardian, Holy Soldier and Messiah Prophet.
All good things, nevertheless, must come to an end in that after placing the tracks “Borderline” and “Tears” on the 1988 California Metal II compilation, Soldier disbanded the following year without having signed a record deal. The group in turn came to rank alongside many of the better-unsigned Christian metal bands from the period, including but not limited to Apostle, Paradox, Crossforce, Taker, Paragon, Revelation, Chariot and Armada.
Babylon and Louder Than Hell soon went out of print and turned into hard to find collectors items but were re-issued along with the California Metal II tracks by M8 Records in 2002 under the title The Definitive Collection. Fast forward to the spring of 2018 and Roxx Records has stepped to the plate to re-issue the Soldier back catalog a second time as part of a 2-CD anthology style set entitled Babylon & Beyond, the 30th Anniversary.
First disc encompasses re-mastered versions to Babylon, Louder Than Hell and the California Metal II tracks and second four previously unreleased songs Soldier recorded when it briefly reformed in 1992 and a live recording of its performance at the HIS Festival from 1987. Also available on a limited edition basis is a 150 copy print run of Babylon on white vinyl and a DVD entitled Babylon & Beyond Through The Years Live! limited to 100 copies.
Whereas The Definitive Collection packaging left somewhat desired in featuring a single page insert, Babylon & Beyond comes with a lovingly detailed 16-page mini booklet instead. Highlights include liner notes from guitarist Rick Hunter, whom goes into detail regarding the bands origin, background to Louder Than Hell and Babylon in addition to his thoughts on each song recorded by Soldier. Further rounding things out are vintage band photos, scans of concert flyers and ticket stubs and a tribute to original drummer Al Whalen, who passed away in 2002.
Disc One
As far as custom cassette releases go, the Babylon production ranked among the best of its era, but The Definitive Collection did not do it any justice in sounding like an old cassette copy transferred to a CD-R without the benefit of re-mastering. Enter Babylon & Beyond, which improves upon the original with re-mastering that allows for the tighter and cleaner sound in which guitars better stand out in the mix and bass makes the more pronounced low-end statement.
Babylon opens to its instrumental title track as a minute and a half of distorted guitar feedback gives way to one of Soldier’s signature songs, “Louder Than Hell”. Touching upon the Soldier thrash to speed metal inclining, “Loud Than Hell” romps to relentless abandon but does not forsake accessibility as a surprisingly catchy chorus asserts itself. “Deadly Weapons” follows as perhaps Soldier’s finest cut ever, upholding a melodic Dokken-ish vibe, while also giving prominence to the needed heaviness to put it into straight on metal territory. Underlying the two are ample stretches of Hunter’s bristling lead guitar work.
“Priceless Heart” also rates with the group’s best. It finds Soldier exploring its bluesy side in aligning a heartfelt mid-paced tempo and profound melody with Arceneaux’s classic-tenor touched with hints of grit vocal style. “King Of The City” represents another showstopper, divulging the intensity and heightened momentum to approach speed metal but also distinctive hooks of a capacity that refuse to go away with repeat listen.
Whereas the previous four are in my opinion the best Babylon cuts, the remaining six are quite good in their own right. It begins with “Borderline”, a straightforward and no-nonsense hard rocker to walk a fine line between traditional and melodic metal, but also includes “Promises”, starting calmly to acoustic guitars prior to emphatic guitars taking over only to return to an acoustic direction at the end. Former finds Whalen displaying his precise timekeeping abilities and latter an emotional proclivity that hints of Bloodgood.
In a more melodic vein is “First Time”, maintain the moving qualities with guitars on the even side and an affluence of polished backing vocals, and “Where Have All The Children Gone”, an interweaving of acoustic verses and an accelerated refrain emboldened by lively rhythm guitar. The two find Soldier revisiting its bluesy ways.
