Bloodgood - "Dangerously Close"

Bloodgood - Dangerously Close 
2013, Independent

1. Lamb of God
2. Run Away
3. Child on Earth
4. I Will
5. Bread Alone
6. Pray
7. I Can Hold On
8. Run the Race
9. Father Father
10. Man in the Middle
11. Crush Me
12. In the Trenches

Bloodgood is back! Dangerously Close has been out for awhile now so a lot of people have already reviewed it. Everything you may have heard about this album is true. The band has not lost any of the passion or talent in the twenty-some odd years since All Stand Together. Vocalist Les Carlson's vocals are surprisingly good. Usually older singers just can't belt it out like they used to. Not Les, though. While his voice has aged a bit it's in a good way. He sounds more seasoned and wise and can still hit the high notes when it counts. Also, Michael Bloodgood's bass playing is more upfront than just about any Bloodgood record I've ever heard ("I Can Hold On" being the primary example). He's got a great melodic style and I'm glad it's featured more prominently as some of the old albums barely have any bass to speak of. It's also nice to hear some good old-fashioned Jesus metal lyrics. It seems like I haven't heard straight-up Christian lyrics in forever. My only complaint is that the album closer, "In the Trenches" seems to end prematurely - like they ran out of tape or something. The vocal line doesn't resolve itself like you'd expect and the album just sort of... ends.

Useless Fact: Dangerously Close was another Kickstarter funded release. Kickstarter seems to be the place to go for old Christian bands to record new albums.

Bloodgood - "Bloodgood"

Bloodgood - Bloodgood

1986/2010, Intense Millennium

1. Accept the Lamb

2. Stand in the Light

3. Demon on the Run

4. Anguish and Pain

5. Awake

6. Soldier of Peace

7. You Lose

8. What's Following the Grave

9. Killing the Beast

10. Black Snake

Bonus Track

11. Awake (alternate mix)

12. Black Snake (extended version)

How the heck did I ever miss this the first time? HOW?! Oh wait... I remember, I was seven. Thankfully great music doesn't die so I am able to hear Bloodgood's debut album with virgin ears. Every time I listen to a Bloodgood disc I just sit back and marvel at just how good it is. How much passion there is in these songs. You'll notice I use the word "passion" when describing Bloodgood a lot. It's here in spades. You should have this in your collection - not just because it's a piece of Christian metal history, but because you'll have a blast listening to it. Great songs, great hooks... great album!

The cover art on this release is actually pretty decent. Of course, I still have the old one displayed because I'm a crotchety old man and that's how I roll.

I would also like to say that this is my 400th post! Thank you to all who have visited!

Useless Fact: According to the liner notes vocalist Les Carlson actually auditioned for Bloodgood some time before actually joining the band and nothing came of it until he met up with the rest of the band a little later.

Bloodgood - "Detonation"

Bloodgood - Detonation

1987/2010, Intense Millennium

1. Battle of the Flesh

2. Vagrant People

3. Self-Destruction

4. Alone in Suicide

5. Heartbeat (of the City)

6. Eat the Flesh

7. Holy Fire

8. Crucify

9. The Messiah

10. Live Wire

Bonus Tracks

11. Crucify (live)

12. The Messiah (live)

In my original review of this album I lamented the fact that I was distressingly late to the Bloodgood party. I downloaded it just to check them out - turns out they're awesome. Turns out Detonation is a metal classic and I was a moron.... A MORON for not having this in my collection. Now I am proud to say I have a shiny new Detonation in my collection, special thanks to Intense Millennium. The remastering is superb and does help the album sound a bit better even though I don't think it was recorded properly in the first place. Every song it just a pleasure to hear. If you're a fan of Christian metal go to Divine Metal Distro and buy a copy. Don't download it - you don't need to. You will be pleased. Just trust me.

