Welcome to HolySoldierFan.com! This site has been nearly two years in the making... Well, if you really think about it, it's actually been more like 14 years in the making. I first heard Holy Soldier's self-titled debut album back in 1991, about a year after it's initial release. At the urging of some friends who had already purchased the record, I picked up my own copy at a Berean's Christian Bookstore while visiting family in Canton, Ohio- My friends all got their copies at Sam Goody. What I had heard about them sounded promising however I recall treading lightly, no doubt leery from over-exposure to prior "Christian" Bands that were never going to be as good as the secular acts I was listening to at the time (At least that was how I felt back then). The first thing that strikes you when you get hold of the album artwork on H5's debut album is, "Ok, these guys look pretty cool, but can they deliver the goods?". That night as I lay in the darkness I slipped the cassette (remember those?) into my walkman, pressed "play" and reclined with guarded anticipation of the musical journey I was about to embark on. I still remember it as if it were yesterday: The first few bars of "Stranger" steamed forward like a freight train into my headphones and with the band laying out the bait, I was immediately on the hook(I've since read that Jamie Cramer had always wished they would have refined the guitar tone a bit more on the first two tracks of that record, but at the time all I recall is how well they hit my mark). The tune churned forward at a feverish pace from the get-go, melodically bobbing and weaving toward what I hoped would be the pristine compliment to the sonic assault that was laying siege to my auditory senses. I wondered if the choral precipice we were headed towards would be like syrup on pancakes, or brutally anti-climactic. Just then, the singer began to sing... And when I tell this story now I like to embelish it to say that I remember breaking a sweat just listening to it, but I guess that would be a little far-fetched, no? "People talk about Him and His Ways they can't explain..." I remember thinking to myself that this guy must be from Mars or something because I'd never heard anyone on Earth sing like that before. It's funny, but if you've ever talked to Steven Patrick about his voice, he's likely told you the story about how when he was growing up people told him that he would never be a good singer. He completely credits God with the gift of his voice which is incredibly special. Anyhow, that album was and remains to this day a perfect 10 for me, starting off with a frenzied, furious pace and ending with a monster dueling guitar solo between Jamie Cramer and Michael Cutting. In between are 10 superiorly written songs packed with powerful, insightful lyrics and themes, masterful musicianship, rhythms, grooves, melodies and amazing vocals. It wasn't long after I had discovered Holy Soldier that news broke of the imminent release of their second album, "Last Train". It was a darker, moodier sophmore effort and perhaps only marginally a subordinate of the debut album... If for no other reason than there are only 9 tracks on it, one of which was a cover. The first time I heard "Crazy" and "Love Is On The Way" I fully expected those songs to be all over MTV and Z-100 in New York within the month. I swear to myself some days that I love that record just as dearly as the first... I think it was back in 1992 after "Last Train" had been released that word came through that Holy Soldier were to perform at NYC's famous CBGBs Club on Bleecker and The Bowery. When I heard the news I was thrilled that I would have the opportunity to see them there. I had purchased several copies of the "Last Train" record and given them away to friends that I thought would like the music and the band. It was strange, but right from when I first heard them I felt drawn to be a part of what they were trying to accomplish, and the only way I could think to "give back" to them was to purchase copies of their album for people that otherwise would not have heard it. The next best thing I could do would be to drag people down to see them play, but once my friends had heard the album, the "dragging" was not necessary. They were a hit! The day of the gig I had a small horde of friends that were excited to see them and just to be certain that everything was on the "up & up" I decided to phone the club to make sure the band were still scheduled to play(Something I never do when I go to shows, but seeing H5 in a small venue like CBGBs just sounded too good to be true). Well much to my dismay, the show had been canceled with no announced makeup date and we were all devastated! Soon after that the rumors of the band splitting up began to surface and with music changing the way it was and I myself becoming more interested in my own musical projects, my attention began to shift elsewhere. I lent my copies of the first two albums to a friend who really liked them, and didn't hear from Holy Soldier again for close to 10 years... About a year and a half ago now those albums were finally returned to me and like so many other bands from that era, I fully expected to put those discs in only to be faced with the harsh reality of how "dated" they would sound, however in reality my experience was really quite different. In fact, nothing could have been further from the truth. I don't listen to any of the music from that era anymore, save for say, Bon Jovi and maybe Guns N Roses once in a while. The majority of what has dominated my playlist for the last few years are The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Wilco (Have you heard them? If not, purchase "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot": It's a masterpiece.) and Oasis- Primarily their earlier records and B-sides. Well, right up there with those acts have been the first two Holy Soldier records, which continue to leave me stunned every time I play them. It was around the time that those records were returned to me that I became curious as to what had happened to them. I began to conduct searches on the internet but I was disappointed to find that there didn't appear to be much out there on them. Aside from The Official Holy Soldier site (www.holysoldier.com) which mostly encompasses the band's history from 1995-1997, and a Brazilian Fan Site in Portuguese, all I could find on them were scattered mentions on fan pages dedicated to the genre in general. I think it was perhaps because I never got to see Holy Soldier live that my interest in them began to peak again. I wondered if they were able to pull off their intense studio sound in concert and so I