Christian power/speed metal band from California. Recon came about when guitar-player George Ochoa, bass-player Dion Sanchez (both ex-Prophet), drummer John Gonzales, and vocalist Vett Roberts (ex-Seventh Thunder) joined forces with fellow Sanctuary Church members Eddie Starline (rhythm guitar) and Ronson (keyboards, vocals) in 1987. After playing the clubs in Hollywood, recording a demo and 2 songs for the 'California Metal 2' compilation album, the band began to have internal problems. George Ochoa joined Deliverance, but didn't give up hope for the songs written for Recon. So after getting in touch with a record company CEO, George brought in the band, now with new bass-player, Mike Grato, and together they recorded 'Behind Enemy Lines'. But even though the album did fairly well, and the band gained a lot of fans, there was no tours or even a line-up to drive the band forth. Thus Recon fizzled out of existence, as George continued to tour with Deliverance. Then in late 2000 the band seemed to have once more reformed, and a demo was recorded. The band also attended the annual cornerstone festival in 2001. But once more, the band just vanished, and nothing more than a live album from the Cornerstone festival appeared.

BEHIND ENEMY LINES (1990, 2001) MAGDALENE/M8

  1. In The Beginning - intro

  2. Lost Soldier

  3. Ancient Of Days

  4. Choose This Day

  5. Dreams

  6. Take Us Away

  7. Holy Is The Lord

  8. Alive!

  9. Eternal Destiny

  10. Behind Enemy Lines

  11. John 1:17 - outro

Bonus tracks:

  1. Light The Fire (1988 Recording)

  2. Dreams (1988 Recording)

  3. Light The Fire (Demo)

  4. Dreams (Demo)

  5. Alive (Demo)

  6. Eternal Destiny (Demo)

Line-up:

John Christianson - Drums

Mike Grato - Bass Guitar

George Ochoa - Lead, Rhythm & Acoustic Guitars

Vett Roberts - Lead Vocals

Eddie Starline - Rhythm Guitars

Additional musicians:

Ronson - Keyboards, Background Vocals

Jimmy Brown - Background vocals, 1st solo on 8

Rick Jones - Acoustic Guitars on 1

Roger Martinez - Voice overs

Another white metal band I loved in the early 90's! Recon had a sound somewhere between Deliverance and early Queensr˙che, 2 bands I really love. If you are a fan of melodic power/speed metal, with falsetto vocals, Recon is a band to check out! The music is well played, but nothing overtly flashy. There are also plenty of variation here. I also love the inclusion of Spanish guitars in the excellent worship song "Holy Is The Lord". My old tape got played to the extreme, and I'm glad I've finally replaced it with a CD. I used to own the original Intense release, but traded it in, when I purchased this reissue with bonus tracks. Before the reissue, this was a treasured item. 'Behind Enemy Lines' have also been released in Japan, with 2 bonus tracks. But I've not been able to get any info on what these 2 songs are. They might be the 2 tracks featured on the 'California Metal 2'-compilation. This M8 version has several bonus-cuts, including the 2 mentioned tracks, but none to really get overly excited about.

Killer tracks: Ancient Of Days, Dreams, Alive!, Eternal Destiny

Vett Roberts guest appearances:  

Mortification - 'Primitive Rhythm Machine'

 

Related artists

Deliverance, Mortification, Vengeance Rising, Crystavox