Rediscovering old bands or bands you weren't familiar with

Over the past few years, I have been rediscovering old bands, bands I wasn't totally familiar with or bands that I never heard of until the past few years. Here are some examples:

Messiah Prophet: This is one bands that I bought the Master of the Metal cassette back in 1986/87 off a buddy for $5 and sold it to another buddy in 1992 for $5. I don't know why I did that. A few years ago I obtained the vinyl in pretty much mint condition. I bought the CD from Boones Overstock with several other items that I had to wait until Christmas to open it. I haven't really listened to the vinyl but since Christmas I have been listening to the CD several times in my car. I love the raw power of the guitars.

Neon Cross: I have heard of this band back in the day from their debut 1988 self titled album but never bought it. I have their unreleased tracks on a Premium Cuts cassette. I finally took the plunge and bought their self titled CD from Girder with some other items. I scanned through the CD and it sounded better than when I previewed the samples on youtube. I know they released Torn in 1995 and many think its a grunge album. From what I previewed it to me has more of a 70s vibe. 

Red Sea: They are another classic band that I was aware of back in the day but never took the plunge. When I heard Roxx was reissuing the album a couple of years back I knew I had to get this. I previewed their songs on youtube several times and they grew in me. I bought the CD and colored vinyl. With Badlands bassist Greg Chaisson and the guitarist from Fear Not with Robin Basauri on vocals you can't go wrong. 

Trytan: This is a band I totally missed out on back in the late 80s and early 90s. Over the past decade I keep seeing their name pop up in different places with usually good comments. Boones  reissued their first 2 albums and they had a new album out. Over the past week or so I previewed their music. I don't think they sound exactly like Rush but the high pitched vocals are similar to Geddy Lee. The guitar tone of the first 2 albums from what I previewed reminds me of Boston. The writing style reminds e of Rush, Triumph and Daniel Band. The new track Blood of Kings reminds me of a little of Dream Theater. To me they are a mix of a few bands. Like Rush and Triumph, they are a power trio.

Rage of Angels is one of mine. I had heard of them and figured I’d like them but I couldn’t find a copy. Finally did and yep, I dig it. 

Others I’ve discovered recently:

Crimson Moonlight
Messenger
Minier
Freakings
A Hill to Die Upon
Feast Eternal

And some secular bands, as well.

Retroactive Records' reissues over the years have helped with this:
Jerusalem.
Barnabas.
Daniel Band.

Probably more and from other sources, but I'm too tired to think about it.

If you can find it, don't be afraid of their album "Colours".  While most people rag on it because it doesn't have the original members and the direction changed, it stands on it's own.  The album sound more akin to Warrant than their first two albums.  I heard it first and found their others and I actually like "Colours" the best.  Find it if UCAN.

It is rare for me to find something that I've never heard or rarely heard.  But, sometimes a reissue of an album that never made it to a label or on CD if it did does happen.  The two albums Roxx put out by Michael have been great finds.  I really like their first and love the 2nd one.

Also, the 2nd album by Jesus Freaks was something I did reconnect with.  I didn't like the thrashier debut, so the more groove metal sound of the 2nd one did perk my ears.  So, I managed to get one of the 100 copies of the reissue.  So, I guess I do get surprised from time to time.

While I do appreciate the work that the three big reissue companies (Roxx, Retroactive, Girder) do, it is the demo albums that get released on CD that excite me most.  Sure, the music might not be label quality before and many times after the mastering, it is exciting to hold a piece of musical history that has long been unaccessible for fans.  I am most excited about these types of reissues even though I am sure they are the hardest to track down members to get permissions.

The problem I have with Torn from Neon Cross is the vocals, not sure what he was going for but it didn't work well imo.

I never heard of Paradox back then but have purchased their recently reissued and remastered albums “Ruler” and “Power and Glory.” These are fantastic and am glad they were given the proper release they deserved by Matt Hunt.
Also, the two remastered and reissued Thresher albums - “Totally Possessed” and “Here I Am” are recent albums that I’ve rediscovered and have been getting a lot of spins.
Roxx put out a band I never heard of but took a chance on - 2 cd’s by the band “Michael”....”The Battle Rages On” and “II”...these are great discoveries and very much enjoy both albums.

With proper production and publicity, I think Paradox would have done well.

I've been checking out the band MASS as well. the song When 2 World Collide is a great tune. I was aware of them back in 1989 when there was a tiny rock briefs kind of update in Metal Edge stating Michael Sweet produced their album Voices in the Night. I've been checking out their music the past year or 2 and never cared for their music and now I'm liking their last 3 albums: When 2 Worlds Collide, Sea of Black and Crack of Dawn. They aren't a Christian band but they have decent lyrics.