THE CRUCIFIED

THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

Has there ever been a better thrash metal/punk album ever released?

Seriously?

This album is nearly perfect and shows a mature and powerful band at their very best and, unfortunately, at their very end. At their very beginning the band was a speed punk band and the early demos have been released and re-released over the years. They have hit their stride by merging the speed punk style with a progressive thrash metal sound that was just tremendous.

In a way, the band was a who’s who for the genre and each member followed The Crucified with several very successful projects. Guitarist Greg Minier actual released two side projects while the band was still together with Minier and Applehead. The latter barely missed making this list and most likely deserved to be included. Bassist Jeff Bellew would start Chatterbox and later join vocalist Mark Salomon in Stavesacre.

But while together for their too few releases they created and defined a genre. And with TPOH they redefined the genre and became trailblazers and the standard by which every single band within the genre would be judged. Hard, fast, heavy and amazing still able to maintain melody, hook and groove.

Lyrically less evangelical and preachy than the earlier releases with more social commentary and Church indictment themes. The calls to repentance are as self directed as they are toward the lost. This one album more than just about any other from the genre is the one other musicians and band members point to as the inspiration for doing what they do. It’s just that good!

True punk/thrash pioneers, The Crucified, inspired and impacted an entire genre still seen and heard today. Check out the review below from Indie Vision Music & from Jesus Freak Hideout:

So I’m sitting here just browsing over the cd booklet for The Crucified Box Set, listening to the tunes and I am definitely taken back to a different era. It’s so incredible hearing some of these old songs remastered/remixed like all the tunes from “Pillars of Humanity”, the two final tracks from 93′ as well as the demos songs. The Crucified were true originators in both style and substance. There really hasn’t been another “Christian” band like them to come out and their music has definitely stood the test of time. In today’s scene of crybabies and girl haircuts, it’s refreshing to hear classic music like this rocking my stereo. The Crucified weren’t just a “Punk Band” or a “Metal Band”, they were a rock band with a message, and not just any message. The Crucified carried a message of love in Christ mixed in with socio-political lyrics, waving the banner of Truth clearly along each step of their way. These weren’t wimpy girly men with Vneck shirts and neon accessories, these were men not afraid to rock the stage with aggression and swagger that would put today’s youth to shame.

No, I never got a chance to see this band live, sadly. I had a chance in 1995 to see their farewell show with Mxpx, Focused, and others but I missed out for one reason or another. So in all honesty I can’t really comment on what their live show was like or the intensity of the performance. However, just from glancing at liner notes, reading old reviews on the web and hearing word of mouth back when I was in high school, I got the feeling that they were masters of the genre. What genre were Crucified? Well that’s what made this band so great, they didn’t fit one particular genre or style. Their sound progressed so much from the years of 1984 to 1993 when their last recordings were released. They started out with an old school punk rock sound and slowly evolved into a metal-punk hybrid. I guess you could call it thrash metal but it was closer to punk in the earlier years (KGB Demos, Take Up Your Cross/Nailed).

With “Self Titled” that originally was released in 1989, their sound changed further from Old School Punk to that punk-metal hybrid I mentioned above. The songs were fast and heavy (for the time period) and raging with all kinds of adrenaline. It’s like a straight blast to the skull that leaves you bobbing your head for hours. Stand out tracks from “Self Titled” are “The Pit” “Hellcorn”, “Diehard”, “A Guy in a Suit and the Pope”. This album originally came out in 1989 on Narrowpath Records but I didn’t get into The Crucified until Tooth and Nail re-released in 1994 when I was in high school. I was a late bloomer. Shortly after I discovered The Crucified, I went out and bought “Pillars of Humanity” and jammed that album as well as “Self Titled” non stop for a few years. I actually found a place in Dana Point near where I lived that custom printed Tshirts, so I took down the album cover for The Crucified “Self Titled” and had it blown up and printed on a white tshirt that I wore all over town (I had a pretty killer Unashamed shirt made too). With “Pillars of Humanity” came a more refined sound (and probably a bigger budget than prior releases), this one floats closer to metal than any of their previous albums. Pillars is known for it’s great lyrics and metal mastery. Again, more socio-political lyrics can be found on a Crucified album and this time a bit more daring than in the past. These guys were not afraid of rattling nerves and touching on controversial faith topics that would probably send non-Christians running in the opposite direction.

Here is one lyric from the song “It’s All Bout Fear”..

