by Justin Stockton 6.5 /10
“Carpe Noctum” is a live album by Armored Saint and will be released on Metal Blade Records February 24 2017. Now Armored Saint has always been one of those bands that I dug but never dug deep into. I enjoyed albums like “March of The Saint” as well as others but I never got hugely into them. They are one of those bands that just always eluded me through the vast ocean of heavy metal bands. However, as I know this is one of their first live releases in almost thirty years (correct me if I'm wrong) and so I went back to listen to that album first to see if this offering stood up or at least was a good long awaited sequel. Now when I typically review a live album, I don't do my typical rundown but more of an overall review so this one will be a bit short.
Recorded at “Wacken Open Air”, this album actually only boasts eight songs. Yes only eight songs! I personally would have liked a few more cuts on here such as “Madhouse” and others. We do however, get a solid performance from the Saint and a good selection of songs for what they are. Opening with the newer track “Win Hands Down” flowing right into “March of the saint” works really well and shows that their new material flows very organically. John Bush's vocals are still just as good as they were and still have a lot of meat to them. He always had that macho kind of lower metal voice that seemed to work and worked very well. Overall, the band sounds very tight and have not lost any of their luster at all, I mean they are very powerful live still. My personal favorite is the final song “Reign of Fire” which sees the band firing on all cylinders til the end in classic Heavy Metal fashion. The whole set list to this album is pretty solid again for what it is.
Overall, I give the album a 6.5 out of 10. Honestly, I feel that their performance was very strong, but it was very short and I don't think it gives you enough to work with especially for being marketed as a live “album”. It honestly works more as a live ep because it only has about half the songs a normal live album would contain. The production also doesn't feel as strong to me either and leaves a little bit to be desired for me at least. With a more full set and more balanced production, this album (or mini album) could have been a better live release in Armored Saints discography but instead falls a tad short and leaves more to be desired.
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