Free Music Friday - Unashamed Discography

This is the best free music Friday yet and you are not reading the headline wrong. You can down both the Unashamed records, Silence and Reflection for free! If you're just getting into Christian hardcore or have been living under a rock you need to pick up these albums! Both are classic and Reflection features the great cover of Rich Mullins' Awesome God.

Both records are available for download here.

The Meltdown 25

New Music from Onward to Olympas, Eisley, Emery, and Abandon Kansas.

Fallstar - Reconciler. Refiner. Igniter

I have a love/hate thing with Come & Live Records. I love the label and what they stand for. I love that they offer their music for free and I hate picking on them or saying negative things because they do great work as a label and Chad Johnson did run my favorite label, Takehold Records.

But unlike Takehold, which released nothing but killer music, Come & Live is hit or miss with me. And hit or miss is how'd I'd describe the label's latest band Fallstar's debut full-length.

It's not fair to call Fallstar just another metalcore band. There just aren't enough "metal" influences in the bands sound. Not to say that Fallstar doesn't have it's heavy moments but they always seem to be hardcore influenced or some some variation on the Devil Wears Prada.

Side note: I understand that older music fans will argue that this is metalcore. I understand that Fallstar (as well as the Devil Wears Prada) fall under the genre more commonly refered to as Screamo but anything that is a hybrid variation on Underoath I'm calling metalcore. Zao is no longer the metalcore standard. It's sad but true.

The album starts with Hunters, a track that had my interested briefly as the guitar intro led into a meaty breakdown with some solid hardcore vocals. But I was quickly turned away as the clean vocals came in (ruining my hope for a hardcore record). What strikes me as odd is the interplay between the clean and screamed vocals. On Hunters the clean vocals sweep in very reminiscint of As Cities Burn, but the hardcore growls that came before the clean vocals really create an odd balance.

Which is probably my biggest issue with the album. The screamed vocals are so inconsistent and directionless that it makes it hard to listen to. Chris Ratzlaff's vocals are all over the place. Early in the record he's pretty consistent with the deep gutteral growls but at times he goes for the hight pitched screams, that don't really work, and there are moments when he goes for a Daniel Weyandt type sound.

That's not to say Reconciler. Refiner. Igniter is all bad. Black Clouds and Drunkaholics Anonymous are solid songs. ANd I can admit that I'm not Fallstar's target audience. If you're a fan of TDWP or Rise Records bands, this is an album to check out. It's a decent debut but the band is playing in a scene that's already over crowded and I don't know if Fallstar stands out enough to make a splash. They don't for my ears.

You can download the record for free at http://comeandlive.com/downloads/

Classic Album: Every Day Life - American Standard

In an article I wrote last year I mentioned that rapcore was my gateway into heavy music, and I think that was probably the case for a lot of Christian music fans who listened to hardcore.

American Standard was EDL's second album and it had a different dimension then Disgruntled. It was less angry, more fun. But at the same time, the songs are more aggressive and heavier (at times).

American Standard rips right in with the title track and the Pushing, both coming at you with a punk aggression. Salt Circles with a smooth groove guitar riff. Birth Right is a fun track that gets your head bobbing. The hook is super catchy and infectious. Just a fun track.

And that's where the comedic side of EDL comes out. 5 tracks in, EDL has a "hidden" track. A fake motocross ad/song comes blaring onto your stereo taking you by surprise. It's so funny and so oddly placed that one can't help but question what the band was thinking.

Transcend is my favorite EDL song. A nice mix of heavy and melodic. Residence is Every Day Life's softer side. A nice ballad near the end of the album.

I know rapcore is a turnoff for a lot of people and most people talking about rapcore as something they used to listen to when they were younger and didn't know better. But American Standard isn't a record to ignore. The songs are strong. The rhymes aren't cheesy and the guitar riffs are strong. Tedd Cookerly had one of the best screams in music. This isn't a record to overlook.

Ironwill - Unturned

I mentioned last week when I pimped the new free Blood and Ink Sampler (here) that the label would probably quickly become a new favorite of mine and I would cover their bands because I enjoyed their sampler. So Ironwill is the newest band to the Blood and Ink roster and their debut, Unturned, is a thing of hardcore beauty.

There is nothing inovative or original about Ironwill and I don't care one bit! While I love Facedown and Solid State Records and both labels produce great music, the general genre of good Christian hardcore is kind of dead. Metalcore/deathcore/screamo or whatever have taken over the Christian loud music scene. So it's good to hear bands keeping away from trends and just being heavy.

Unturned reminds me at times of Shai Hulud and Strongarm but their sound doesn't quite fit that late 90's Florida hardcore sound. What reminds me of those two bands is Ironwill's ability to incorporate melodic guitar lines while never losing their intensity. I Am the Clay is a fantastic hardcore song that has one of the best melodic guitar riffs I've heard in hardcore. It ins't emo like Hopesfall used to do. It's just real pretty and super intense.

Unturned might be the best hardcore album released this year, thus far. I wish it were longer but the album is so good that I don't mind hitting the play button again when the albums done. Great album!

Note: I didn't mean to say that Ironwill is an unoriginal band. What I mean was the band plays old school hardcore. They might not be reinventing the wheel but they do it justice. Check this album out.

Becoming the Archetype - Celestial Completion

Dichotomy was the record where I noticed Becoming the Archetype. Terminate Damnation and the Physics of Fire just weren't doing anything for me. But Dichotomy was different. So I was looking forward to Celestial Completion. Where was Becoming the Archetype going to go on this record?

Celestial Completion has been a difficult record for me to wrap my head around. I like the record... At moments.

After an orchestral metal intro, flute and choir lead, The Magnetic Sky kicks in with a standard deathcore/metalcore riff that takes me by surprise, as it's the last thing you'd expect to hear from BTA. It's a weird song for me right out of the gate. Maybe it's more prog-metal then I was expecting. The clean vocals on the hook are nice and the song is excellent. But it's more Mastodon (whom I love) then the death metal I was hoping for.

Internal Illumination is more of what I was expecting to hear from BTA. Hard hitting metal. But then Path of the Beam starts in a similar deathcore fashion that the Magnetic Sky did. The song is a mix between BTA death metal, deathcore, and prog-metal. Elemental Wrath and Xenosynthesis are both solid metal songs. The guitar solos are killer on both tracks.

Cardiac Rebellion is a track that leaves me scratching my head. Every time I hear the song I think "Why the hell is there a skacore song in the middle of this album?" It doesn't make sense and completely draws me out of the album.

There are moments on Celestial Completion that are great and a nice follow up to Dichotomy, without every sounding like Dichotomy. And I will give props to Becoming the Archetype for trying new things and expand their sound. It's not proggy enough to be their Crack the Skye but the prog elements are good enough that BTA could expand on them with their next record and really blow fans away with a killer album.

The good does outweigh the bad on Celestial Completion. I just wish there weren't so many head scratching moments.

Free Music Friday - Facedown Fest Sampler

Facedown Records is offering a new sampler free in honor of the upcoming Facedown Fest. Great stuff from what was favorite favorite label last year. Music from Your Memorial, Gideon, For Today, War of Ages, Saving Grace, and tons more.

You can download it for free here: http://www.amazon.com/Facedown-Records-Fest-2011-Sampler/dp/B004SLCYRO