In case you didn't see my post on twitter/facebook awhile ago, i've joined the Indie Vision Music family as a reviewer / news poster. IVM is a website dedicated to covering "Christian" bands, usually with an alternative sound like punk or hardcore. IVM focuses on smaller bands, either unsigned or signed to smaller labels like Tooth & Nail or Facedown Records.
This is really exciting for me, i contacted Brandon who started and runs IndieVisionMusic.com and asked him to check out this music blog and within a few days he asked me to join the team. I love everything about music, analyzing and discussing it, and this will give me a bigger audience to do that (hopefully!). They've asked me to do album reviews as well as post any news i hear or new bands to check out. On top of that they would like to start posting reviews of live shows, something i've been doing here for awhile, so hopefully i'll be posting some of my recaps as well.
I'm going to continue this blog because it's basically an online music diary for me, i reference it all the time. Plus IVM tries to cover only "Christian" related music, but i don't solely listen to Christian music, and this blog gives me a place to continue posting about bands that don't fit the IVM standard.
I hope you'll continue to follow me over at IVM, so far i've had good responses on my reviews. I was really excited when the rep for Blood & Ink Records contacted me about doing reviews for two debut EP's coming out this month. He sent me the two EP's (for free of course!) ahead of the release date and i got to check 'em out, then post my reviews. I'm excited to get my foot in the door doing something i'm really passionate about, writing and discussing music, and i hope i can continue to move up in this field (this spot isn't paid...yet!).
I really need to thank the music friends in my life for helping develop my passion for music, from the "Fall Children" growing up in Folsom, to all my friends from CCU who introduced to metal and scremo, to my current group of friends that helped me discover music outside of the hardcore world. i hope you still give me feedback and ideas and comments on my posts!
“The problems in our lives seems so big. I can barely see the horizon over these giants.”
These are the opening lyrics to Dependency’s debut EP titled Convicted, released through Blood & Ink Records on May 25th. Hailing from Nashville Dependency broke onto the scene last summer with their energetic Spirit-filled hardcore. They gave away their 3-song demo for free to anyone who would take it, and from there the buzz began to grow. The 3-song demo was so good and it left you wanting more and now we finally have it!
Convicted is 7 tracks, about 20 minutes of solid hardcore. It has that raw feel that good hardcore should have, less time spent on over-producing the sound and more time conveying the passionate energy these kids have. The mix is pretty good although at some points the vocals can get a bit lost, but that’s usually before the gang vocals come with full-force to support singer Kyle Fesmire’s message. These songs are going to be crazy live, get your Kung-fu kicks ready!
The EP opens with the “Goliath”, an honest look at the problems in our lives and the reality that we all feel a bit overwhelmed at times. The track starts off great, but after about a minute the tracks falls into a bit of a musical intro/interlude. It seems a bit early in the EP for a break in my opinion. After the first song the second track “Convicted”, brings you back to what you came for. Probably the best song of the collection with a message of hope, a song to bring people together combined with the urgency of the chorus “We are convicted and we will prevail!”
Next up is another interlude track, “Forgiven”, which may have inserted here to give you a second to reflect on the truth already spoken by Dependency, or maybe to give you a second to catch your breath before the album really picks up. The next two songs come from the 3-song demo, “Ready For Conflict” and “Fragile”. Once again Dependency’s ability to craft a hardcore song is apparent, taking cues from bands like Strongarm and Verse with the speed and breakdowns in each song. These two tracks are very solid, I’m glad they carried them over from the demo. The vocal style really reminded me of Life In Your Way with their unashamed confessions of failure and their outspoken faith in Christ, they don’t leave any doubt where they stand and what they want to accomplish.
This EP was mixed by Jay Maas who has also worked with other hardcore bands like Verse, Have Heart, Defeater and Shipwreck, and Dependency has the sound and feel to lineup with any of those bands. The last real hardcore track on the album, “Vultures, Scavengers”, is the first track where you find a little darker sound. Previous songs feature an honest and optimistic, hopeful theme, while “Vultures, Scavengers” paints a picture of becoming overrun with guilt, and how the Vultures “…circle my head, waiting for me to fail again.” But Dependency isn’t here to bring everyone down, they’re here to lead and the last line of the song; “I find my oasis in God.” Is letting everyone know what you need in your darkest hour.
