I’ve been on a big Saviours kick after seeing them open up for Saint Vitus and bowl the crowd over with a great live set. As I said in a previous post, they are one of the better American heavy bands I’ve heard in quite some time. The sound is very much rooted in old school NWOBHM, but played with the delivery of Slayer or High on Fire. Recently the band put out a trio of limited-edition 7″ singles that feature demo tracks for their new album, Accelerated Living. But unlike the album tracks, these are rawer, unpolished versions and in many ways closer to band’s live sound. Even better, two of the singles contain high energy covers of two classic heavy metal tracks — Judas Priest’s “Running Wild” and Saxon’s “Fire in the Sky.” All the singles feature original black and white line art from from artist Tim Lehi and white or grey vinyl. In addition, each one came with a ‘extra’ — either a patch (which now is attached to my messenger bag), sticker, or a lurid hand-drown comic which was photo-copied on red paper (it’s the little touches that matter). Even though only 500 copies of each single were issued, I was lucky enough to get my hands on a set thanks to the good folks at Vintage Vinyl in New Jersey. All three have been on heavy rotation ever since.
Click on the images below to get a closer look at the singles.
F.G.T. b/w Running Wild
Burnin’ Cross b/w Fire in the Sky
Acid Hand b/w Slave to the Hex
