You are probably wondering why I am reviewing two albums at once. I know, it is strange. Well, here is the thing. We are reviewing Kryst the Conqueror’s E.P. – ‘Deliver Us From Evil’, however, I don’t have that version of the album. I have the more recent release which is called ‘Soldiers of Light: The Complete Recordings’. This contains the E.P. ‘Deliver Us From Evil’ as well as all the songs from that recording session.

But first, let’s back up a little. Kryst the Conqueror (pronounced Christ) is a project from former members of the band The Misfits. It consists of Jerry Only (known as Mo the Great in The Misfits and as Mocavious Kryst for this band) and his brother Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein. The idea of the band was take fantasy and sci-fi imagery and mix it with religious themes and in this case Jesus was now a Conqueror and was going to deliver us from evil. Yikes!

The band never officially had a lead singer. Jeff Scott Soto was brought in to record the songs to get a feel for the songs and how they would sound, but he was never intended to be the lead singer. In fact, on the E.P. he is not even credited. The lead singer is listed as Kryst the Conqueror. In fact, with all the songs he recorded, only 5 were ever released and that was the original 5 Song E.P. ‘Deliver Us From Evil’. From what I can gather, it was released as a fan club package to the Misfits Fan Club to make sure Jerry was keeping in touch with the fans. But the project never really had any staying power or amounted to anything much. I guess that isn’t totally true, although they never performed live, the band did stay together (at least Jerry & Doyle) until around 1995 when they reached an agreement with Glenn Danzig to reignite the Misfits and then they started touring under that name taking some of these songs and turning them in to Misfit songs.

Fast forward 30 years and we get the release of supposedly all the songs that were recorded during those original recording sessions. ‘Soldiers of Light: The Complete Recordings’ brought us the original E.P. songs plus an additional 8 songs all sung by Jeff Scott Soto. So in essence, we are going to review both albums all in one package.

The original E.P. was released on January 13, 1990 although all the copyright markings show 1989. Then the full album was released sometime in 2019. The drummer for these songs is someone by the name The Murp and I have no idea who that would be as there is no information on The Murp that I can find.

I will be honest and say I am not sure what to say about this album. It is a Christian Metal album that has Kryst battling the forces of evil that have come down from space on their star destroyers…yeah…I don’t know what to do with that…but I will give it a shot. This review might be a little different as the material is a little different so hang on to your hats as we blast off on this crazy-ass ride.

The album kicks off with “Thunder Thruster”. It is a heavy metal / punk type song with pounding drums, heavy bass and deep rich riffs. The lyrics are quite comical and hard to take seriously. Soto does his best with the lyrics singing with gusto and power. If you are expecting the melodic mastery of vocals we got with his work on Kuni, you aren’t getting that here. What you are getting is more intensity, less melodic and a lot of power. Which has to match the intensity and pounding you get from the music. Doyle’s playing is actually great as he lays down some wicked riffs and a killer solo.

“In God We Trust” keeps the intensity going as the world now lays in a waste after Kryst destroyed the invading evilness in the previous song. Soto feels like he is going through the motions on this one as I am sure he is cringing at the silliness of it all. Now, I do have to remember he was brought in to record vocals to see how the songs worked and weren’t supposed to be the final track recordings. Musically it is more of the same pummeling and another great solo which might be the best part of it all.

Next up we get “Trial of the Soul” which gives us a treat as Dave Sabo of Skid Row gives us the guitar solo. And that is the only treat we get. The song is more of the heavy pummeling as the drums keep pounding and the riffs keep riffing and Soto still sings this putrid lyrics. Are you getting the impression that I don’t like this…good. I didn’t buy this because of The Misfits, this was only because Soto was on it so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this wasn’t it. The only bright spot is the solo (as usual). Sabo rips you a new one as it total shredtastic greatness.