The last track, “Decay”, is a slow-moving song, plodding along with ambient guitars and stripped down drumming. Not really a favorite of mine but it’s a nice contrast to the rest of the EP, and good ending track with a dark feel and almost eerie effect. It feels like the main theme of Convicted is confessing that this life is tough, there are going to be struggles and failures, but “These giants are but specks before my God”.
OVERALL, I’m really encouraged by Convicted. Dependency hasn’t been around for a whole year yet but already they’re making a name for themselves. This EP might be a little tough for listeners who don’t have an ear for hardcore, with it’s grittiness and tough sound, but the message of hope is a message for everyone. Each listen to Convicted is an aggressive onslaught of passionate hardcore music that will prompt you to get back on your feet and put your hope in Christ!
Band:All At Risk Title: s/t Label: independent Release Date: Feb 19, 2010 Reviewer: BMer
Tracklisting:
I'm Sorry (For The Last Time)
Forever (I Need You)
My Everything
Here's To You
The Other Side
Not My Life
Falling For You
Nothing Left
The Fight
Through The Fire
All At Risk is an unsigned Denver-based pop-punk band that recently released their debut full-length in February. The self-titled album features 10 tracks recorded at Side 3 Studios in downtown Denver and can be purchased online at itunes.
Poppy punk-rock might be a dying genre, maybe punk-rock altogether, but a few bands are staying true to their roots and the music they love, and one of those bands would be All At Risk. Based in the Mile High City, All At Risk features singer/song writer Jared Phifter, Jon Davis on drums, Jeff Manning on bass and Ben Jenkins on guitars. Jared and Jon have played music together for the past 10 years, first in the band Fallenshort and now with All At Risk. Their chemistry is evident throughout the album.
For an unsigned band All At Risk have the sound of veterans, putting in years of hard work and do-it-yourself effort to rise in the Colorado music scene. A few things have stayed consistent through the years though; they’re love for a positive, poppy punk-rock sound and their faith in Christ. Although they list bands like MxPX and Blink-182 as influences, they sound more like Broadway Calls and New Found Glory, with more focus on singing and quality song writing and not just blasting through songs at high-speed.
This record jumps right out of the gate with an upbeat track called “I’m Sorry (for the last time)” and “Forever (I Need You)”, two tracks with energy and speed. I love the fact that songs have multiple elements to them, a variety of drumming and aren’t just resigned to 4-chord predictable song structure. Jared has a unique sounding voice with a raw, unfiltered (and un-autotuned!) sound that quickly grows on you. Forever has a guitar riff that reminds me of Blink-182 during the Dude-Ranch days though I doubt we’d catch Blink singing about the sacrifices that Jared sings about on this track.
The third track has a special meaning behind it, but you’ll figure that out pretty quickly after Jared sings the question: “will you wear this ring?”. His proposal to his girlfriend at the time (now his wife) will be played over and over for years to come. The track slows way down for ending setting up the next few tracks as the slower part of the album.
“Here’s To You” could be a song for any graduation, looking back on the good times, a solid ballad with a catchy singalong chorus. “Not My Life” is my favorite track on the record, but that’s probably the metal-fan in me. It’s easily the heaviest track on the record, fast-paced and crunching guitars, for 2:00 minutes All At Risk let their hair down and rocked out.
There’s two final upbeat punk songs with “Nothing Left”, which takes off at a blistering pace before settling into one of the best tracks on the album and “The Fight” which features some solid guitar work. The last track of the album is a subdued “Through the Fire”, a slower, more serious song, fitting for the closer.
Overall I think this is a great effort by the band. The production quality is solid for an unsigned band with good low-end and clear vocals. My biggest complaint about the album would be the track order, the record starts off so upbeat and energetic but after the first two tracks the feel really dies down. The energy really doesn’t pick up again until track 6, and I realize that every album has slower songs but it just feels a little early in the track-order on this one. I do love the fact that from start to finish you get solid tracks, no intro tracks or interlude stuff, just 10 solid songs. Grab this album and blast it in your car, don’t be ashamed to sing along!
my buddy Tahoe and I ventured down to the Gothic Theatre to catch one of our favorite bands; As I Lay Dying who were on tour with support from War Of Ages, Blessthefall, and Demon Hunter. When I originally saw this tour lineup I was very excited. I am a fan of AILD and War of Ages, I’ve listened to Blessthefall, and I was interested to hear Demon Hunter. I've been trying to catch War Of Ages live for awhile now after i missed them at Sonshine Festival last year, then they had to bail on the 10 for $10 Tour right before the Denver stop at the end of last summer. After seeing the show however I think this lineup was very poor.
