Worship as a genre of music is more often than not, a stale, dry, repetitive sound. And I understand that worship music isn't always about being creative or trying to break a mold... But why shouldn't it be? I don't think it would piss God off if his people used their God given, God inspired creativity to do something new as an original expression of worship to the Almighty.
Sorry... Got a little soapboxy there....
Nonparell is the newest band on Come and Live Records and their debut, Heaven Come Down, is the best worship record I've heard this year. There's a rawness to the record that I absolutely love. The lyrics drip with honesty and there's a realness that I feel is missing from a lot of modern worship records. Not that other records aren't honest, but Heaven Come Down feels different.
If you're looking for something different and a new compelling worship record, I highly recommend Nonparell's Heaven Come Down.
*Tooth and Nail might be back....
What I knew about the Wedding before listening to No Direction:
The band has toured countlessly with Project 86 and members of the Wedding have been the live version of Project 86 for a couple of years.
That's it.
So it was a completely fresh and unbiased listen my first spin through No Direction.
And damn, these guys are good!
Dave Grohl might have declared rock and roll dead but the Wedding didn't get that memo because No Direction is chock full of great rock and roll songs.
No Direction, In The End, and The Lesser Worth all kick off the record at 100%. Full-blown rock and roll. No Direction has one of the catchiest hooks on the record while The Lesser Worth has a great breakdown and showcases Matt Shelton's screaming vocals perfectly. The Raconteur is a little more ballady but it's a high energy ballad (if such a thing exists). Hang On Love would rank in the same file that holds Jimmy Eat World's recent work. Low key, driving rock and roll with a strong hook.
The Wildest Ocean is a beautiful song. Simple guitar and vocal track until the second time through the bridge that really focuses on the lyrics. The song never explodes, but you wouldn't want it to. Mors Tua Nos Vita keeps it simple but reaches a great crescendo. It's a nice respite and you're ready for more upbeat, kick start my heart rock when Kill Any Excise comes blazing in.
In a year that's seen Tooth and Nail but out great record after great record, No Direction is one of my favorites. The Wedding have done rock and roll proud.
Awakened is amazing! Let's not sugarcoat it and just get to the point. As I Lay Dying have delivered an amazing record!
Admittedly, I wasn't a huge fan of The Powerless Rise when it came out. The album just didn't have the same catchiness that An Ocean Between Us did. And while it was heavier, it just didn't hit on the right notes for me.
Awakened on the other hand is great! Cauterize punches you right in the face, kicking off the album right. A Greater Foundation has all the catchiness that The Powerless Rise was missing, while retaining all the heaviness and speed. And that's the marriage on Awakened. It's the great melodies and catchy hooks and riffs that made As I Lay Dying a big deal, but combines that with an aggression that the band tried so hard to capture on The Powerless Rise.
Josh Gilbert's vocals sound stronger and they compliment Tim Labesis' growl nicely. Nick Hipa's solo's are fantastic and everything about Awakened works and makes for an excellent metal record. And as much as I loved the record on the first spin through, it keeps getting better and better with each listen.
Awakened is a strong album of the year contender and without a doubt one of the best metal records you'll hear in 2012.
I'm usually one to buy whatever it is Come and Live is selling but the White Collar Sideshow has been an exception. Just something about the band has always escaped me. I'd figure a band that hints at Tantrum of the Muse would strike my fancy but White Collar Sideshow has always just been weird enough for me to not get into.
But there's something different about The WitcHunt. It's more... Sinister... More carnival... More industrial. It really does play like a circus gone awry.
The WitcHunt is horror movie. A fun horror movie, but a horror movie none the less. At times I'm reminded of Nine Inch Nails (really really really early NIN), Mortal, and Massivivid but it comes in spurts.
