One of Christian metal’s most prominent acts during the genre’s Golden Period (roughly 1986-1992), Barren Cross rocked a traditional heavy metal sound, managing to stay both heavy and melodic without ever succumbing to glam on the one hand, or thrash on the other. The band released 4 full-length studio albums, a live album and a handful of singles & EPs before calling it quits in the mid-90s. A pair of compilations appeared in 2007 and 2014, respectively. Members (especially vocalist Mike Lee) have been active in a number of other projects including Barebones, Michael D.R.I.V.E., Gale Force, and Sanxtion.
While the band has often been compared to Iron Maiden in style, that is only partly accurate. Sure there are some mild similarities in the vocal department between Mike Lee and Bruce Dickinson, but to write Barren Cross off as copycats is not fair. Musically, though both are firmly planted in the heavy metal style, they are quite dissimilar in approach.
What many fans have appreciated about Barren Cross was their straightforward and unapologetic lyrical approach. Take “Believe” (found both on the EP of that name, and also on the debut full-length album Rock for the King, incidentally my favorite of the band’s releases) for example. The song is an earnest invocation for the listener to put their trust in Jesus. While some lines border on cringy at this stage in history (“Better than pot, Jesus rocks! Come and believe!”), this was the 80s after all, and the plea to “believe” still stands.