First though, As I Lay Dying, the headliner. They always put on a stellar show and this was one of the better performances I’ve seen by them. Even though they just released a new record, The Powerless Rise, they only played 2 songs from the record. It always cool to hear new tracks live, but as a fan going to see a band live you want to hear the songs you know and love, and As I Lay Dying understands that. They played all of their big songs starting with the opener 94 Hours then into An Ocean Between Us. About 4 songs in they played the first track off the new record, Beyond Our Suffering, and it seemed to go over pretty well. Since their last record, An Ocean Between Us, was released about 3 years ago fans were hungry for new music, and i'm sure a good portion of the crowd had already gotten their hands on the new album and were singing along!
Speaking of singing along the energy in the Gothic was awesome. The show was sold out and the floor was energetic and supporting the bands well. with four huge records under their belt, As I Lay Dying is able to play a set that is filled with great songs, and every song incited the crowd more. So after Through Struggle and Beyond Our Suffering the band went off stage to get different guitars. this little break might have been the most impressive moment of the night when Jordan entertained us with an intense drum solo. for most of the Jordan was swinging his hair with all of his appendages going in different directs so that if you couldn't hear what he was playing you'd think it'd sound like a bunch of nonsense, except that its not! he's got to be one of the best drummers out there, just solid!
The middle of the set included songs Sound of Truth, Within Destruction, and Forsaken. As I Lay Dying was blasting through songs, rarely taking a second to talk between songs which i personally enjoy (less talk, more rock). This led into the 2nd new song of the night, Vacancy, which was an interesting choice. Tim Lambesis introduced the song as "a fast one" which was apparently the reason it was chosen, however there are much better songs on the new album that would have been great to hear but maybe they haven't prepped them for the live show yet. After Vacancy they played Confined, Meaning in Tragedy, and the crowd favorite I Never Wanted, which featured the crowd in full voice!
After the "last" song, Tim thanked the crowd and they left the stage. I'm personally a little done with planned encores but whatever, As I Lay Dying were obviously coming back to play some more, maybe Tim needed some air after playing at Denver's high altitude. A few minutes after chants of "one more song" the lights dimmed and on-stage spotlights began to search the crowd. combined with the darkness and the smoke this created an eerie effect, almost like flashlights searching through a dark foggy night. Then we were greeted with the sound of Nick's lead guitar, playing the epic intro Separation. Soon joined by Phil's guitar the encore was on, AILD played Separation, Nothing Left and finally Forever.
The great thing about As I Lay Dying's live set is that everyone in the band gets involved. Tim is a solid front-man with his strong vocals and confidence, he moves around the stage and gets the kids involved. Josh on bass and supports with clean vocals, while he's not the best singer around he's still gives a ton of energy to the crowd. I've already talked about how amazing Jordan is on the drums, it's great that he's up on an elevated drum-riser and instead of rocking a double-kick pedal, he goes with two separate bass drums with always looks great! And the guitarist are great, Nick and Phil totally compliment each other, and even though Phil is technically the rhythm guitarist, he gets his chance to show off his chops.
The supporting bands were alright. War of Ages opened the show, played a 5-song set including 2 new songs off their recent release Eternal. Then they also played their staples opening with Through the Flames and then closed with Standing Firm followed by All Consuming Fire. They added a little humor at the end of their set playing the intro to Enter Sandman (Metallica) then stopping with a "just joking!". Blessthefall was solid but maybe a little too choreographed. The had "dance moves" and just seemed out-of-place with these other metal bands. Demon Hunter had a ton of crowd support, but again i think they were out-of-place as well. True metal fans were not impressed with the band and voiced their opinion, but were usually drowned out by the very vocal Christian support.