began to seek out bootleg recordings figuring that there was no other way to hear what the original band sounded like live. For me, the fact that I had never seen H5 live felt like "unfinished business" and whenever close friends and family would inquire about the nature of my interest in H5 I would reply to them, "I love a good research project!". I began emailing people whose addresses I found on message boards and that's when some very interesting things began to happen. I began meeting people that had known some of the band members personally and from them I started hearing a lot of interesting details about things that had gone on within the band that you never read about in the press. I pressed on, mostly through email and message boards and I started meeting fans who had rare amateur photos of the band and other memorabilia. I believe the first band member I had actually contacted was Jamie Cramer through an email address that he had used to post something on the web somewhere. Jamie was terrific in taking the time to respond to me and he even sent me some photos. I had success reaching Michael Cutting and Terry Russell as well, but I was not able to find Steven Patrick or Andy Robbins. I began trying my luck with magazine editors and photographers that had covered the band back in the early nineties and I had a bunch of success there too. The project was beginning to pick up steam and many people kept contacting me to encourage me to keep going forward with it... Some even saying things like, "You've got to get that site up as soon as possible. Who knows? With all the other bands that are reuniting nowadays you might even inspire Holy Soldier to reunite!". This was never an intention of mine, as through things that I had heard, a reunion just didn't seem possible. As my library of Holy Soldier items continued to grow I got the idea to do a website tribute to them which would primarily cover the first two albums since the official site deals mostly with the later material. I had never done web design before, however I was inspired by a friend of mine I played in a band with that had seemingly learned web design "overnight", and developed a good looking site for our band. I felt that if I could gather enough material to create a tribute site truly befitting of what these guys deserved... One that let them know how special their music was to me then that would be enough to satisfy me. At every turn, as the project continued to pivot and swerve I continued to answer everyone's questions with the same answer: "I have no idea where this Holy Soldier project is going, but I know that it is going somewhere and that is good enough for me.", and that much I was confident of. Several times during my search for Holy Soldier material and its final two members, I reached the point where it seemed that I had exhausted all avenues in my quest and became somewhat discouraged with the project. I began to feel like Andy & Steve had left the public eye for a reason and that it was possible that they had no intention of being found or talking about the band. There's a fine line between being as thorough as possible in trying to find someone and violating their privacy which was a huge concern of mine. In any event, it always seemed that just as I would start to lose interest someone or something would come out of the woodwork to give me a new lead or enthusiasm for the project. I began to hear through the grapevine that some of the guys had talked for the first time in years and that my web project was even mentioned, which I got a real kick out of. Before long I had heard that Andy Robbins and Daryn Hinton(The band's manager on the first album and through the L.A. Club days) were interested in speaking with me about it. Soon after that I was put in touch with Steven Patrick and truthfully the ball kept rolling from there. I'm thrilled and truly touched by some of the things people have written on the message board about this project, as well as by the opportunity to be involved with whatever plans God has in store for Holy Soldier. Last weekend I had the opportunity to fly to Los Angeles to meet the band personally which was more special to me than I could ever write. The guys in Holy Soldier, Daryn Hinton, Patty Gannon and all of their families are a truly classy bunch of people and I owe them all the thanks in the world for their invitations and hospitality. In making this website, I'm trying to keep to the idea of it being a site "by a fan, for a fan", in that I will try my best to have it include everything that I hoped I would find when I first set out on my search for Holy Soldier nearly two years ago. If you've read this far then you should know that this was the "short version" of my story! Perhaps there's a book and a movie somewhere amidst all of this? Actually, if you're still with me here, then congratulations: You are a TRUE HOLY SOLDIER FAN. Thanks & God Bless, Arthur Adams April 10, 2005 Just a couple of more notes about Holy Soldier: What's left to say about Holy Soldier? The band has the opportunity to rewrite some of it's history at this point, so to speak. Some people have said that if H5 are to make another album that it will be in truth their "Second Album"; This due to the fact that it would be the debut lineup's second album together because Michael Cutting did not play on "Last Train". In his stead was Scott Soderstrom, a guitarist that played on every H5 release except the first one, and someone that all the original band members speak fondly of. As Andy Robbins put it, "Scott will always be a part of Holy Soldier". Finally, regarding the magnitude and relevance of Holy Soldier's colossal debut release, I would just like to add that it easily ranks up there with the greatest debut albums of all time... As a matter of fact I'm hard pressed at the moment to think of any artist, Christian or secular whose debut album was better than "Holy Soldier". I can come up with some that were as good, but NONE that were better, and I'm 100% serious when I say that. The amazing thing about that record was that when they went into the studio with Producer David Zaffiro, he convinced them to scrap all of their demo material and write an entirely new album, which they agreed to and did in a matter of only a few weeks. Many people attribute the success of a band's debut record to the fact that they've had a whole lifetime of songwriting to prepare for it. These guys wrote a whole album of killer material in the studio in under 2 months. Hats off to Dave Zaffiro for recognizing the ability they possessed, and to the guys for making it happen. I believe you guys can do it again. How's that for an "axiom"?