American Lies is a dark and mysterious track but the chorus has this incredible element of whimsy that creates interesting textures and emotions when you listen to the song. Go Eat Wormshas a great driving percussion section that drives the song with a hard hitting feel. This Is A Kill moves at a slow pace while Moonshines hits full blown industrial status. Black Heart Hearse is a circus version of what made Marilyn Manson so popular. It's a gothic circus. Dark but fun.
The WitcHunt is completely original and has enough fun and whimsy that I think even if you're not a fan of dark, gloomy music, you'll find something really enjoyable about this record. Even if you're not a fan of White Collar Sideshow, as I wasn't, I'd still give this record a spin.
I don't normally post news but this is too huge not to report on. Christian Black metal legends Extol have reunited and are working on a new record!!!
There have been teasers for a documentary over the last couple of months and the newest one reveals that the band is back and are working on a new record.
Last year's Celestial Completion was a huge disappointment for me and I'm sure a bunch of Becoming The Archetype fans. Dichotomy was a heavy record that expanded on the band's black metal influence and while I appreciate the band trying to expand their sound and try new things, the prog-metal stylings of Celestial Completion just didn't work for me.
So I think naturally, there are questions and fears that's arise with I Am. Will BTA continue in their prog-metal ways or are they going back to some black metal influenced metal? Or would the band give us something completely different?
And door number three is what Becoming The Archetype choose.
I Am is brutal and puts anything BTA has done before to shame. Riff after devastating riff, solo after killer solo, there's nothing to hate about I Am.
The intro to The Ocean Walker gives a little hesitance to what is to come but as soon as the track kicks in, all fears are put aside. New vocalist Chris McCane is strong. As much as I loved Jason Wisdom's vocals, McCane's hit with an intensity and brutality that Wisdom never had. The band even gives on a nod to their former orchestral leanings with the instrumental track, The Machine Killer. It's a light moment in a full on assault of metal goodness.
I Am is one of the best metal records I've heard this year, and there have been some great ones. Any fan who was disappointed with Celestial Completion will quickly forgive BTA when they hear I Am.
Lecrae - The Drop Dodgin' Bullets - Dodgin' Bullets Beautiful Eulogy - Entitlement 1 Seventh Star - The Seventh Star Braille - Too Many Tomorrows Call To Perserve - Functionary Deep Space Five - Body Double A Love For Enemies - Rise Of The Phoenix LA Symphony - Very Expensive No Innocent Victim - C.E.B. Trip Lee - War xDisciplex AD - Trial By Fire Propaganda and Odd Thomas - So Help Me Sleeping Giant - The Cross Is Suicide Alert - Red Spade Advent - Revival Grits - Here We Go Jesus Wept - The Final Word
You wait and wait and hope for a band to resurface or for a new album from a favorite artist so much so that your hopes and ideas of what the album will sound like will almost always fall short (See The Get Up Kids' There Are Rules).
The Insyderz have teased The Sinner's Songbook for a a couple of years now. It was supposed to see a release last year but funding issues overtook the album and it was pushed back and a Kickstarter campaign was started to raise support for the album. The Sinner's Songbook is the first of the big 3 ska reunions to give us a full-legnth. The Insyderz never got the same press and hype that Five Iron Frenzy and The Supertones got but I always felt like The Insyderz were the strongest of the 3 and always released strong albums start to finish.
So I can't help but be a little disappointed that The Sinner's Songbook isn't a 10.
Now, it's not a bad record. In fact, it's a really good record. But there are a couple moments that I'm not super stoked about.
Angel of Death doesn't open the record off on the strongest note. I like the solemn horn the opens the song but it just takes a while for me to me like, "Ok, I dig this." But I dig it for that long. Matt Baird from Spoken adds his vocals on the song and it just doesn't do anything for me. The Nevermind Kids picks things up. Upbeats. It makes my little heart smile. The Sinner's Songbook is a nice song and I like Reese Roper and Matt Morginsky adding their vocals to the track. Send the Fire and Our Darkest Hour kind of pick up where Soundtrack to a Revolution left off. It's clearly a new direction but it's a similar wave length. All Creatures is booth a killer roots/reggae track and an acknowledgement of the band's worship albums. Like Drawing Blood From a Baby is probably my favorite track on the record. Has a great aggression and a fun ska spirit that the Insyderz always balanced nicely.
