EMERALD - 'Armed For Battle' EP

daniel · Post by **daniel** » Mon May 25, 2009 5:29 pm

Since The Knell mentioned never having heard this masterpiece I thought I'd upload it separately, seeing as the gmail upload thing didn't seem to go down very well. Anyway, this is my own rip, I've heard the CD release and I think the drums sound like crap on that, also added the two tracks from the 'California Metal II' compilation.
If anyone has their demos I'd love to hear them.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5J1ZW8SX

The Knell · Post by **The Knell** » Mon May 25, 2009 5:56 pm

Yeah I did a short listen to this some days earlier. I'm not going to say it was already an impact but I feel this will grow on me after a deeper listening, there were some great moments. Thanks for the upload anyway! Haven't forgotten this, damn more covers should have pastel colored borders, haha.

anthares · Post by **anthares** » Tue May 26, 2009 8:37 am

The second track is sooo Witchfinder General! Great album.

ION BRITTON · Post by **ION BRITTON** » Tue May 26, 2009 1:16 pm

"Look to the stars" & "Winds of doom" are classics.

nightsblood · Post by **nightsblood** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 8:28 pm

Will check this out soon

Detest Records · Post by **Detest Records** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 12:00 am

Thanx!

Nicko McBuff · Post by **Nicko McBuff** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:09 am

Such a great album should be officially reissued with a cool booklet + extras. Why hasn't it happened!!!

ION BRITTON · Post by **ION BRITTON** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 1:59 pm

Nicko McBuff wrote:Such a great album should be officially reissued with a cool booklet + extras. Why hasn't it happened!!!

This album was actually rereleased on a split CD with ORACLE's Selah by Magdalene Rec. in 2001. There were two bonus tracks but the booklet wasn't exactly ''cool''...
I also think that the split CD in question was bootlegged some years ago.

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:32 am

ION BRITTON wrote:
Nicko McBuff wrote:Such a great album should be officially reissued with a cool booklet + extras. Why hasn't it happened!!!
This album was actually rereleased on a split CD with ORACLE's Selah by Magdalene Rec. in 2001. There were two bonus tracks but the booklet wasn't exactly ''cool''...
I also think that the split CD in question was bootlegged some years ago.

I don't think that this was ever officially re-issued.

I think that's a bootleg to begin with.

Nicko McBuff · Post by **Nicko McBuff** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 8:56 am

That's what I thought. It looks dodgy as man.

Some label should reissue it as some classic white metal series, along with MESSIAH arrgh

Stormspell · Post by **Stormspell** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 10:51 am

Magdalene was a sub-division of M8 and this was an official re-issue. However, here is what Shawn Pelata had to say about it:

"Although I deeply appreciate M8's interest in and love for Oracle, I must admit I am not very happy with the sound quality and packaging of the Oracle/Emerald split CD I was not involved after helping make the initial contacts between M8 and the "owner" of the material (the Oracle drummer), so I had no creative say at all. I find the cover art to be very unprofessional looking (not much better than the original cheesy artwork WE had) and the sound quality is several notches down from the original release. I was approached to write the Oracle band bio in the liner notes, which I did. Our bass player, Thomas Mitchell, was incorrectly listed as Thomas Hughes (nobody seems to know how THIS happened), and we are listed as being from Greensboro California when, in reality, we were from Greensboro North Carolina. Like I said, I truly appreciate the efforts of M8 to keep the memory of Oracle alive, but I cannot, in good conscience, stand behind this reissue due to it's poor quality. I urge all fans of Oracle to try and seek out an original CD before purchasing the M8 reissue. Thanks to all Oracle fans!"

Retroactive records were going to re-release both of those. I know they've ditched ORACLEsince, but have no idea about EMERALD.

daniel · Post by **daniel** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 12:44 pm

I could do the first 'California Metal' compilation as well at some point if anyone's interested, it has a few really cool Christian metal tracks on it too...

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:03 am

stormspell wrote:Magdalene was a sub-division of M8 and this was an official re-issue. However, here is what Shawn Pelata had to say about it:

"Although I deeply appreciate M8's interest in and love for Oracle, I must admit I am not very happy with the sound quality and packaging of the Oracle/Emerald split CD I was not involved after helping make the initial contacts between M8 and the "owner" of the material (the Oracle drummer), so I had no creative say at all. I find the cover art to be very unprofessional looking (not much better than the original cheesy artwork WE had) and the sound quality is several notches down from the original release. I was approached to write the Oracle band bio in the liner notes, which I did. Our bass player, Thomas Mitchell, was incorrectly listed as Thomas Hughes (nobody seems to know how THIS happened), and we are listed as being from Greensboro California when, in reality, we were from Greensboro North Carolina. Like I said, I truly appreciate the efforts of M8 to keep the memory of Oracle alive, but I cannot, in good conscience, stand behind this reissue due to it's poor quality. I urge all fans of Oracle to try and seek out an original CD before purchasing the M8 reissue. Thanks to all Oracle fans!"

Retroactive records were going to re-release both of those. I know they've ditched ORACLEsince, but have no idea about EMERALD.

Yes, I heard something similar although, not quite along those lines, which is why I made my statement. Good to know.

Post by **DaN** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 8:46 pm

anthares wrote:The second track is sooo Witchfinder General! Great album.

A very late nod to You, Sir, for also noticing this charming parallell.
While the MLP might not be Crushing the Boundaries of Time and Space with Fire and Force and whatnot, it's still a cool foottapper in the vein & league of Dark Wizard, Argus and/or Buzzard and I'd definitely keep it if it would fall into my lap for a tenner or 3..

daniel · Post by **daniel** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 8:54 pm

Haha, you jest sir, this is the Pinnacle

But seeing as I don't even want to own The Mezmerist we'll just disagree