ARMORED SAINT Release Eighth Studio Album ‘Punching The Sky’ (October 23rd, 2020)

ARMORED SAINT Release Eighth Studio Album ‘Punching The Sky’
October 23rd, 2020

Los Angeles, California-based heavy metal band Armored Saint issued eighth full-length studio album Punching The Sky on October 23rd, 2020 through Metal Blade Records.

The outing can be streamed in its entirety via YouTube below.

“The goal is to write really good music. I know I’m stating the obvious here but that’s about the size of our agenda,” said bassist Joey Vera. “We’ve been able to shed a lot of expectations that sometimes plague a band like ours that has been around a long time, and we’ve recently moved into a comfort zone with just being ourselves. We have this kind of freedom now that we didn’t really have early in our career, and we can take some chances and make the kind of music that we want to hear. This record is a reflection of where we are at, right now.”

“When you’re a band that began four decades ago, you really have to push yourself harder than ever when it comes to making a new record,” stated vocalist John Bush. “The last thing you ever want is for it to appear as though you were going through the motions or that you’re just putting a product out to do some touring. The records are immortal. They’ll be here long after us. Every one needs to count in its own individual way.”

With Joey Vera acting as producer, he recruited the same engineering team that worked on Win Hands Down [2015] with drums recorded by Josh Newell at El Dorado Studios in Burbank, California, guitars tracked by Bill Metoyer at Skullseven studios in North Hollywood, California, and vocals, bass and additional recordings by the bassist at his studio.

“I like working with people that I trust and have a good personal rapport with,” revealed Vera. “That same reason is why I hired Jay Ruston to mix the record. It’s important to be able to work with people who understand what the end goal is. At the end of the mixing stage, I always have a hard time walking away from the project we’ve been working on for so long. It’s hard to let it go. The end result is good though. Everyone played and sang their asses off and it shows.”

The track listing is as follows:

01. ‘Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants’
02. ‘End Of The Attention Span’
03. ‘Bubble’
04. ‘My Jurisdiction’
05. ‘Do Wrong To None’
06. ‘Lone Wolf’
07. ‘Missile To Gun’
08. ‘Fly In The Ointment’
09. ‘Bark, No Bite’
10. ‘Unfair’
11. ‘Never You Fret’

Armored Saint’s line-up is as follows:

John Bush (vocals)
Phil Sandoval (guitar)
Jeff Duncan (guitar)
Joey Vera (bass)
Gonzo Sandoval (drums)

Music videos were filmed for the tracks ‘End Of The Attention Span’, ‘Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants’, ‘Missile To Gun’, ‘Never You Fret’ and ‘Lone Wolf’. All five clips can also be viewed below.

Seventh studio record Win Hands Down was released in May 2015 via Metal Blade.

Promotional photograph by Travis Shinn.