Celestial Messenger

Artist: Trytan
Label: R.E.X. Records/Retroactive Records
Released: 1987/2021
Type: Full-Length
Version: Remastered/Reissue/Gold Disc Edition
Rating: 4/5 Skulls (1)

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Let us take you back in time to the 80's. Open the wardrobe and grab your spandex trousers, look in the mirror and get the spray ready to make that hair big! Trust us - just close your eyes and take a super-charged spaceship back to the glory days of hard rock and heavy metal smack-dab in the middle of 1987! The music on Celestial Messenger is exquisite - featuring thundering bass lines, wickedly righteous guitar riffing, and drumming perfection while all being tied together with the silky-sweet Geddy Lee inspired vocals of Lary Dean. One listen to the remastered magic of this classic album and we were instantly hooked just like 30+ years ago when we bought the cassette at our local Christian bookstore! The Rush-inspired synthesizers cannot be overlooked as they continue to be a critical part of Trytan's progressive rock masterpiece that has aged like a fine wine over time. As an added treat, Retroactive Records worked with the band to come up with three must-hear bonus tracks from Trytan demos and wow - wow - and more wow are they progressive rock round-house kicks - one after the other. While they are demo tape tracks, the music is top-shelf elite and the kind of songs you want to listen to repeatedly. Tryan proves this band knows how to balance melody, musicianship, jams, complexity and hooks with progressive rock finesse. The 2021 Gold Disc Remaster is the quintessential CD reissue of this revered classic. This CD reissues comes with the strongest recommendation possible. It is elite in every way and comes with a Trytan foil-stamped trading card. For fans of Kansas, Rush, Balance of Power, Threshold, Jacobs Dream, Veni Domine.
Their second demo (1987) was reworked for release by R.E.X. Records under the name Celestial Messenger. It featured a metal sound typical of the hair era of metal. Their debut's lyrics also reflect their ministry orientation, one stated that the band wrote about "getting closer to God and not rejecting the Truth." The album became a classic for fans of Christian metal and was subject to an illegal re-release in 1998. The legal 2000 re-release of Celestial Messenger features a bonus of three remastered tracks as well as material from an early demo as bonus tracks.
"Our first release 'Celestial Messenger' 1987 was an exciting venture that brought some very awesome and serious Christians together. Just prior to the release of Celestial Messenger our team realized that to do real ministry, we needed a team of people that were very serious about doing real ministry. It was then that Steve and Bev Robinson joined our team with Scotty and I and things began to take off.
We then met Doug Mann and Gavin Morkel who were pioneering a brand new Christian rock/metal label out of New York called R.E.X. Music New York. Then it got even better, when we met a brilliant young artist manager named Rohnda Chrisman out of Southern California whose office was in Beverly Hills. Her company was called 'Artist Management.' It was that year, 1987, when I met Rohnda and a few months later we realized that the Lord was calling us together. We got married shortly thereafter and are still powerfully married today! One of the coolest things about Celestial Messenger!
Another awesome thing about this record is that it retained our original, brilliant and gifted bass player and keyboardist Jon Adame playing on some of the tracks. I am so blessed and fortunate to have played with both Jon and Steve. Amazingly brilliant, creative and dedicated musicians and men, each in their own right. And Scott Blackman on drums was simply incredible. One of the most talented and brilliant drummers ever. Yes, I mean, ever!
We were so excited to get this record finally out and available. We couldn't have done it without the help of Pastor Gregory VanGorp, Frank Mandes, Jerome Mikulich, Tom Panazzo, Lonny Tyler, Jim Dobbs and the rest of our team."
~ Lary Dean

Lineup

Lary Dean - Lead Vocals/Guitars
Steve Robinson - Bass/Backing Vocals/Keyboards
Scotty Blackman - Drums/Vocals/Backing Vocals


Guests

Jon Adame - Bass/Keyboards


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Reviews For "Celestial Messenger"

Classic Rush vibe
by tombie on 9/9/2015

Love their Rush style... Great album.