Armored Saint is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1982. Since 1990, the band has consisted of John Bush on lead vocals,

Joey Vera Joey Vera (born April 24, 1963) is an American bassist who is known as a member of the heavy metal band Armored Saint and progressive metal band Fates Warning. During 2004 and early 2005, he toured with Anthrax as a fill-in for Frank Bello, w ...

on bass, Jeff Duncan on guitar and the Sandoval brothers (Gonzo and Phil) on drums and guitar, respectively. Of the current lineup, Bush and Vera are the two constant members. To date, the band has released eight studio albums, one EP, two live albums and one compilation album. As one of the leaders of the Los Angeles heavy metal scene, Armored Saint achieved moderate success during the 1980s with their 1983 self-titled EP and first three studio albums: ''

March of the Saint ''March of the Saint'' is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Armored Saint. It was released in 1984 by Chrysalis Records and recorded with producer Michael James Jackson who previously worked for Kiss. The debut album yielded ...

'' (1984), '' Delirious Nomad'' (1985) and '' Raising Fear'' (1987).Armored Saint - chart history
billboard.com Prior to the release of their fourth studio album '' Symbol of Salvation'' (1991), the band was plagued by extended inactivity, due to record company issues and the death of their original guitarist Dave Prichard, who died of leukemia in 1990. Armored Saint eventually broke up when Bush joined

Anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis'' or ''Bacillus cereus'' biovar ''anthracis''. Infection typically occurs by contact with the skin, inhalation, or intestinal absorption. Symptom onset occurs between one ...

in 1992 to replace

Joey Belladonna Joey Belladonna (born Joseph Bellardini; October 13, 1960) is an American singer, best known as the vocalist for thrash metal music, thrash metal band Anthrax (American band), Anthrax. He is also the vocalist and drummer of the cover band Chief ...

, but reunited in 1999, and has continued to tour and record since then.

History

Early career (1982–1989)

Armored Saint was formed in 1982 by brothers Felipe "Phil" Sandoval (guitar) and Gonzalo "Gonzo" Sandoval (drums), from

Woodrow Wilson High School (Los Angeles) Woodrow Wilson High School is a Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) high school in the Northeast region of Los Angeles, California, United States.Landsberg, Mitchell." ''Los Angeles Times''. January 10, 2010. Retrieved on September 8, 2011 ...

, along with guitarist Dave Prichard (from nearby

South Pasadena High School South Pasadena High School (SPHS or "South Pas") is the one public high school serving grades 9–12 in the city of South Pasadena, California. With the South Pasadena Middle School and three elementary schools (Arroyo Vista, Marengo, and Montere ...

), singer John Bush, and bassist

, also Woodrow Wilson High School alumni. (Phil, Gonzo, John and Joey had originally played together during high school in a short lived rock band called "Royal Decree"); Gonzo Sandoval claims to have conceived the band name "Armored Saint", after watching the movie ''

Excalibur Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur that may possess magical powers or be associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Its first reliably datable appearance is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. E ...

'' at a local movie theater parking lot in

Monterey Park, California Monterey Park is a city in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately east of the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. It is bordered by Alhambra, California, Alhambra, East Los Angeles, ...

. In 1983 John Bush was invited by drummer

Lars Ulrich Lars Ulrich (; ; born 26 December 1963) is a Danish musician who is the drummer and a founding member of American heavy metal band Metallica. Along with James Hetfield, Ulrich has songwriting credits on almost all of the band's songs, and the ...

to audition as singer for

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

following the release of their debut album, ''

Kill 'Em All ''Kill 'Em All'' is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 25, 1983, through the independent label Megaforce Records. After forming in 1981, Metallica began by playing shows in local clubs in Los A ...

'', as frontman

James Hetfield James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, co-founder, and a primary songwriter of heavy metal band Metallica. He is mainly known for his raspy voice and intricate rhythm playi ...

was not confident in his own singing abilities and wanted to focus on playing guitar. However, Bush turned down the offer as he wanted to remain in Armored Saint. Armored Saint recorded a five-song demo that landed the song "Lesson Well Learned" on the compilation album ''

Metal Massacre II ''Metal Massacre'' is a series of compilation albums released through Metal Blade Records. It is famous for "shedding light" on heavy metal and extreme metal bands such as The Obsessed, Trouble, Overkill, Metal Church, Metallica, Slayer, Virgi ...