“March of the Mega-Mites” keeps it going with more of the same and I don’t know what a Mega Mite is. I am guessing they are evil and trying to destroy us as well. The only difference with this one is it is a little sped up at times more so than the other songs and it has cowbell…you can never have too much cowbell.

The final song of the original E.P. is “Spellbound” which opens with more pounding drums as my head starts to hurt. Yes, I am so not getting this at all. I have a hard time differentiating one song from another as they all sound the same. I don’t know if I will go out in search of the E.P. as this full album I have might be all I ever need.

The first of the additional tracks is the song “Kryst the Conqueror” which opens with a demonic sounding voice probably meant to be God and he seems ready to unleash all the bad things that happen in Revelations in the Bible. If I wasn’t already checked out by this time, this sure as hell did it. After the voice comes pure on thrash metal and a lot of Soto screaming. Enough said.

“Wherever I Roam” starts off sounding like Metallica and I was getting all excited and then it wasn’t. Nope, not a cover of their song. However, after the Metallica like opening, it turned in to a more melodic song and something I could enjoy…a little…but I’ll take it. I need a bright spot in this dark and gloomy mess. The chorus was a little more catchy, the verses were short, punchy and I thing I actually like this one. Amazing!!

Then we get “Valhalla” with more of the demonic voice narrating the story some more and then Soto comes blasting in with the vocals. And there is more demon sounding narration before Soto comes back in and attacks the lyrics. There are a lot of lyrics on this one and Soto hangs in there and gives it his all. He gets some points for that and this isn’t the worst song on the album either. Am I softening because the demonic vocal narration is corny but I like the back and forth between the demon and Soto.

“Soldiers of Light” takes the battle in to space and it loses me again. It sounds more like the first half of this album and I can’t find anything I like here so we will move on. “Night Raiders” and then “The Highlander” both bring us nothing new and more of the same old, same old and I honestly can’t tell the difference between any of these last three songs. That should sum it up for you.

The last couple of songs “In My Dreams” starts off like the other songs, but I like when Soto gets to the “In My Dreams” line, the song speeds up and is not too bad. There is some enjoyment to be had with it. There is a little back and forth between heavier and slower and then quicker and less heavy and then it goes out with a bang at the end with a wicked guitar solo.

Then we are back to the normal, dark, gloominess of the beginning of the album with “Dr. Phibes Rises Again” which is a bloody, revenge filled destructive song. The lyrics are awful and Soto does what he can with them, but there is no hope. A horrible way to go out but story wise I guess the resurrection is how it should end but so much evilness along with it. And musically just as bad as most of this album. Thank God it is over though

Track Listing:

1. Thunder Thruster – Delete
2. In God We Trust – Delete
3. Trial of the Soul – Delete
4. March of the Mega-Mites – Delete
5. Spellbound – Delete
6. Kryst the Conqueror – Delete
7. Wherever I Roam – Keeper
8. Valhalla – Keeper
9. Soldiers of Light – Delete
10. Night Raiders – Delete 
11. The Highlander – Delete
12. In My Dreams – Keeper
13. Dr. Phibes Rises Again – Delete

The Track Score is 3 out of 13 or 23% and yes, it is that bad. Okay, if you are The Misfits fan, then you probably will like this. However, I am not so this does nothing for me. I thought after listening to it 6 or so times, it might start getting better, but it did not. I did find 2 bright spots in the middle, but everything else sounded the same. Plus the fantasy and sci-fi themes with Jesus being a conqueror totally lost me as well. I like movies to take me to these type of places, but music…no. My Overall Score is a 1.5 out of 5.0 Stars as it isn’t the worst thing I’ve ever heard, but close. What a shock to the system it was going from a 5.0 Stars album to a 1.0 Star album back-to-back. Thank goodness for that Kuni album.

