Of The Sun + Moon - Sacred Blade
1986 - Black Dragon(France)(Canada) LP: gatefold
1999 - Othyrworld(Canada) CD: remastered, limited edition
- Jeff Ulmer / vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards
- Will Rascan / guitar
- James Channing / bass
- Paul Davis / drums
1. The Shortest Song
2. Ayltuthus I
3. Of The Sun + Moon
4. Fieldz The Sunshrinze
5. Salem
6. The Reign Of The Night Rainz
7. Legacy
8. To Lunar Windz
9. The Enlightment / Masters Of The Sun
10. The Pressing
11. In The Light Of The Moon
12. Moon
Formed in 1981 in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, Sacred Blade produced two demos which recieved high praised and the band was offered the opening slot on Metal Blade's 'Metal Massacre 4' in 1983. The band started to record thier first album under contract from Roadrunner Records the following year which was recorded over the next two years and released in 1986 on vinyl from France's Black Dragon label. Produced by vocalist/guitarist Jeff Ulmer, there was indifferences between him and Roadrunner on many issues in the production and the release of the album thus it was finally released on the Black Dragon label.
The music is influenced from Rush and Captain Beyond and structured similarly to elements of NWoBHM and classic traditional metal as Jeff Ulmer's vocals are reminescent of Rob Halford from Judas Priest. The style of the music and production at the time was somewhat ahead of the times as the album has been quoted as, "progressive metal before progressive metal".
In 1987 the band went on tour with Saxon in North America but the label was no longer supporting the band and they came home. I happened to be fortunate enough to pick up thier album in Vancouver from Collectors RPM when I was over there in 1988. Beautifully constructed gatefold. Not cheap.
Sacred Blade flew to N.Y. care of Epic Records to try and land a recording contract but it didn't work out and they decided to produce thier next record independently in 1989 but technical problems caused the band to end the sessions thus resulting in two demos.
Jeff Ulmer began to remaster 'Of The Sun + Moon' in his own project studio in 1996 and the CD was released in 1999 as a limited numbered edition. He and drummer Ted Zawadzki who joined the band in 1987 and calling themselves Othyrworld and rerecorded, remixed and remastered 'Of The Sun + Moon' in 1995 with the title of 'Beyond Into The Night Of Day' with some new tracks and a couple of tracks not present from "Of The Sun = Moon'.
Both albums are available from the the band's website and at some retailers.