''. Three of these demo songs were then used for the band's self-titled EP on

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records (often shortened to Metal Blade) is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982 based in the U.S. state of California. The label primarily focuses on heavy metal. History Metal Blade Records was ...

in 1983. The group then signed with

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British independent record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ell ...

in 1984. Armored Saint released their debut album ''

'' in 1984. The debut album yielded a minor

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

hit with "Can U Deliver?". During the recording of their second album, '' Delirious Nomad'', guitarist Phil Sandoval left the group. Their third album, '' Raising Fear'', was recorded by the remaining four members. In 1986 during the recording sessions for the album, Metallica contacted Joey Vera to replace bassist

Cliff Burton Clifford Lee Burton (February 10, 1962 – September 27, 1986) was an American musician who served as the bassist for the thrash metal band Metallica from 1982 until his death in 1986. He is renowned for his musicianship and influence. Burton ...

after his untimely death. Vera turned down this offer as he wanted to stay in Armored Saint, and Burton was eventually replaced by

Jason Newsted Jason Curtis Newsted (born March 4, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the bassist of heavy metal band Metallica from 1986 to 2001. He performed with thrash metal band Flotsam and Jetsam for the first five years of his career before ...

Flotsam and Jetsam In maritime law, flotsam'','' jetsam'','' lagan'','' and derelict are terms for various types of property lost or abandoned at sea. The words have specific nautical meanings, with legal consequences in the law of admiralty and marine salvage. A ...

. Throughout the 1980s, Armored Saint toured, or played selected shows, with many acts such as

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1978. The group were originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their ow ...

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He goes by several nicknames, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent initially gained fame as the le ...

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

Ratt Ratt (stylized as RATT) was an American glam metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum and multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA. ...

Testament A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true. In law it usually means last will and testament. Testament or The Testament can also refer to: Books * ''Testament'' (comic book), a 2005 comic book * ''Testament'', a thriller no ...

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

, W.A.S.P., Dio, Accept,

Fates Warning Fates Warning is an American progressive metal band, formed in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1982 by vocalist John Arch, guitarists Jim Matheos and Victor Arduini, bassist Joe DiBiase, and drummer Steve Zimmerman. There have been numerous lineup ch ...

, Y&T,

Grim Reaper The Grim Reaper is a popular personification of death in Western culture in the form of a hooded skeletal figure wearing a black robe and carrying a scythe.Malice,

King Diamond Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto s ...

Great White Great White is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The band is named after both the shark with the same name, and guitarist Mark Kendall's former stage nickname. In August 2008, Great White estimated they had sold aroun ...

Stryper Stryper is an American Christian metal and heavy metal music, heavy metal band from La Mirada, California. The group's lineup consists of Michael Sweet (lead vocals, guitar), Oz Fox (guitar), Perry Richardson (bass), and Robert Sweet (musician), ...

Leatherwolf Leatherwolf is an American heavy metal band formed in Huntington Beach, California in 1981. They split up in 1992, but reunited in 1999. The group is also nicknamed the "Triple Axe Attack" for pioneering the use of a 3-guitar lineup in heavy m ...

, Lizzy Borden,

Savatage Savatage () is an American heavy metal band founded by brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1979 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The band was first called Avatar, but, shortly before the release of their debut album '' Sirens'' (1983), they changed t ...

Helloween Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool. The band has at times been called one of the most influential European heavy metal bands of the 1980s. Its first ...

and Danzig. By the end of the decade, however, the band was unhappy with their lack of success on the

Chrysalis A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages the ...

label, and returned to

Metal Blade Metal Blade Records (often shortened to Metal Blade) is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982 based in the U.S. state of California. The label primarily focuses on heavy metal. History Metal Blade Records was ...

. Soon after the release of their first live album '' Saints Will Conquer'' and a short-lived lineup that included Alan Barlam (then-guitarist for Hellion), Armored Saint added Jeff Duncan, formerly of the L.A. club band Odin, as guitarist, while Gonzo Sandoval briefly left the band and was replaced by Eddie Livingston.

