Valor - Fight For Your Life (Retroactive) 1988/2004
Valor - Fight for Your
Life
1. "Valor" (4:47)
2. "The Flesh Is Weak" (4:04)
3. "Fight For Your Life" (2:37)
4. "Empty Tomb" (4:49)
5. "Didn't I" (4:11)
6. "It's Not Too Late" (5:36)
7. "Accept Him" (1:05)
8. "Masquerade" (4:00)
9. "Burn" (6:19)
Golgotha - Prisoner
10. "Prisoner" [demo] (2:35)
11. "Cry Of The Heathen" [demo] (2:28)
12. "Follow Me" [demo] (4:25)
13. "At The Foot Of The Cross" [demo] (3:11)
14. "Living On The Edge Of The Night" [live] (2:55)
15. "Cry Of The Heathen" [live] (2:29)
16. "The Mark/Day Of The Lord" [live] (9:19)
17. "Turn Of Burn" [live] (2:28)
18. "Runner" [live] (4:07)
Back in the late-1980's I bought anything and everything in Christian metal. "Fight for Your Life" was one of the tapes that I purchased back then. I remember liking the Valor tape quite a bit. What was most memorable (and impressionable) to me was the track "Burn" which isn't a song, but rather a drama-like track about a man standing in the presence of God being judged. This track chilled me to my bone. I also remember the music being aggressive thrash metal. I hadn't actually pulled out that tape in years. It wasn't until I found out it was being remastered and released on CD that I got the chance to hear this album again. Unfortunately my memories of this album were a bit better than the music actually is. Rather than thrash, the music here rides the fence between classic heavy metal and speed metal. Much of this album did not hold up well with time. However, I did find a few tracks that I still liked quite a bit. "Valor" and "Masquerade" are both standout tracks. "Accept Him" is a bizzare thrash polka with a punk delivery. Also, "Burn" still sent chills down my spine. So, while "Fight for Your Life" wasn't quite as good as I remembered it being, it was still an interesting listen and had plenty of nostalgic value. The sound quality is a bit better than the tape.
This 2004 CD reissue included several demo and live tracks from Golgatha, the name of the band before they became Valor. The production on these tracks are pretty poor. Still these tracks are a nice inclusion and I am glad to have them. The demo tracks were recorded in 1985.