I am thankfully that this disc's artwork is much better and befitting what one would expect for a reissue of this magnitude. The liner notes are clear and easy to read and there's new artwork as well. I'm not a big fan of it but the original artwork is sharply recreated so you can use that if you want to (I know I do). If this is indicative of the quality of future Intense Millennium albums then the future looks bright indeed.

Quick tip - if you import the CD using Itunes it will mark "Self-Destruction" as "Alone in Suicide" giving you two "Alone in Suicides." It's the correct song, just the incorrect name. Be sure to change it before importing.

Useless Fact: According to the liner notes vocalist Les Carlson was in a production of the musical Hair. Isn't that the one where everyone gets naked at the end? Eww. I'm sure Mr. Carlson was not in that scene.

Bloodgood - "Out of the Darkness"

Bloodgood - Out of the Darkness
1989, Intense

1. Out of the Darkness
2. Let My People Go
3. America
4. It's Alright
5. Top of the Mountain
6. Hey You!
7. Mad Dog World
8. Changing Me
9. New Age Illusion

Okay I like "Out of the Darkness" and "Top of the Mountain" but the rest of the album, so far, has been kind of forgettable. That's not to say that it's not good... it's a bit more metal than Rock in a Hard Place but I don't know... nothing really jumps out and grabs me like on Detonation. I'll probably give it a few more spins but right now I think I was right to pick Bride's Silence is Madness over this one all those years ago.

Useless Fact: After this disc the band put out two live CDs that had videos with them. I got to watch one a long time ago. It was okay... would have been better if I'd been familiar with the band's catalog.

Bloodgood - "Rock in a Hard Place"

Bloodgood - Rock in a Hard Place
1988, Frontline

1. Shakin' It
2. Never Be the Same
3. The Presence
4. What Have I Done
5. Heaven on Earth
6. Do or Die
7. She's Gone
8. The World (Keeps Movin' Around)
9. Seven

Remember back in the day when bands could get away with nine good quality songs on an album? These days you absolutely HAVE to have twelve or more and half of those are filler. Old man ranting aside, Rock in a Hard Place is another great hard rock/metal platter from Bloodgood. I think it's slightly more on the commercial tip than the last one. There's lots of acoustic mixed in with the razor sharp guitars, but the songs are awesome. Just the quality of the musicianship alone makes this a pleasure to listen to.

Useless Fact: A new record company, Intense Millennium, is going to be rereleasing a lot of the old Frontline/Intense catalog. This means a lot of Bloodgood is now going to be available for purchase at reasonable prices. I guess it's time for me to crack open my wallet!

Bloodgood - "Detonation"

Bloodgood - Detonation
1987, Frontline

1. Battle of the Flesh
2. Vagrant People
3. Self Destruction
4. Alone in Suicide
5. Heartbeat (of the City)
6. Eat the Flesh
7. Holy Fire
8. Crucify
9. Messiah
10. Live Wire

So there I stood. A young fifth grader with two tapes in my hands. One was Bride's Silence is Madness. The other was Bloodgood's Out of the Darkness. I could only get one. Trying to pick one tape to get out of many was probably the best feeling I'd ever had up until that point. Agonizing, yes, but awesome because there was SO MUCH cool music out there. I said all that to say this - I picked Bride and somehow Bloodgood got lost by the wayside and I never got into them. My experience with Detonation is coming twenty years late. Sad, I know. Have to say though, I think the record holds up pretty well. The thin production cannot hide the passion that these guys must have had back in the day. The music hits hard as well as the lyrics. Bloodgood has a flair for the theatrical which is evident in "Eat the Flesh" but even more apparent in the two-song cycle "Crucify" and "Messiah." These are simply amazing tunes. Such emotion! I think the band got some crap for "Alone in Suicide" even though it's very obviously against suicide. I should also mention that the cover art rocks. I can see now why people have such respect for this band.

Useless Fact: Okay this is very much a "non fact" but Bloodgood put out two live album/videos. True to the theatrical nature of the songs there were a lot of cool costumes, actors, etc. They haven't made anything brand new since 1991's All Stand Together.