Death of Dave Prichard, ''Symbol of Salvation'' and split (1989–1998)

In 1989, while writing and recording rough four-track demos for their next studio album, guitarist Dave Prichard was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

. Prichard succumbed to the disease on February 27, 1990, shortly before the recording sessions of '' Symbol of Salvation'' began. After a brief hiatus, the Sandoval brothers returned to the band and Phil resumed guitar duties to replace Prichard. ''Symbol of Salvation'' was released in 1991 to widespread critical success. It featured two hits "Reign of Fire" and "Last Train Home". The album was dedicated to the spirit and memory of Dave Prichard, whose solo on the demo recording of the song "Tainted Past" was painstakingly and carefully transferred and used on the album. The tour for ''Symbol of Salvation'' was successful; they opened for

Suicidal Tendencies Suicidal Tendencies is an American crossover thrash band formed in 1980 in Venice, California, by vocalist Mike Muir. The band has undergone various lineup changes, with Muir as the only remaining original member. Their current lineup includes ...

on their '' Lights...Camera...Revolution!'' tour and

on their ''

Streets Streets is the plural of street, a type of road. Streets or The Streets may also refer to: Music * Streets (band), a rock band fronted by Kansas vocalist Steve Walsh * ''Streets'' (punk album), a 1977 compilation album of various early UK punk ba ...

'' tour. They also toured with the

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

Wrathchild America Wrathchild America was an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Martinsburg, West Virginia, in 1978. Before settling on the Wrathchild America name in 1988, the band had performed under the names Atlantis, Tyrant, and Wrathchi ...

Sepultura Sepultura (, "grave")Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 17. is a Brazilian heavy metal band formed in Belo Horizonte in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera.Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 16. They were a major force in the groove metal, thrash met ...

and

Overkill Overkill may refer to: * Overkill (term), the use of excessive force or action to achieve a goal * Surplus killing, when a predator kills more prey than it can eat * Overexploitation, depletion of a natural resource through overharvesting ** Over ...

. In 1992, the band contributed the song "Hanging Judge" to the '' Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth'' soundtrack, as well as made a brief appearance in the film. Several months later, John Bush was offered the position of lead vocalist in the

thrash Thrash may refer to: *Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work *Thrash (surname) * Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers *''Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video game ...

band

. Unsure of Armored Saint's future, Bush accepted the job. The Sandoval brothers attempted to audition new members to create a new chapter, yet after many failed attempts, Armored Saint was officially disbanded. After Armored Saint disbanded, Joey Vera kept busy playing with such bands as

, Lizzy Borden and

Chroma Key Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a Visual effects, visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two or more images or video streams together based on colour hues (colorfulness, chroma range). The techniq ...

. He released a solo album in 1994 and started a successful second career as a producer and engineer. The Sandoval brothers formed Life After Death. Life after Death released a self entitled record on the now defunct John Sutherland record label Indivision, and released the record on the now-defunct European label Rising Sun, and Jeff Duncan formed DC4 with brothers Shawn and Matt, and former Dio guitarist

Rowan Robertson Rowan Wingate Robertson (born 22 November 1971) is an English rock guitarist who currently performs in the Las Vegas production show '' Raiding the Rock Vault'' and plays for Bang Tango. He also plays for DC4. Robertson also played guitar for ...

Reunion (1999–present)

In 1999, with Anthrax on temporary hiatus, John Bush and Joey Vera decided to reform Armored Saint. The entire ''Symbol of Salvation'' lineup returned to the studio, and in 2000 the album ''

Revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

'' was released. It included the band's first song with Spanish lyrics, Written by Gonzo Sandoval & John Bush "No Me Digas". A small club tour opening for Dio and Lynch Mob followed. The following year, the band released '' Nod to the Old School'', a collection of rarities, demos and outtakes (many from the Prichard years), plus a few new tracks. Soon after, John Bush returned to the studio with Anthrax, and Armored Saint was once again placed on indefinite hiatus. In 2004, Vera rejoined Bush in Anthrax on a temporary basis, filling in for bassist

Frank Bello Frank Bello (born July 9, 1965) is an American musician who plays bass for the thrash metal band Anthrax. He was also a member of Helmet from 2004 to 2005 and has been the touring bassist of Norwegian black metal band Satyricon since 2024. Earl ...

. Early in 2005, Anthrax's

Scott Ian Scott Ian (born Scott Ian Rosenfeld, December 31, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist, lyricist and co-founder of the thrash metal band Anthrax (American band), Anthrax, of which he is the sole continuous member. Ia ...

announced that their classic ''

Among the Living ''Among the Living'' is the third studio album by American heavy metal music, heavy metal band Anthrax (American band), Anthrax. It was released on March 16, 1987, by Megaforce Records in the US and by Island Records in the rest of the world. T ...