UP NEXT: EYES – ‘EYES’ (1990)

THE JEFF SCOTT SOTO SERIES:

1. Panther – ‘Panther’ (1986) – recorded in 1984
2. Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force – ‘Rising Force’ (1984)
3. Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force – ‘Marching Out’ (1985)
4. Kuni – ‘Lookin’ For Action’ (1988)
5. Kryst the Conqueror – ‘Deliver Us From Evil’ (1989) / ‘Soldiers of Light: The Complete Recordings (2019)
6. Eyes – ‘Eyes’ (1990)
7. Eyes – “Nobody Said It Was Easy” (1990) – 7″ Single – Bonus Edition
8. Talisman – ‘Talisman’ (1990)
9. Talisman – “I’ll Be Waiting” (1990) – 7″ Single – Bonus Edition
10. Skrapp Mettle – ‘Sensitive’ (1991)
11. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Eternal Prisoner’ (1992)
12. Eyes – ‘Windows of the Soul’ (1993)
13. Talisman – ‘Genesis’ (1993)
14. Takara – ‘Eternal Faith’ (1993)
15. Biker Mice From Mars – ‘Biker Mice From Mars (Soundtrack)’ (1993)
16. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Love Parade’ (1994)
17. Talisman – ‘Humanimal’ (1994)
18. Talisman – ‘Five Out of Five (Live in Japan)’ (1994)
19. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Between the Walls’ (1994)
20. Talisman – ‘Life’ (1995)
21. Takara – ‘Taste of Heaven’ (1995)
22. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Black Moon Pyramid’ (1996)
23. Human Clay – ‘Human Clay’ (1996)
24. Talisman – ‘Best of’ (1996)
25. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Magic’ (1997)
26. Human Clay – ‘U4IA’ (1997)
27. Talisman – ‘Truth’ (1998)
28. Takara – ‘Blind in Paradise’ (1998)
29. Talisman – ‘Live as Sweden Rock Festival’ (2001)
30. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Prism’ (2002)
31. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Holding On E.P.’ (2002) – Bonus Edition
32. Humanimal – ‘Humanimal’ (2002)
33. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘JSS Live at the Gods 2002’ (2003)
34. Talisman – ‘Cats & Dogs’ (2003)
35. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Lost in the Translation’ (2004)
36. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Live at the Queen Convention 2003’ (2004)
37. Talisman – ‘Five Men Live’ (2005)
38. Soul Sirkus – ‘World Play’ (2005)
39. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Believe in Me E.P.’ (2006) – Bonus Edition
40. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Essential Ballads’ (2006)
41. Talisman – ‘7’ (2006)
42. Journey – ‘Live from Atlanta (Bootleg)’ (2006)
43. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘B-Sides’ (2006)
44. Redlist – ‘Ignorance’ (2007)
45. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Beautiful Mess’ (2009)
46. Jeff Scott Soto – “21st Century” / “Gin & Tonic Sky” CD Single (2009) – Bonus Edition
47. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘One Night in Madrid’ (2009)
48. W.E.T. – ‘W.E.T.’ (2009)
49. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Live at Firefest 2008’ (2010)
50. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Damage Control’ (2012)
51. W.E.T. – ‘Rise’ (2013)
52. W.E.T. – ‘One Live in Stockholm’ (2014)
53. SOTO – ‘Inside the Vertigo’ (2015)
54. SOTO – ‘Divak’ (2016)
55. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Retribution’ (2017)
56. Sons of Apollo – ‘Psychotic Symphony’ (2017)
57. W.E.T. – ‘Earthrage’ (2018)
58. SOTO – ‘Origami’ (2019)
59. Sons of Apollo – ‘Live With the Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony’ (2019)
60. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Wide Away (In My Dreamland)’ (2020)
61. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Live and Loud in Milan 2019’ (2020)
62. Sons of Apollo – ‘MMXX’ (2020)
63. SOTO – ‘Revision’ (2020)
64. W.E.T. – ‘Retransmission’ (2021)
65. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘The Duets Collection, Vol. 1’ (2021)