Get Your Music on Amazon!
Get Your Music - and everything else - on Amazon! All purchases made on Amazon through this link earn a commission for Jesusfreakhideout.com!

JFH Music Review


Saint, The Mark
Saint
The Mark



Artist Info: Discography
Album length: 12 tracks: 50 minutes, 11 seconds
Street Date: 2006


The Christian rock group, Saint, is back after three years on hiatus with the follow-up to their last album, entitled In The Battle. The record marked the return of former vocalist and primary songwriter Josh Kramer, who chose to pursue other avenues of interest during the band's return to music in 1999. Along with Kramer, Saint is joined together with original bass player Richard Lynch and guitarist Dee Harrington from the Too Late For Living era. Saint is among the very few Christian rock bands of the 1980's that continue to create music to this day and they do not see any reason to stop now. In early 2006, Saint recorded and released their next album The Mark, a concept album centering on key points from the book of Revelation with Judas Priest-inspired rock music.

On a positive high note, The Mark delivers a truthful and accurate description of the Apostle John's visions of Armageddon. Each song depicts a certain prophecy concerning the end of days, including the letters sent to the seven churches, the mark of the Beast, the seventh trumpet, God's wrath being unleashed upon those who worship the Beast, the lake of fire, and of coarse the second coming of Jesus Christ. It is very surprising to hear the worship-based anthem "He Reigns" upon first listen, which can be viewed as the most well-structured rock ballad Saint has ever put together, "After this, I saw four angels holding back the winds of the Earth in the sky, Another with the seal of God to place upon the chosen, The number that I heard was magnified, Salvation belongs to our God, And to the Lamb who was slain, Salvation belongs to our God, He paid the price and now He reigns." Truthful and faith-based lyrics like this make a listener like myself want to sing along.

Other than strong lyrical content and intense Judas Priest-inspired guitar solos, there really isn't much to praise about The Mark. Richard Lynch and Dee Harrington's performance on this record are very good, but it's easy to see that they were limited to what they could do musically, due to a small budget for the album. The primary complaint on this release is Josh Kramer's vocal delivery, which comes out as a mix of overly dramatic spoken words, a slightly small amount of singing, and very irritating high-pitched screams seen on several tracks, including "The Spirit," "On And On," "The Mark," and "Babylon The Great." It's nice to know a former member who had been with the group since its formation in the early 1980's, returned to the microphone, but his performance demolishes the ending result. Perhaps if Harrington and Lynch supplied more backup vocals on several of the songs and if Kramer would take some singing lessons, there might have been better results from these recorded songs.

It was difficult to listen to this album for the first time without having to put down the headphones and go do something else. It is even more difficult to discriminate a Christian metal band that put their heart and soul into crafting twelve metal songs that form what could have been a great concept record. Even more irritating is the typos found in the lyrics of the album booklet, which there are several of them. If Saint continues to pursue this genre of music, it is heavily recommended that they observe their weaknesses and find a way to correct them before creating another album. Despite great talent, Saint completely missed The Mark.

- Review date: 5/29/09, written by Fred Keel



(JFH Sponsor Spot)

Check out JFH's Lloyd in his first-ever childrens book!

 

. Record Label: Armor Records
. Album length: 12 tracks: 50 minutes, 11 seconds
. Street Date: 2006
. Buy It: Amazon.com

  1. The Spirit
  2. The Vision
  3. Ride to Kill
  4. He Reigns
  5. On & On
  6. The 7th Trumpet
  7. The Mark
  8. Bowls of Wrath
  9. Babylon the Great
  10. Reap the Flesh
  11. Gog & Magog
  12. Alpha & Omega

 

 

go to main Album review page
go to Album review archive

 

 

                 
Check out JFH's Lloyd in his first-ever childrens book!

Search JFH



This Friday, July 25, 2025
ALBUMS
Anchor & Braille New Mexico [Equal Vision]
B. Tee Told You [Syntax]
Bride Scarecrow Messiah CD Re-Release [Girder]
Homesick Prodigals Different Good (independent)
KDNS After Eden [Syntax]
Olivia Lane Songs About Jesus (Deluxe Edition) [BEC]
Tasha Cobbs Leonard TASHA [Motown Gospel]
Kevi Morse Kingston We Winning [Syntax]
Pulpit Vomit Hospital Lens [Rottweiler]
Anthony & Tiffany Salerno Dance for Jesus - EP (independent)
Taylor & Co Worship Breakthrough - EP (independent)
Josh Wright LEAD (independent)

SINGLES
abenezer i was lost - Single [Gotee]
Sho Baraka Still Got Faith (ft. L3xdivine) - Single [Syntax]
Gracie Binion Easy To Please - Single [BEC]
Katty Camargo Shine Upon Me - Single (independent)
The CCC Collective Thankful - Single (independent)
C4 Crotona Mr. Gritty - Single [Syntax]
EJ Swavv & Nickwit2Ks Growth - Single [Syntax]
Forrest Frank GOD'S GOT MY BACK - Single [River House / 10K]
Andrew Gonoude Closer To You - Single (independent)
Noah Paul Harrison Oh Lord My God (Live) - Single [Bethel]
J.Solo All I Have (ft. Kaboose & MotionPlus) - Single [Syntax]
Kings Kaleidoscope + Kings Kaleidoscope Hymns Amazing Grace - Single [BEC]
Tasha Layton Life In Me - Single [BEC]
Lecrae Bless You (feat. Torey D'Shaun) - Single [Reach]
TobyMac God Did It (feat. Jamie MacDonald) - Single [Capitol CMG]
Hunter Plake Down to Earth - Single [BEC]
QEW JOYXFIX (ft. Stevie Rizo) - Single [Syntax]
Naomi Raine God Will Work It Out - Single [Tribl]
Saints in Exile Bad Vibes - Single [Syntax]
Xander Sallows infinite - Single [DREAM]
Silent Reflection Left Me for Dead - Single [Syntax]
John Stratton The Body and the Blood - Single [Pure Mosaic Services]
Regina Vandereijk You're the Light - Single (independent)
Joel Vaughn Feel It - Single [DREAM]
Zach Williams Killed A Man - Single [Provident]
Zauntee Jesus Down In Florida - Single [BEC]

VINYL
Bride Scarecrow Messiah Vinyl [Girder]

DVD
Jordan Smith The People's Hymnal DVD [Gaither]

This Saturday, July 26, 2025
SINGLES
Anthony & Tiffany Salerno What Would You Do? - Single (independent)

Next Friday, August 1, 2025
ALBUMS
Crash Rickshaw Big Sir - EP [Velvet Blue]
McKamey Legacy Holding to Truth [Horizon]
Ordained Thunder Roar [Girder]
V1 Worship Archives [DREAM Worship]

SINGLES
Dan Bremnes Human - Single [Curb]
Lauren Daigle Let It Be A Hallelujah - Single [Centricity]
Sleeping At Last Believe - Single (independent)

VINYL
Disciple Attack! (Limited Run Vinyl) Vinyl [Girder]



For all release dates, click here!
 

Join honey and save on online purchases!
Get all of JFH's indie compilation now totally free!
Check out depositphotos for royalty free images