It's a solid record and I'm glad to have ska back. The Insyderz haven't lost a step but there's just something that seems to be missing. Maybe it's just too high expectations not being met. And that would be my fault, not the band's.
It was a sad day when Thrice announced their hiatus. The only thing that made that pain a little easier to take was hearing that Dustin Kensrue was going to continue to record and release music.
The Modern Post is Kensrue's new musical avenue. A worship project being distributed by Mars Hill Music.
Grace Alone is without a doubt a worship album for those not into conventional worship records.
Grace Alone is a new wave worship record and I mean in sound. Just As I Am starts with a dark synth bass line before Kensrue's guitar line kicks in. The track reminds me a lot of She Wants Revenge's first record (Ya know... Without all the sexual themes). Grace Alone might be the poppiest song Kensrue's ever written. Before the Throne sounds like it could have fit in Thrice's rotation while Amazing Grace (yes, the same one) is full on 80's new wave goodness. White As Snow ends the ep on a Tears For Fears note.
It's a great ep and a taste of Kensrue's musical direction post Thrice (at least I hope there are more records like Grace Alone). Yes, it's a worship record but it's unlike any worship record you've ever heard. And that's a good thing.
I've come along way on Lecrae since he release Rehab two years ago. I also think Lecrae has come along way since Rehab. Having spun Gravity a few times, Church Clothes now sounds like a preview of what was to come. Like giving fans a chance to adjust to a new direction and sound so Gravity would not completely take them by surprise.
The Drop kicks off Gravity with a fiery intensity that we didn't hear from Lecrae on Rehab. His rhymes are hard hitting has an electric guitar and string section drive the album into high gear as soon as the needle drops. The title track brings things down a bit but it picks back up with Walk With Me. Walk With Me has a great classic sound that reminds me of old school Jay Z, Wu Tang, and even Gnarls Barkley. Free From It All features Mathai from this past season of the Voice and her vocals add a great layer.
While on a large scale Gravity feels more mature and for an older hip hop feel, there are still tracks that would've fit in on Rehab (Fakin, Violence, and I Know). But the way the album ebbs and flows, those tracks don't come off as forced. It's who Lecrae is and it's part of who is audience is. There are so many high points and great tracks on Gravity, that what I didn't like about Rehab, doesn't bug me on Gravity. Tell The World is my favorite track on the record. Mali Music's hook is catchy and the piano riff the drives the track is great. Lecrae rhymes are on point and it's a great declarative song. Like a better version of Background.
For me, Gravity is Lecrae best work yet. Every track is solid and Lecrae's rhymes sound better then they ever have. Gravity is not a record to miss!
It came as a surprise to me when I saw that Tooth and Nail had signed Abandoned Pools. It was either on Much Music or MTV 2's Subterranean but as soon as I saw the video for Abandoned Pools' The Remedy I was hooked. Humanistic hit on every level and became one of my favorite records. But I didn't know the band still existed when T&N announced the signed.
Sublime Currency is every bit as good as Humanistic... But it's a completely different record. Where Humanistic was biting and had an edge and bitter undertone, Sublime Currency is sweet and melodic.
The title track opens up the record and sets the tone. A synth heavy sound that rings of Walter's Eels past. The track is a fun rock track. Songs like Unrehearsed, 9 Billion, Marigolds, and Legionnaire are all stand out tracks but that isn't to say anything negative about the album. Sublime Currency is a top to bottom great record with no weak spots.
In a year when Tooth and Nail has done nothing but release good record after good record, Sublime Currency is the best record they've put out so far. 11 years after Humanistic, Abandoned Pools delivers another amazing album.
