''Win Hands Down'' is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band

Armored Saint 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 on bass, Jeff Duncan on guitar and the Sandoval brothers (Gonzo and Phil) on ...

. It was released on June 2, 2015.AllMusic
/ref> The vocals were recorded at Bridge Recording in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, guitars and bass were recorded at Travis Dickerson Studios in Chatsworth and drums were recorded at Clearlake Audio in

Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...

. Two videos have been released for the album: the title track and the song "An Exercise in Debauchery". The band toured extensively in summer 2015 with

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 ...

in support of the album.

Critical reception

''Metal.de'' rated the album 9 out of 10 points. Marek Protzak wrote, there was "no other band at the moment" who played "classical metal in such an inspired and versed manner".Armored Saint - Win Hands Down
metal.de, in German German ''

Rock Hard Rock Hard may refer to: * "Rock Hard" (song), a 1984 song by the Beastie Boys * ''Rock Hard'', a 1980 album by Suzi Quatro * ''Rock Hard'' (magazine), a German music magazine ** Rock Hard Festival, a heavy metal festival sponsored by the above maga ...

'' magazine editors voted ''Win Hands Down'' as "Album of the Month". Editor-in-chief Boris Kaiser called Armored Saint "one of the most underrated bands in US Metal" and compared the album to 1991's '' Symbol of Salvation''. He rated it 8.5 of 10.Armored Saint - Win Hands Down
rockhard.de, in German

Commercial performance

The album sold double the number of copies as the previous album ''

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''.ARMORED SAINT – Win Hands Down Debuts On Billboard Chart
bravewords.com, 10 June 2015

Track listing

Personnel

;Band Members * John Bush – lead vocals * Phil Sandoval – guitar * Jeff Duncan – guitar *

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 ...

– bass, backing vocals * Gonzo Sandoval – drums ;Additional musician *

Pearl Aday Pearl Aday (born 1975) is an American singer. She is the adopted daughter of vocalist Marvin Lee Aday, better known as Meat Loaf, and was a member of his touring band Neverland Express for nine years starting in the mid-1990s. She has appeared ...

– guest vocals on "With a Full Head of Steam" ;Production *Joey Vera – production, engineering *Jay Ruston – drum engineering, mixing *Josh Newall – drum engineering

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2015 albums Armored Saint albums Metal Blade Records albums