Saint Vitus – “Saint Vitus” b/w “Born Too Late” 7' ...

Photo By Wes Cueto

Two totally solid live renditions of classic tracks by a band that can do no wrong by me. Limited to 1,000 copies [I got #785] and pressed on olive green wax, the A side features the Saint’s titular jam while the B sports a probably more well-known classic from the Wino era. Both sides were recorded live, “Born Too Late” at the Viper Room in Hollywood on 6/29/10 and “Saint Vitus” at the Palladium in Worcester, MA which actually features Dez Cadena (Misfits, Black Flag) performing guest vocals on 10/17/09. The only thing that bothers me is that whenever I hear Wino singing the Scott Reagers tracks (i.e. anything off their self-titled debut, Hallow’s Victim and Die Healing) it makes me feel a certain sense of loss because they are both very distinct vocalists, each with his own unique style and vocal pattern and I much prefer the Reagers stuff to be sung by Reagers himself. Wino is not a poor singer by any stretch of the imagination however he does not produce the same high-pitched inflection that I love from listening to Reagers. Something weird about the label on the B side of the record is that is claims “Saint Vitus” on “this side” and “Born Too Late” on “that side” but if you’re familiar with the tracks [hell you really wouldn't have to be, given the choruses] you would plainly hear that the opposite is true. Also, the 7? claims to run at 45 rpm which is also blatantly untrue as it spins correctly at 33. Strange, I don’t know if that boils down to a grievous clerical error or an inside joke. Could really go either way.

On a sad note, this 7? was dedicated to Peter Steele of Type O Negative as the Massachusetts show was the last time they got to see him before his tragic death that year as well as founding Saint Vitus drummer Armando Acosta who sadly died just before this record was released. They are both in better places now.

Review Written By Wes Cueto

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