Over the course of the three decades of my life, I have been exposed to thousands of songs and many hundreds of albums. While there is something to learn from almost everything you listen to, these albums have influenced the way I write, arrange, and construct music, and many also have molded the direction that I have pursued with Sacred Blade in terms of packaging, presentation and philosophy. Although it would be impossible to fully list the range of music that has influenced the songwriting and philosophy behind Sacred Blade, the albums and artists listed below have contributed in some significant way to the workings behind Sacred Blade.

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I first heard this album the evening of a massive thunderstorm, on an island outside of Edmonton, Alberta, while the family was on vacation. This was only the third or fourth album I had ever purchased, and it instantly became an example of the powerful production and the complex arrangements I would grow fond of. The vocal harmonies and massive guitar sound fleshed amongst keyboard layers created an atmosphere that inspired my approach to texture building. The use of acoustic guitars was an early influence to contrast with the heavy guitar oriented music that I was to grow into. The album artwork also influenced my taste for non-traditional cover concepts. An interesting note: due to a persistent skip on my original LP version, I discovered a very influential example of changing time signatures, as the opening drum fill in Suite Madam Blue cut off two beats early, which I thought was a very cool thing, I only discovered years later that this wasn't intended!

My discovery of Boston was a turning point in my development as a writer, arranger, producer and engineer. Don't Look Back featured a wealth of inspirational material. Musically it offered an example of elaborate arrangements, multilayered guitars and harmony vocals along with dramatic production. This album also defined the "do it yourself" attitude I adopted for Sacred Blade, fashioned from the evidence Tom Scholz presented for this methodology. Perhaps if Tom had mentioned how difficult and time consuming handling all the aspects of the production are there would have been a different outcome, but in following Boston's lead, Sacred Blade are taking longer than ever in the production of their follow up works.

In my opinion, this album demonstrates perfection in musical form, evidenced by a careful balance of material flowing seamlessly from song to song, creating a listening experience that should be enjoyed in its entirety. The attention to detail, the elaborate packaging, and the cohesiveness of this album show the pinnacles that can be acheived in music writing and production. This work serves as a benchmark for the construction of an album, with each piece in the diversity of the material acting to heighlight its surrounding material. Pink Floyd's musical attitude has left its signature on the Sacred Blade sound. Aside from being a landmark release, Dark Side... was a decent effort for a band who were about to be dropped by their label.

The debut offering from ex-Deep Purple vocalist Rod Evans, ex-Iron Butterfly members Larry Rhinehart and Lee Dorman, and Johnny Winter drumer Bobby Caldwell helped define the roots of Sacred Blade's progressive nature. Both sides of this album feature continuous music, and segues from piece to piece form a single composition out of several musical themes and moods. The arrangements are eleborate with a multiplicity of time signatures and instrumentation. Though hard to discern, the lyrics use abstract imagery instead of contemporary themes, which force the listener to imagine what the songs are about. Through a progression of alternately heavy then subtle instrumentation, the album pulls the listener along and is another that deserves to be listened to in its entirety.

Aside from the fact that they were Canadian, BTO provided a grounding in straight ahead hard rock, while Randy Bachman (yet another writer/performer/producer) managed to experiment with and integrate a blend of influences into the arrangements and production. A prime example of this would be the solo section of "Blue Collar" which features a multitude of guitar parts, styles and production, all of which are memorable, and carry the listener through a changing aural experience as the solo progresses. Although I tend to steer away from Bachman's production style with each guitarist occupying either the right or left channel of the stereo spectrum, early BTO albums allowed the study of guitar arrangements with no nonsense guitars in your face production. BTO's simple, yet effective use of a riff was influential in many of Sacred Blade's songs, as is the diversity of material the band covered.

There are few vocalists that can rival Rob Halford's range and power. That combined with the twin guitar assault dominant in all of Judas Priest's work, and their use of unusual arrangements, and alternative lyrical themes made Priest a major influence on the band's early material. Both guitarist Will Rascan and myself were impressed by Priest's ability to command powerful guitar orchestration interlaced with Halford's intense vocals. The production on this album remains my favorite of all the Priest albums, raw, crisp and domineering, with the careful inclusion of sound effects to heighten the effect. Priest's early repertoire was a major force behind our creative drive and direction.

The first Rush album I ever heard left a lasting impression with its compositional perfectionism, and awe inspiring musicianship. Neil Peart's drumming became the example for the level of performance I wanted within Sacred Blade. Fortunately, both original drummer Paul Davis and current drummer Ted Zawadzki share my admiration for Mr. Peart's skill, which has made drum arrangements easier to accomplish as we can all speak Peartian. Neil's precise command of language and lyrical style has also affected my development as a lyricist. Musically, Rush provide another source of high quality writing, production and presentation with superb craftsmanship which has established a level of performance to aspire to.