Taking a more commercial stance is “One Of A Kind”, an up-tempo melodic hard rock cut integral to pop-based hooks and Mark Allyn’s lively bass line. I am somewhat reminded of Stryper’s “Makes Me Wanna Sing”. Likewise, “Angel” makes a commercial statement but almost to a fault in that while far from bad, it also lacks the focused energy built-in to the better Babylon material. In my opinion it translates better live.
The Louder Than Hell production might have a few rough edges (in comparison to Babylon) but otherwise does a good job depicting the early Soldier sound. Interestingly, its ‘first’ side encompasses studio tracks and ‘second’ those recorded live. Opener “Heart Of Stone” also approaches Dokken style melodic metal with up-tempo riffs, vibrant backing vocals and a fantastic guitar solo that drifts between the left and right channels. Also included is a different version of “Angel” to feature a more prominent mix of backing vocals and another medium good pop metal piece in “Somebody New”.
Of the live tracks, Soldier builds upon the heightened energy even further on “King Of The City”, while Arceneaux takes opportunity to share the group’s faith with the audience at the mid-point to “Heart Of Stone”. Hunter closes “Priceless Heart” with an awesome open air, distorted guitar solo. Main highlight is metal anthem “Glory & Honor”, ranking alongside the Soldier best with its militant riffs and refrain of a worshipful quality. I wish a studio version to it had been recorded.
In terms of California Metal II, “Tears” is a very good commercial hard rocker with a made for radio disposition along the lines of “Angel” and “Somebody New”. It is my favorite of the three. “Borderline” is included as well but potentially suffers from overproduction in the form of backing vocals laid on a bit thick for my taste. It is worth noting, nonetheless, re-mastering helps to better bring out the low end on both.
Disc Two
History to the four unreleased tracks dates to 1992 when a Christian label at the time was interested in hearing what Soldier might sound like four years after disbanding. I’d like to think Soldier would have gotten signed at this point, but the music scene more than likely had taken too grungy a turn for the worse. Nevertheless, quality to the four is such that Soldier had not lost its songwriting touch.
My favorite is opener “When I Finally See Your Face”, a sterling example of hook driven melodic hard rock with a prevalent bass line and plenty of fantastic guitar leads, both at the mid-point and closing the song. Melody reminds me of “Face To Face”, a song off the 2005 self-titled debut of Hunter’s cool post Soldier project Walk The Sky.
Soldier goes full on blues-rock for “Blues For The Fallin’” and “Down On The Killin’ Floor”, with former shorter at three and a half minutes in highlighting a catchy melody and latter stretching out to five in joining equal parts gritty licks and chops and shuffling bass low-end swagger. Blues finds Arceneaux at home with his soulful to gravelly vocal style.
The group throws a curveball on “Thru The Past Darkly”. With its emphasis on haunting melody and swirling vocal melodies, the song reaches for the type of eclectic progressiveness often attributed to King’s X. Yes, this is outside the box as far as Soldier is concerned, but you cannot say it is not very good.
Bit of a story behind the groups HIS I performance from how it unofficially received the label ‘the Mormon show’. Somehow, false rumors spread ahead of the festival that Soldier is ‘Mormon’, which obviously it is not and with Arceneaux dispelling such rumors to the audience subsequent to opener “King Of The City”: “In case you want to hear it from my own mouth, we are not Mormons”. He more specifically adds, “Whoever fueled the fire on this Mormon thing, I would like to say I appreciate it because it made this band grow a lot stronger in Christ knowing we are that much of a threat to Satan.”
Soldier, otherwise, storms through a hi-octane set comprised equally of Louder Than Hell and Babylon material. Yes, recording is of the bootleg variety but still clean in capturing the entirety of the group’s performance without any doctoring on the backend, at least far as I can tell. Captured in the process, for instance, are many of the impromptu moments associated with a live recording, such as the band tuning its instruments and throwing shirts into the audience following “Glory & Honor”, Arceneaux requesting his vocal monitor level be increased, “Somebody New” carried out to seven minutes with band member introduction and Hunter’s trademark open air guitar solo. It adds up to a classic moment in ‘white metal’ history captured in time that is a pleasure to hear after so many years.
