Band:	Armored Saint
Album:	Delirious Nomad
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	October 30, 1985
Guest review by:	omne metallum

01. Long Before I Die
02. Nervous Man
03. Over The Edge
04. The Laugh
05. Conqueror
06. For The Sake Of Heaviness
07. Aftermath
08. In The Hole
09. You'Re Never Alone
10. Released

Following up from the strong as nails March Of The Saint is Delirious Nomad; is it a case of sophomore slump? While not as strong as the former, it would be an insult to call this album a slump; featuring some of the strongest material the band would release, it has quality in spades. Armored Saint carry on from strength to strength and produce a second slab of great heavy metal.

The band took the route of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" on this album. That was a wise move; the band had a working formula, they were just lacking in production. The band pick up where they left off on March Of The Saint with "Long Before I Die", which could have been the 11th track off of said album.

Easy highlights of this album are straightforward hard-hitter "Nervous Man" and "Aftermath", which has to be one of the best songs about the realities of nuclear war of the genre. Also sharing the theme of "Aftermath", the mighty "In A Hole" features a superb breakdown and crescendo sections that give the song a diversity it reaps rewards from in buckets.

The guitar work is top notch, with Pritchard proving himself an underrated player (just check out his playing on "The Laugh") who is capable of crafting solid riffs and treading the fine line of making a solo sound good without becoming pretentious. Vera's bass has a great tone to it on this album; warm but solid, it provides a great accompaniment to the rest of the band and sits just to side of everything else so it is easily heard. Bush makes a great case for being one of the better singers of the genre, being able to showcase the range of his voice on Delirious Nomad from the hard hitting "Conqueror" to the mournful rumination of nuclear apocalypse in "Aftermath".

The production is a two edged sword. Everything is crystal and sounds perfect, with each instrument having an enviable tone; this however comes at the cost of the album sounding somewhat powerless. Sure, the weight of the music itself does offer up some power, but the production does nothing to push it beyond the invisible barrier that exists in the speakers. Released in the midst of glam and thrash dominance, Delirious Nomad sits awkwardly between the two; in spirit it's closer brethren to thrash, but with an audio quality that sounds better for a glam album.

If you think the band are two album wonders in March Of The Saint and Symbol Of Salvation, clearly you forgot about Delirious Nomad; perhaps because of the strong albums that bookend it, this album remains woefully overlooked. Give the album a second go and realize what you evidently forgot since you last heard it; you won't regret it.