Barren Cross

Item: Rock for the King
Author: NecRoSarX

Rock for the King

(1986)

Reviewed by NecRoSarX

Discogs YouTube

Label Star Song RecordsDead Zine2003

glam metal hard rock heavy metal power metal

1986 was a good year for metal. Unfortunately for me, I didn't get into Christian metal until 1992, and by that time the band was long gone and their debut album Rock for the King was classified as 'rare and out-of-print'. In 1997 though, I shelled out $15 for the Medusa label re-release (which is, by the way, a bargain considering I've seen prices of upwards of $20-$30 for a good used copy).

Anyway, about the CD. Rock for the King was released at a time when many Christian metal milestones were released by Stryper, Bloodgood, Saint and Whitecross. Released as a nine-song LP on Star Song, then picked up by Enigma for mainstream distribution, Barren Cross' debut was a bit more raw and more metal than their glam metal label mates Stryper, putting them in league with Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Saint. I would go so far as to say there's more of a comparison with Iron Maiden's Number of the Beast album. Mike Lee's vocals are more baritone than most of the high-pitched falsetto vocals mostly found in metal of that era, and with the opening guitar riffs on opener 'Dying Day', the N.W.O.B.H.M.* influences are apparent. There are a couple of power ballads, 'Believe' and 'Light The Flame'; the rest of the album, though- 'He Loves You', 'It's All Come True', 'Going Nowhere', 'Rock For The King', 'Give Your Life' and 'Just A Touch'- are of the metal variety. The lyrics, as you might have guessed by the titles alone, are of the evangelical variety, though a bit more grittier than of the happy-go-metal variety. For instance, 'It's All Come True' deals with someone who finds out the hard way that what the Bible says about Salvation and Jesus was right.

The Medusa re-release of 1991, which is the version I'd recommend for the casual collector of 80s metal, features new cover art, with a photo that appears to be an outtake from the State of Control photo sessions (good move- the cover photo on the original version is a bit silly), remastering of all the studio tracks, plus some extra live songs thrown in for incentive purposes: 'Killers Of The Unborn' and 'Dead Lock', which appear on both the CD and cassette version of Rock for the King (and are also found on their live CD Hotter Than Hell- Live!); the CD version, though, also sports live versions of 'Cultic Regimes', 'He Loves You', 'Living Dead' and 'Heaven Or Nothing', which were never-before-released tracks, making the CD version a better buy.

For the collector of good classic Christian metal, Barren Cross' Rock for the King is one of the essentials.

(*New Wave Of British Heavy Metal- an era in the late 70s and early 80s which saw the rise of bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motorhead and Mercyful Fate -NecRo)

7.5/10