A live version to a previously unreleased song entitled “Call My Name” closes Disc Two. It rates with the Soldier heaviest and fastest, with a tone on the darker side but also yielding hooks of a subtle variety. Similar to “Glory & Honor”, I wish we had a studio version to offer comparison.
DVD
The Babylon & Beyond Through The Years Live!DVD features previously unreleased live performances of 15 Soldier songs captured by the father of Rick Hunter. In terms of specifics, footage is compiled from five different shows, The Stone (5/07/88), Omni (8/16/87), Metal Mardi Gras (9/12/87), Omni (1988) and Omni (12/19/87), and is surprisingly well done when factoring the use of a single hand held camera.
Included is one version to each song Soldier recorded minus “Where Have All The Children Gone” and “Heart Of Stone”, with latter included in the track listing but not performed (“Borderline” is in its place). You will also find one previously unreleased song in “Too Late For Love”, which while not a Def Leppard cover is a technical three minutes of furious thrash-like energy and storming riffs to represent one of Soldier’s most aggressive.
If anything, the DVD catches Soldier in its natural live element as a youthful and high-energy metal band at the height of its prowess. Standout moments include the unabashed energy to “Louder Than Hell” and “Too Late For Love” (two cuts in which Soldier is on fire), heaviness to “Angel” and “One Of A Kind” (compared to their studio counterparts) and cowbell added to “Tears” (with Arceneaux handling the solo).
A few other observations:
*I could be mistaken, but I believe that is Crossforce vocalist the late Tony Krider in the front row to “Borderline” at Metal Mardi Gras.
*The band uses its own backing vocals in concert instead of having them pumped in.
*The Omni presents with the perfect sound acoustics for which a metal band to perform live.
Summary
Assessing the Soldier legacy begins with factoring how musically the group more than held its own when compared to contemporaries of the time such as Stryper, Barren Cross, Bloodgood, Guardian, Bride and others. Hence, the disappointment from how Soldier never signed a deal in that I have often wondered how it might have matured four to five albums down the road. As for Babylon & Beyond, it proves more definitive than The Definitive Collection in light of how in addition to Babylon and Louder Than Hell it also includes four unreleased tracks and the HIS I Festival performance. Further separating it is the quality to re-mastering and detail to the mini booklet. If a fan of not just Soldier but the eighties metal scene in general then by all means make Babylon & Beyond a priority purchase, but not without also getting the live DVD, which in my opinion is every bit essential in terms of representing the Soldier experience.
Review by Andrew Rockwell
Track Listing (Disc One): "Babylon", "Louder Than Hell", "Deadly Weapons", "One Of A Kind", "Priceless Heart", "Where Have All The Children Gone", "King Of The City", "Borderline", "Angel", "First Time", "Promises", "Heart Of Stone", "Somebody New", "Angel", "King Of The City" (live), "Glory & Honor" (live), "Priceless Heart" (live), "Heart Of Stone" (live)
"Borderline", "Tears"
Track Listing (Disc Two): “When I Finally See Your Face”, “Blues For The Fallin’”, “Thru The Past Darkly”, “Down On The Killin’ Floor”, “Intro” (Live), “King Of The City” (Live), “One Of A Kind Romance” (Live), “Angel” (Live), “Glory And Honor” (Live), “Somebody New” (Live), “First Time” (Live), “Rick Solo” (Live), “Heart Of Stone” (Live), “Call My Name” (Live)
Track Listing (DVD): “Tears”, “Louder Than Hell”, “Glory & Honor”, “Borderline”, “One Of A Kind”, “First Time”, “Priceless Heart”, “Promises”, “Guitar Solo”, “King Of The City”, “Heart Of Stone”, “Too Late For Love”, “Angel”, “Deadly Weapons”, “Somebody New”
