Translated from the original French
LIGHTFORCE had already impressed the metal rags (h)ardently, with their demo "Battlezone" (still available from the band). Signed by PURE METAL, our four Australian white metallers come to us with a first album that is a total smash. Musically, the band situates itself between heavy and thrash/speed. And it is the good stuff!! No bubblegum on "Mystical Thieves"!! Nothing but good heavy that really shifts...! "Mystical Thieves" opens the album: it is a fairly speed track, but with frequent (excellent) changes of rhythm. On the rhythmic side, the guys are seriously hefty (whoah, the bassist...!!). This track, "Mystical Thieves", runs to no less than 8'05...! "Crossfire" also goes in for a good heavy, and with "City Streets" we enter the speed, with very good changes of rhythm; destroy solo, mad drummer (but oh so hefty!!). "Metal Missionary" is to be classed among the greatest hymns of Christian metal: the rhythm here is slower, heavier, with aggressive back-up vocals that proclaim loud and strong: "Metal Missionary"!! A song addressed to all the shaggy manes who have given their heart and their life to the Master of Metal: Jesus Christ!! "They know there has been a change in you, not in your look, but on your face: the window of your soul shines. The difference is so clear: the smoke, the drugs, the hatred and the fear are nowhere to be found in you. They will want the peace that you have in you. Go, and join the rebel gangs: win them for the Lord you love. Together we will empty Hell, of bands and of gangs... Because we want to be... Missionaries of metal!!"
"Children Of Sorrow" hits well, with excellent drum work (hats off, Errol Willenberg!!) The guitarist, Murray ADAMS (who replaced Cameron HALL) fills his post well, and on every track he does very good work, as much on the rhythmic level as on the solos.
"Searching" plunges us back into the half-speed, half-heavy, and into the atmosphere of Christ's return to earth. Steve JOHNSON's vocals are fairly limited (in range) but fit LIGHTFORCE's style perfectly. Let us note in passing that the lyrics are very easy to understand, thanks to the way the vocals are brought out, and to an excellent pronunciation/articulation (rare when we are talking heavy/thrash...). "Fastlane" is the only track carried over from their demo "Battlezone": all the rest is new.
Finally, "Babylon", which runs more than 7 minutes, is one of the best tracks on "Mystical Thieves", with a keyboard intro - gloomy - (no, don't run away... It is only the intro!!) over which a voice quotes words taken from the Apocalypse (in the Bible). The track is quite a smash, and contains very interesting changes of rhythm... "Do you not see that your hatred towards God will bring about your fall?"
LIGHTFORCE is definitively one of my favourites, because this first album promises a sparkling future for these heavy metal missionaries. The only small reservation: the sound, which would have gained enormously had it been much heavier: above all for the drums, which do not have a big enough sound to impress, and to show off Errol's talents. Of course, with this first album, LIGHTFORCE probably had a far smaller budget than that of BRIDE or SAINT... That said, I am convinced that PURE METAL can invest more in LIGHTFORCE in the future. As for you, the true hardened metalvores, "Mystical Thieves" is addressed to you: LIGHTFORCE is a safe bet, for the future of the Christian metal scene. Last point (but not the least): LIGHTFORCE's lyrics are excellent. LIGHTFORCE is one of those Christian bands whose lyrics are hyper direct, intelligent, (far from the "Jesus Rocks" clichés), and steeped in the love of God for the hard rockers. LIGHTFORCE offers the best lyrics on the Christian hard scene alongside VENGEANCE, ETERNAL RYTE, SACRED WARRIOR, JERUSALEM, and a few others... So LIGHTFORCE... Not to be missed on any pretext!!
Other coverage for this album
Dead Zine 2002Reviewed by NecRoSarXI know, I was just about as surprised as anyone when I ran across this album. Light Force is hard to find, especially when we're talking the original released format back in the late 1980s on the Pure Metal label. Light Force was, just as a matter of a quick review, the classic metal band Steve Rowe of Mortification fame was in. My take on Light Force is something of a second-rate Barren Cross as…Heaven's Metal #19Reviewed by Doug Van PeltThis band is being promoted as a speed metal band. While they may be a speed metal band, they're not as intense or fierce as Vengeance, Deliverance or Believer. The vocals and looseness of the chops rate most of these tunes as garage speed metal. Light Force is not lame, though. Most thrashers will like it, they just won't be blown away by it. There's some nice bass chops that solo all through…Similar sounding releases
1991TourniquetPsycho Surgery
1999Steel ProphetDark HallucinationsFinal ChapterIt Is Written
2003MortificationPower, Pain & Passion
2000BelicaLooking for the Light
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