“From the history books and the twisted schools

We’ve been taught to question you as betrayal

And that you would never think of us as beneath

You, that to challenge you would mean to fail

But hope we’ve received through God and we believe

He remembers the afflicted, His justice will be seen

Thous so many have yet to receive His light

Soon they will know the message of Christ”

I personally love the spoken word intro of the track “Path to Sorrow” . I’m too lazy to type the lyrics so look it up, it’s awesome.

Disc One is basically all Demos, live tracks, their two old school punk albums, and the two best Crucified tracks ever–“Straining Life” and “Power of God”, each recorded in 1993. You could tell by the direction they were taking on those two final tracks that they would have been one of the biggest bands in the music scene had they continued on. Living Sacrifice hit it big in 1997 when they signed to Solid State and released “Reborn” and I feel the same could have been said of this legendary group had they continued to release music. Disc two features the “Self Titled” and “Pillars of Humanity” albums and boy do they sound GOOD with a slight remix/remaster job. The artwork and layout of this box set is top notch with a very informative background on each track/album written by the members of the band. Disc three is the DVD of course and I have not yet taken the time to watch it. From what I’m told, it features nearly two hours of never before seen footage, 20+ songs from various live shows, Plus behind the scenes footage from 1987-1992. I’m a little surprised that no one recorded that final show with Mxpx in 95′, that would have made some good material. Oh well.

Here is the conclusion. I’m left walking away from this album with a reignited soul and more adrenaline than I’m used to. It’s nostalgia looking back at all this old material and hearing these songs again in remastered form. It’s pure joy for me to hear all these classic songs once again and part of it reminds me of a simpler time. I just love this band and I hope they’ll consider recording new songs for this new generation of youth to listen to. The Crucified were true originators in every sense of the word. Live on you legends, and keep rocking for all of us.

Thrash metal; people are either completely obsessed with it or they just hate it. However, there is no reason to deny that something unique and completely brutal was stirring up in Christian music in the late 1980's. Long before metal groups like Vengeance Rising exploded onto the scene, The Crucified was formed in 1984 and took their stab at proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ through crossover thrash metal. After being out of print for many years, Tooth & Nail Records has finally released a box set collection, which consists of original demo material dating way back to 1987 to their grand finale studio release, The Pillars of Humanity in 1992. Being a fan of groups like Stryper, Whitecross, and early Living Sacrifice, it seemed like an obvious choice to check out this collection of music.

The first disc contains all of the demos and live concert audio recorded back in the late 80's by the band. Whether you are a heavy metal fanatic or not, it will take some time to get use to the punk rock vocal delivery and low production values displayed throughout this first disc. Punk rock usually consists of 2½ or sometimes 3-minute songs, and most of the early material on this disc barely makes the 1½ minute mark at times. First-time listeners will be surprised to make their way through the first demo "KGB," consisting of ten songs, in less than 15 minutes. What makes this complete box set worthwhile is the second disc comprised of the band's two full-length albums: the self-titled The Crucified and The Pillars of Humanity. Due to the fact that these two albums were professionally recorded and more fleshed out than their previous material, both will go down in the history books as the band's best material to date.

The compilation DVD is an awesome mix of concert footage and outtakes recorded on 8mm film and video cassette. The video opens with the following statement: "Due to the fact that this is the only filmed material retained by The Crucified, the following presentation is of poor quality, but we are sure you will get over it." Not something anyone wants to hear, particularly at the first of the video, but the concert footage is worth seeing for old and new fans of the group. The biggest treat was viewing rare footage of Bruce Fitzhugh and Jason Truby from Living Sacrifice performing alongside The Crucified during the song "Mindbender" at the Cornerstone Festival in 1992. Some of the nonsense and silliness displayed by the band brings to mind some of the pranks seen on other compilation DVDs from Audio Adrenaline, Underoath, The Chariot, and Haste The Day. Certain pranks such as bass player Jeff Bellow's decision to disguise his voice while going through the drive-thru window of a restaurant seem a little humorous, but others come across as arrogant and unnecessary for this DVD.

This complete collection of music showcases the best material from a crossover thrash metal band that played a huge role in the history of hardcore Christian metal. However, some of today's thrash metal fanatics could easily pass on The Crucified when compared to bands like Metallica, Pantera, or Iron Maiden. If it was possible, Tooth & Nail should have included the lyrics for both of the full-length studios albums but all song lyrics can be found at the band's website: www.thecrucified.net. With the reformation of The Crucified earlier in 2009, as well as the band's first reunion show taking place this summer, this complete collection of music could not have come out at a better time. Recommended for fans of Living Sacrifice, Vengeance Rising, early 90's heavy metal, and lovers of early Tooth & Nail bands.

- Review date: 8/3/09, written by Fred Keel of Jesus Freak Hideout

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