John Bush (ARMORED SAINT / ANTHRAX / CATEGORY 7)
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Interview by Joey Diabolic
Photography // Ignacio Orellana
Armored Saint is set to release their upcoming album, 'Emotion Factory Reset' towards the end of May 2026. Current singles include 'Close To The Bone' and the face-punch that is 'Hit A Moonshot'. Definitely bringing the heavy and the album production on these songs is spectacular. You guys must be feeling really good about this new album. Could you give us a bit of insight on how 'Emotion Factory Reset' was forged? We were due for a new record since our previous record Punching the sky came out in 2020. We went about it our usual way of creating by putting ideas together from everyone and then having Joey make elaborate killer sounding demos to work to. We ended keeping a lot of those vocal performances.
It was announced earlier this year you’ll be performing at the 2026 Milwaukee Metal Festival with two sets: Armored Saint and Category 7 (performing your Anthrax-era material). Any bands you’re personally looking forward to seeing again or checking out for the first time? Well let me be clear, Category 7 is not playing. Ministry should be killer. Death Angel is doing their Act 3 show which should be fun.
Last year, there were 3 special events that took place... these were the ‘Anthrax Years’ shows. I know us fans have been clamoring for such an experience for forever, lol. How did this all finally come to fruition? How did it feel to dust off those songs after all that time? I’ve been talking about it for such a long time that I needed to put up or shut up. There was some free time last December so I went for it. It was a blast. The fans got a bit emotional as did I. The band was prepared and killed it. The songs still felt very fresh after all these years.
You have an incredibly powerful vocal style that has so much soul and character to it. What first inspired you to sing and what was the moment of realization you "found" your voice? I really don’t think I actually found my voice till I was about 30 to be honest. One of my earliest best friends suggested I sing for a talent show when I was about 14. I went for it. I’m sure I sounded horrible but I got the taste for performing. As much as I love metal singers I’m equally inspired by R&B. That’s where the soul part comes from and thank you.
Armored Saint appeared in ‘Hellraiser 3: Hell On Earth’, performing “Hanging Judge” (from the 1991 album ‘Symbol of Salvation’). Any cool behind-the-scenes stories of how that opportunity came about? What was it like working with Pinhead himself (Doug Bradley)? Were you a fan of Clive Barker’s work prior to this or was this more of a new experience that hooked you in? Certainly dug the first 2 Hellraiser movies. Pinhead (Doug) was very nice and it was cool to be involved in the movie although the original plan was for us to be murdered. Didn’t happen. Wish it would’ve.
Speaking of horror, what are your (3) all-time personal favorite horror films? The Thing from Carpenter. Exorcist (No Dami). First Hellraiser.
Anthrax brought you on-board in '92 and released one of my all-time favorite albums, 1993's ’Sound of White Noise’. How was the process of developing that album similar and/or different to your time in Armored Saint? Well, the simple fact of just participating with different people. Not only was the band creating new music but I was developing new friendships. We ended making quite a cool record. My one and ‘ONLY’ gold record!
Cover-to-cover, 'Sound of White Noise’ is a god-tier release. “Room For One More”, “Packaged Rebellion”, “Hy Pro Glo”, “1,000 Points of Hate”, “Black Lodge”, “Only” (considered a “perfect” song by James Hetfield of Metallica) and “Potters Field” (love this song so much, I did my own rendition of it!). Then there were those B-Sides… The Smith’s cover of “London” (which appeared in the ‘Airheads’ film), the Beastie Boys cover of “Looking Down The Barrel of a Gun” (‘Bevis and Butthead Experience’ music compilation) and a personal favorite, “Poison My Eyes” (the ‘Last Action Hero’ soundtrack). Was there a particular reason why ‘Poison My Eyes’ was excluded from the 2007 Expanded Edition (and ultimately pulled from all streaming platforms)? It’s such a banger of a track and completely underrated! I actually don’t know anything about that and it’s news to me. I guess the theory was we had to leave one song off the record. That was the one. That being said the song was put on that movie soundtrack and it ended up being a platinum record.
I had the honor of seeing Pantera, Anthrax and Coal Chamber perform at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center (Poughkeepsie, NY) on January 23rd, 1998. Such an unforgettable night for me (for a multitude of reasons, including catching Dimebag’s guitar pick!). Played the ‘3: Watch it Go’ VHS on loop for weeks before the concert, so I was up-to-speed on their partying, drinking and the shenanigans that ensued. What are some of your fondest memories of that tour and of Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul? The first one that comes to mind is those guys egging me on to climb onto a forklift and drive it around backstage in I believe Albuquerque. I almost plowed into these big baffles that were separating the backstage people. Could’ve been real bad. Luckily it wasn’t but I did get in trouble. One of many memories I have tooling around the country with those guys. They are missed.