''-era lineup was reforming, leaving the membership of Bush and Vera in question. Bush stated his involvement with Anthrax was over. This move gave hope to many that Armored Saint would once again record. A one-off show with the ''Revelation'' lineup took place in 2005, and in 2006 the band embarked on a new tour. As part of their 20th anniversary, Metal Blade released a three-CD special edition of '' Symbol of Salvation'' in 2003. This contains the original CD, a second CD of demos of the songs plus the first part of an interview of the band members by Metal Blade founder

Brian Slagel Brian Slagel (born February 14, 1961) is an American music executive. He is the founder and CEO of the independent record label Metal Blade Records. Slagel is known for having initiated the '' Metal Massacre'' series of compilation albums in 198 ...

. The third CD contains the second half of that interview. Also reissued was the band's long out of print live video ''A Trip Thru Red Times''. The band released their sixth album titled ''

La Raza In Mexico, the Spanish expression ('the people'; literally: 'the race') has historically been used to refer to the mixed-race populations (primarily though not always exclusively in the Western Hemisphere), considered as an ethnic or racia ...

'' on March 16, 2010. On December 7, 2011, the band was invited to play one of four shows at the 30th anniversary of Metallica. The show took place in San Francisco, California. On February 11, 2013, Vera officially announced via

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

and

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that the band had begun working on their seventh studio album. The album, titled '' Win Hands Down'', was released on June 2, 2015. ''Win Hands Down'' debuted at number 183 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. The album sold double what their previous effort, ''La Raza'', sold upon its release in 2010. The album also reached number 33 on the German Top 100 albums charts. On February 24, 2017, Armored Saint released their first live album in 29 years, ''Carpe Noctum''. Armored Saint performing at Hard Rock Festival 2018 in Germany When asked in March 2017 about the follow-up to ''Win Hands Down'', Bush stated, "We haven't really collectively started working on anything. Sure, all the guys are accumulating some stuff in their minds. I have a lot of lyrical ideas written down, but we haven't started writing any songs yet. Armored Saint, sometimes, we don't move at the quickest pace. I think it would be a good idea if we wanted to make a new record to move on it a little quicker. I've said numerous times I'd rather have the quality of the material than feeling pressured to put out something in a certain amount of time be the primary motivation for it. That being said, we're no spring chickens, I ain't going to lie. Trying to wait ten years, five years for a new record, it's probably a little bit too long. If we do make a new record and if we can try to make the material be as high quality as ''Win Hands Down'', then it would be cool to be able to get something out sooner than later. That being said, we haven't worked on anything yet." On May 23, 2019, Armored Saint announced on their

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

page that they had begun writing and demoing songs for their eighth studio album. The band began recording the album that December and completed mixing it in April of the following year for a late 2020 release. The resulting album, titled '' Punching the Sky'', was released on October 23, 2020. ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions published by different companies available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' featu ...

'' named it the 33rd-best metal album of 2020. In October 2020, Armored Saint released a teaser trailer to their documentary "Armored Saint: The Movie" which includes appearances from such as

from Metallica and

from

. In a July 2023 interview, Bush confirmed that he and Vera had "started writing some songs a little bit" for the next Armored Saint album. The band began entered "undisclosed location" in January 2024 to record their cover version of

People! People! was an American one-hit wonder rock band that was formed in San Jose, California in 1965. Their greatest chart success came with their summer hit single "I Love You". The song, written by The Zombies bass guitarist Chris White, rose ...

's "One Chain (Don't Make No Prison)", which was released as a one-off single that June. In April 2025, Armored Saint announced plans to enter the studio in May to begin recording their ninth album for a spring 2026 release.

Band members

Current members * John Bush – lead vocals (1982–present) *Gonzo Sandoval – drums, backing vocals (1982–1989, 1990–present) *Phil Sandoval – guitars (1982–1985, 1990–present) *

– bass, backing vocals (1982–present) * Jeff Duncan – guitars, backing vocals (1989–present) Former members *Mike Zaputil – bass (1982) *Mike Williams – bass (1982) *Dave Prichard – guitars, backing vocals (1982–1990; his death) *Eddie Livingston – drums (1989–1990) *Alan Barlam – guitars (1989) Timeline

Discography

Albums

All studio albums listed, unless otherwise noted.

Other appearances

Videos/DVDs

References

External links

Official website
* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1982 Musical groups disestablished in 1992 Musical groups reestablished in 1999 Musical groups disestablished in 2003 Musical groups reestablished in 2008 Heavy metal musical groups from California Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical quintets from California 1982 establishments in California Chrysalis Records artists Metal Blade Records artists