Year : 1988 (Roxx Records Edition 2018)
Style : Christian Heavy Metal , Hard Rock , Female vocals
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + front
Size : 73 mb
Bio:
Angelic Force is Christian Heavy Metal / Hard Rock band from Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States.Angelic Force started in 1986 and released their first full length album (cassette only) titled ‘Soldiers of the Cross’ which was a very limited pressing. In 1989 the band would record one more two song demo that was never released and then the band would call it a day as Robert went on to form Ultimatum.Active from 1986-1989.Angelic Force was a band that was one of the many metal bands from that era that fell through the cracks and went largely unnoticed outside of regional fandom.I should note the obligatory fact that the band was a springboard for future Ultimatum band members Robert Gutierrez, Steve Trujillo and Joey Anaya. Also, I should point out that many of the band’s members were still in high school when the band was active.Soldiers Of The Cross was the band’s independently-released studio album, only on cassette, back in 1988. Thirty years later, this was given the remaster/re-release treatment onto CD through Roxx Records, which included the two-song demo as bonus material.
Album:
Another long lost Christian Metal GEM! Please welcome to the Roxx Records fold ANGELIC FORCE featuring Stacy Carrera (Blue IV) and Robert Gutierrez (Ultimatum). That’s right straight up power metal from this New Mexico based Christian Metal band (pre Ultimatum). This project has NEVER been available on CD and is going to be limited to a one time pressing of only 300 copies.Despite the fact it included as part of its line up guitarist Robert Gutierrez, whom many will recognize for his work in Albuquerque, New Mexico based thrash act Ultimatum, Angelic Force went largely unnoticed and to this day has fallen beneath the radar of the hard music community. With New Mexico also as its home base, Angelic Force came together in the mid-eighties in joining a host of other ‘white metal’ bands that followed on the heels of the commercial success of Stryper. Some signed (Angelica, Guardian, Whitecross) and some unsigned (Soldier, Crossforce, Taker), but not quite matching the popularity and acclaim of the yellow and black decked out Orange County, California four piece either way.Whereas Angelic Force falls within the latter (unsigned) category, it remained productive in recording a pair of obscure custom cassette releases, beginning in 1988 with 8-song full length offering Soldiers Of The Cross but also including a 2-song demo from the following year. Obscure being the key word in that I had previously never heard of Angelic Force despite keeping my ears closely in tune with the eighties Christian metal scene, noting how (far as I can tell) neither of the groups releases were reviewed in two of the leading ‘zines from back in the day, Heaven’s Metal and White Throne. Good news, however, is that both Soldiers Of The Cross and the two song demo were re-mastered and re-released by Roxx Records in the spring of 2018 with revised cover art and an 8-page booklet exclusive to band photos and liner notes from Robert Gutierrez and vocalist Stacy Carrera.Where Angelic Force breaks from the mold of its previously referenced contemporaries is musical direction, in that instead of a bearing mostly in line with the melodic metal popular at the time, it draws upon a basis of straightforward heavy metal with leanings towards the power and progressive side of things. Carrera had the right idea when in the liner notes she described the Angelic Force sound as ‘just north of Iron Maiden’. In terms of specifics, Carrera brings a fiery vocal style not that far removed form Nancy Jo Mann of Barnabas. No, I am not inviting comparison, but if into Barnabas, particularly its final three albums, Approaching Light (1984), Feel The Fire (1985) and Little Foxes (1986), then I can see Angelic Force being of strong interest.Before moving on to the track by track, it deserves note that some thinness is to be expected production wise, but when factoring Soldiers Of The Cross and the demo are self-financed released recorded using late-eighties technology, they sound quite good, which is credit to the re-mastering of Rob Colwell at Bombworks Sound. In other words, these are NOT a bunch of cheaply recorded garage demos muddy to the point of being unlistenable.The Roxx Records re-issue begins to the eight songs off Soldiers Of The Cross, of which the first two in my opinion are the best. Angelic Force reveals its progressive side on albums six-minute opening title track, which begins to eerie keyboards and militant drums before doom-like riffs crush in. Moving forward, “Soldiers Of The Cross” plays a more assuming role with technical drum rolls and fills and anthem-like guitars standing alongside a catchy ‘so call on the name of Jesus, all you soldiers of the cross’ refrain. Bristling guitar leads carry the final instrumental minute.Soldiers Of The Cross proves solid musically when factoring the Angelic Force youth at the time, noting how several of its members were still in high school at the time it was recorded. Band turnover, nevertheless, reared its head in that a completely different line up recorded the two-song demo, with Guiterrez and Carrera being the holdovers between both releases. That said, the Angelic Force material reflects its musical maturity at the time regardless of age. Which begs the following question: why wasn’t Angelic Force signed? It is a shame one of the better labels of the time such as Intense or Pure Metal did not pick the group up in that it exhibited significant potential I see fulfilled if given opportunity to record multiple full-length albums. This brings us back to the Roxx Records re-issue in which I give a strong recommendation as a long lost and overlooked gem making out of print material available for the for time in literally decades.
Line-Up:
Musicians - Soldiers Of The Cross:
Stacy Carrera - Vocals - See also: ex-Blue IV
Robert Guiterrez - Guitars - See also: ex-Ultimatum, ex-Saint (live), ex-Holy Sacrifice, ex-King's Knight
Joe Whitford - Guitars
Rory McManus - Bass
Joseph Olona - Drums
Musicians - Two-song demo:
Stacy Carrera - Vocals
Robert Guiterrez - Guitars
Steve Trujillo - Guitars - See also: ex-Ultimatum, ex-Holy Sacrifice
Jud Wilhite - Bass
Rick Campbell - Drums
Tracklist:
01. Soldiers Of The Cross
02. Children Of The Night
03. Runaway
04. One More Change
05. In His Name
06. Jaime
07. Real Love
08. I Am
09. The Power (1988 Demo) (Bonus Track)
10. All I Need (1988 Demo) (Bonus Track)
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