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Lethal Saint - Lethal Saint

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 May 27 2010 at 12:17:13 AM



Revival. Lethal Saint is contemporary, despite look and sound purely 1980s and song titles that speak to unknown deviancy yet experienced by adolescent hands, loins, minds (to wit: “Evil Inside,” “Night of the Sin,” “Wild in the Night,” et al). It’s the latter quality, perhaps, that encapsulates this sort of Heavy Metal poignantly and serves to assuage a bemusing target audience (which must be impossibly small by any marketing standard). The ten-ton walrus penis bone in the room is who/what is this target audience and what exactly are they after? Youth is an easy answer, a sort of snarky readymade response utilized to inflict hit point damage rather than advance the party—men, women, and Halflings alike—through the “adventure.” 

Despite popular tendency to treat “throwback” music as a tongue-in-cheek sideshow, it continues to bring perhaps too much to the table. We could spend an uncomfortable morning parsing “intention” to no distinct end. Ultimately it’s advisable to take in prima facie dosage and save plumbing depths for (little) pay and unsavory French theorists into (unwilling) sodomy, Bach’s fugues, and mid-80’s American television serials. 

Taken first face, Lethal Saint is firmly within the ‘80s Heavy Metal idiom without trace of poisonous irony. Dueling harmony, hyper Phil Sandoval-styled solos, “humanly” vox that aspire to proficiency not yet attained: All here. Many good-to-great songs interspersed with little tired filler: Here. “Heavy Metal Knights,” “Final Prayer,” “You’re a Sinner,” “Wild in the Night,” and the self-reflexive tune, “Lethal Saint” all great. 

Don’t have to love Dallas, Knot’s Landing, and “rear entry,” to know these songs’ greatness lies in their linguistic ability to signify the mythical. Stories of youth most know far too well are now accepted as a particular history—only wholly revised over crossed Flying-Vs and sweaty eastern European men donning leather armor. Its contents are hackneyed and sublime: Adolescent/teenage fantasy infused with a supernatural sexuality many take great pains to explain as forbidden journey at turns wanton and epic. Memories are imperfect. We may never have as many experience points as the adept Thaumaturgist. But we have bands like Lethal Saint making records like this one. 

[Stewart Voegtlin]

Lethal Saint
Lethal Saint
Pitch Black Records
2010
type: reviews    keywords: heavy metal, lhp038,   

Comments (4)

  • 5 comments
    Dictator
    10:04 AM on May 27, 2010 // reply »
    Holy shit! Never thought i'd see this up here. You omitted to mention that they are a Cypriot band.
  • 374 comments
    VOEGTLIN
    6:43 PM on May 31, 2010 // reply »
    Ah, yeah. My fault. Great band. You know 'em? Love to interview these guys.

    Why aren't you listening to The Devil's Blood or Watain or Leviathan like other people, hmmm?
  • 13 comments
    Tim
    4:52 PM on Jun 01, 2010 // reply »
    Have you checked out Baphomet's Blood from Italy? They turn the same tricks on speed metal.
  • 5 comments
    Dictator
    4:28 PM on Jul 03, 2010 // reply »
    Yo Voegtlin, spoke with one of the guys from the band, drop 'em a line at lethal_saint@hotmail.com if you want to get in touch.
 

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