Country: United States
Genre: Traditional Heavy Metal / Heavy Rock
Release: May 22, 2026.
For fans of: Metal Church; Anthrax (John Bush era); Voivod
My relationship with Armored Saint is a bit strange. They’re one of the many bands whose everything I’ve heard, whose news I’ve read, whose new releases I’ve seen, but whose albums I’ve never actually listened to.
To my surprise, the first thing that immediately came to mind was Jonh Bush’s voice – yes, I know that voice quite well from the Anthrax era, which I consider excellent. No, I had no idea at all that he was back with Armored Saint. The second thing that crossed my mind was that I had the impression the band was faster and heavier, that is, closer to American Power Metal. Well, that may have been true in their early years, but with “Emotion Factory Reset” that’s not exactly right. I’d go as far as to say their music is much closer to Anthrax’s “Persistence of Time” era with Jonh Bush. In simple terms, the music here doesn’t have that spontaneity we expect from a Metal band. The album sounds a little “tamed”, if you know what I mean. Spontaneous doesn’t mean raw or low quality. No, no, no, it simply means the band let the music flow in a natural way.
It’s the opening drum beat of “Ladders and Slides” that immediately caught my attention. It’s the kind of flashy drumming that always sets the tone and grabs everyone’s attention. It nods a little to the drum beat of Kiss’s “I Love It Loud“. As you’d expect, the guitars follow the rhythm and the groove, giving the song a distinctive sonic character. The best track on the album, if I may say so. To some extent, “Bottom Feeder” follows the same idea. On the other hand, “Epilogue” fully satisfied my initial sonic idea of the band.
I guess bassist Joey Vera was right when he stated:
Every Armored Saint record, for me, is like a new appearance for the band, a different chapter. I don’t think we’ve ever repeated ourselves. Each album was quite different from the previous one, a snapshot in time. In 2026, Emotion Factory Reset is the point where we are in our minds.
That’s all.
“Emotion Factory Reset” by Armored Saint will be released on May 22 via Metal Blade Records.
Tracklist:
- Close to the Bone
- Every Man-Any Man
- Not On Your Life
- Hit a Moonshot
- Buckeye
- Compromise
- It’s a Buzzkill
- Throwing Caution to the Wind
- Ladders and Slides
- Bottom Feeder
- Epilogue
Watch the official music video for “Hit a Moonshot” here:
Social Links:
- Metal Archives: https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Armored_Saint/Emotion_Factory_Reset/1422029
- Official Website: https://www.armoredsaint.com
