Bloodgood started out in Seattle, WA, USA in 1984. They set out to spread the Christian message to the growing metal scene. Bloodgood was brought to the attention of Frontline by producer and Christian music veteran Darrell Mansfield. Their debut album saw the light of day in 1986.

BLOODGOOD (1986) FRONTLINE

Bloodgood appeared when white metal was still new to me. And back then almost every Christian metal band sounded great in my ears. Not every album has stood the test of time, but this one has. It's their first release, and in my opinion, still their best. Catchy heavy metal. There is no other way to describe it. The production isn't exactly top notch, so I would have loved to see this album remastered. Finally I've secured the original Frontline release of the album. 

Killer tracks: Stand In The Light, Anguish And Pain, What's Following The Grave

DETONATION (1987) FRONTLINE

Second offering from Bloodgood, and still we're talking catchy heavy metal. This is really a solid album too. I love the theatric elements in some of their songs, such as "Crucify/The Messiah". As it's predecessor, this is also a very hard album to find on CD, so I'm a happy camper who finally found one. The booklet is worn on the copy I found, and the pages even stick together, but the CD plays well.

Killer tracks: Alone In Suicide, Crucify/The Messiah

ROCK IN A HARD PLACE (1988) FRONTLINE

At long last my Bloodgood collection is complete (not counting the the first cassette demo, or the compilation CD they released). In my opinion this band never released a bad disc. And 'Rock In A Hard Place' ranks fine alongside the rest of their catalogue. They did go for a less heavy approach here, but there is still no denying their powerful songwriting skills. I've also read that something didn't go down well when this album was recorded and mixed, so the entire low end spectrum of the recording seems missing. But, like I aid, there are plenty of killer songs here to enjoy anyhow. The tracks "Seven" and "Never Be The Same" are alone worth the price. This is yet another album that went out of print years ago, and was therefore pretty hard to obtain. But thanks to a good friend at The Christian Metal Realm, I got this CD in a trade.

Killer tracks: Never Be The Same, The Presence, She's Gone, Seven

OUT OF THE DARKNESS (1989) INTENSE

Bloodgood had turned much softer by now, and their melodic side is showing to it's fullest. Each song has some cool parts, but as a whole this album falls through. It's not as good as it's predecessors at all. Only the ballads get highest scores here, and "Top Of The Mountain" is one of my all time favorite songs. Keep in mind that even a Bloodgood on half pace, is still 10 times better then most bands out there. New drummer, Kevin Whistler, can also be found in Watchmen.

Killer tracks: Top Of The Mountain, Changing Me

LIVE VOL. I ALIVE IN AMERICA (1990) INTENSE

2 live albums, released at the same time. These are actually hard to come by these days, and I was lucky to score them at Nordic Mission. This is the first one, and contains tunes from Bloodgood's entire career. The sound is very good, but I'm not sure that they really capture what this band is like in a live setting. If it does, and this album do not contain numerous overdubs, I tip my hat off to these guys. I love these albums, as they contain so many good songs, and remind me what a GREAT band Bloodgood was/is!

LIVE VOL. II SHAKIN' THE WORLD (1990) INTENSE

The second live-record, and not much more is to be said. It trembles down the same road that the other one. They are, after all, recorded from the same two shows. Don't know why they named it "Shakin' The World" though. Everything is recorded in USA. Maybe it has something to do with the videos, released from these albums. These 2 videos are big wants for me! Oh, and listen to 'Top Of The Mountain', and you know what this band is all about.

29.12.2002: I got an email explaining a little more about these 2 live-albums. Here's what I was told:

It was not the band's intentions to release two videos and two CD's. They wanted to simply release one video called "Rock Theatre" (that had two acts). I don't think they were opposed to the idea of CD releases, but originally just wanted to release a video. The record company people made up the names "Alive in America & Shakin' The World", divided it into two halves, decided to put out the CD's, and came up with the cheesy packaging. Bloodgood didn't have any say in the marketing end. Michael and Les, however did have control over how the videos were edited. Thought you might like to know. Good day,

Bloodgood Site Design & Maintenance

http://www.bloodgood.org

http://www.caleburr.com

ALL STAND TOGETHER (1991) BROKEN

Bloodgood discs are so hard to find in my native country, that I didn't even know about this one until I got internet! So I was very pleased when I got a trade for this one. Turns out that Bloodgood in the 90's isn't a heavy metal band anymore. Commercial soft rock, with half the songs being ballads. So if it hadn't been for Bloodgood's ability for writing excellent songs, I would have been very disappointed. After hearing each song, I always think: "Now they're going to crank it up!" But they never do. Still the album is, as said, very enjoyable, and I have no problem recommending it!

Killer tracks: S.O.S., All Stand Together, Fear No Evil, I Want To Live In Your Heart

TO GERMANY, WITH LOVE! - LIVE IN GERMANY 1993 (2000) M8

This album was originally released back in 1993, as a German release only. The first release had different cover-art, and was limited to 990 copies. But in 2000 Magdalene Records got the green light to re-release it, pressing up 2000 brand new copies. The quality of these live recordings are OK, but not great. The double Live Vol. 1 & 2 are far better live-recordings. The bands set list has it's main focus on the latter songs, and lacks so many of their older gems, it's almost ridiculous. But if you are a fan of the band, you will of course find stuff to enjoy. Highpoint: "All Stand Together". Low point: "Holy Spirit Jam". This was to be the last Bloodgood release before the band broke up.

David Zaffiro, J.T. Taylor, Les Carlsen & Michael Bloodgood (1985)

Bloodgood also appear on:  

V/A - 'Righteous Metal'

V/A - 'Ultimate Metal'

V/A - 'An Intense History Of Christian Metal'

Les Carlson guest appearances:

Watchmen - 'Generation'

David Zaffiro guest appearances:

Whitecross - 'Flytrap' (as writer and producer)

Whitecross - 'One More Encore' (as writer and producer)

Related artists:

Watchmen, Stryper