Australian heavy metal band, that later evolved into Mortification. LightForce started up in 1985, released 2 demos and 2 full albums, before splitting up in the late 1989.

BATTLEZONE (1987) BOOTLEG

Aaaah, to FINALLY have this album on CD!!!!! Even owning it AT ALL is a real treat for me! This album was never released on CD, so it was impossible to find a copy of it, anywhere. But someone took the old tape, and transferred it to CD, even making a nice cover for it, using the original artwork. The track list is even printed on the CD. The music is pretty similar to 'Mystical Thieves', but maybe a tad less heavy. I enjoy this disc also, and I think LightForce is a bit underrated. The song "Fast Lane" is the same as the song "Fastlane", but obviously an earlier version. Why they rerecorded it for "Mystical Thieves" is beyond me. Because it surely is one of the weakest tracks on either album.

Killer tracks: Choose To Win, Reigning With The King, Eyes Of Destruction

MYSTICAL THIEVES (1988) PURE METAL

I loved this record, when it first came out. It was definitely one of the heaviest Christian bands out there, playing power metal with hints of thrash. They were compared to Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, but I didn't think they sounded anything like them back then. LightForce were speedier. Not even the poor production ruins it for me today. On the contrary, it adds to the charm of this album! After searching for years I finally got a CD copy of this rare Christian metal item in 2002. And the CD sounds pretty good, actually. The sound is much better than on my old tape. LightForce did sound a bit like Iron Maiden, and it is pretty easy to hear who influences Steve Rowe's bass-playing the most. The songs are fine metal pieces indeed. Too bad the liner-notes are unreadable. The print is just way to small. Thanks to Jonathan Schmugge, for getting me this much treasured item!

Killer tracks: Mystical Thieves, Crossfire, Metal Missionary, Babylon

After this, their second album (the first one was never released on CD), the band recorded a demo tape, called 'Break The Curse'. Then the band broke up, and Steve went on to form a band called Mortification. He told the record companies that Mortification would play music that would make Vengeance Rising sound like a pop-band! This band later released 'Break The Curse', with additional material.

THE BEST OF LIGHTFORCE,  MORTIFICATION'S BEGINNING (1994) ROWE

LightForce eventually evolved into Mortification. So when Mortification chief Steve Rowe where asked tons of questions about his former band, and confronted with the fact that their 2 records were long out of print, he decided to release this 'Best of' thing. The songs have been remastered, and the album also contain some previously unreleased live tracks. These really show what direction the band was headed. I didn't even know that LightForce released a first album, called 'Battlezone', until this disc landed in my player. A cool collector's item.

1986 TO 1989 (2005) SOUNDMASS

I'm one of the few Christian metal heads who dare to say that I really loved LightForce! 'Mystical Thieves' was one of my favorite albums during the 80's. I also liked the bands first album. But I had never heard the demos LightForce recorded back in 1986. So the inclusion of the 2 songs from the second demo were reasons enough to buy this compilation. They definitely were a different act back then. Only Steve Rowe "survived" this first line-up (more on that can be read in the history of the band in the liner notes), and LightForce actually started out with a female singer, with a thick Aussie accent! They sound more like a heavier Rosanna's Raiders here. Also, the two songs off the 'Angel Rocker' demo have been re-named. "12 Men" is actually "Fishers Of Men" and "Slay The Enemy" is actually "Come With Us".

You can read my write-ups on the albums included as individual releases above. Too bad they didn't release this compilation as a 2 CD set, with the bands 1989 'Break The Curse' demo on it as well. Guess I'll have to keep my CDR a little longer then....

Related artists:

Mortification