The show was great, the only disappointing thing for me was that none of the bands talked about their faith, or even mentioned Christ at all. This may have been because it was already assumed to be Christian bands, like Third Day doesn't need to announce what they believe at their shows, but still I've seen AILD before and it's always encouraging to hear bands with such credibility encourage the fans in this way. Maybe next time they'll start adding some of their new songs to their set.
Son of the Morning is the second studio album by American metalcore band Oh, Sleeper, was released on August 25, 2009, through Solid State Records -wikipedia
"Son of the Morning" - *****
"The New Breed" - ***
"In All Honesty" - ****
"Breathing Blood" - ***
"Reveries of Flight" - ***
"World Without A Sun" - ****
"The Fire Dawn" - ***
"A Banquet for Traitors" - ***
"Commissioned by Kings" - *****
"The Finisher" - ****
I was very excited for this album from Oh Sleeper, they are one of my favorite bands.I was a little disappointed though, since this is a “concept” album, with the theme of the battle between God and Satan.As one whole piece the album is awesome, but as individual songs most are not memorable besides Son of the Morning, Commissioned By Kings, and The Finisher.The drumming on this album is excellent, some of the best metal drumming I’ve heard.
What a fun night. Comeback Kid, my favorite band, was once again playing Denver, a city they've toured often. Unfortunately the last few times CBK have come through Denver they've been on some weird tours, including supporting Rise Against at Red Rock Amphitheater. I've seen them a few times over the years, and i was lucky enough to catch them on Scott Wade's last tour, in fact it was one of his last shows before he quit mid-tour. I am more of a fan of Scott's work as the lead singer than Andrew's, but between them both CBK is still solid.
This tour feature Set Your Goals as the headliner, a band that has as many haters as they do fans. I for one, am not really fan. The other bands in support were The Wonder Years and This Time Next Year, two bands that are alright. I had a soccer game this evening so i decided i would play, then jam down to Denver in time to catch CBK. My plan worked perfectly, as i was collecting my ticket from will call the crowd was filing outside for a smoke-break between the bands. as i headed inside i was just hoping that the break was before CBK, not after! But after seeing Andrew Neufield, frontman for CBK walking around with no sweat, i was confident that my timing couldn't have been better.
I killed some time before their set talking with a kid that recognized my Venia shirt, an up-and-coming Christian hardcore band out of Minneapolis. It was cool that he sought me out after seeing the shirt, not many kids know of Venia, yet. Anyway, i got a good spot on the stairs determined to catch at least one song on video before joining the fracas.
As usual Comeback Kid opened with False Idols Fall, a great song and a great opener. The energy was crazy, the venue was packed and the battle to be heard on the mic was on. If you want to know what happens at a hardcore show, basically every kid is battling to get a chance to scream some lines into the microphone, clawing their way to the stage, going over or through people on the way. After you cross the pit of hardcore dancers (think kung-fu meets roid-rage) you must work your way through the gang chorus, about 5-6 people deep at the front of the stage. then you must impress the singer enough that he'll pass you the mic, then you have to show that you know what you're doing and sing the right words. after that, you get your street cred! haha.
Anyway, after the opening song CBK barreled through their "hits" like Broadcasting, Die Tonite, All In A Year, Partners In Crime, Talk is Cheap, and i think Defeated. These songs are great for singalongs, and have sweet breakdowns as well. Andrew is a fine frontman, although he looks a little overwhelmed at times and in interviews he's admitted that he'd rather be on guitar than singing. Either way CBK was full of energy, and the crowd didn't disappoint with plenty of head-walkers and hardcore dancing, people were flying everywhere.
Comeback Kid took a moment to thank Denver for being a great place to play, and promised to come back in the fall after their new record comes out. Their last record was recorded in Fort Collins at the Blasting Room, but this time they opted to record in Canada (where they're from). After their little message the played Industry Standards, which was probably the least favorite song from their set, i'm not sure why they played it, but they did, and it only made the next song, Partners in Crime, even better.
Nearing the end of their set, Andrew led the crowd in a singalong of the chorus for Wake the Dead; "you said you said you said, this time was gonna be different...WAKE UP THE DEAD!" a few times before the band blasted into the song. this is easily the most popular CBK song, and rightfully so, it's pretty epic. They usually always close with this song and we all thought this was the end of the set so the place went off. For some reason though, they decided to play one more track, Step Ahead, but most of the place had already decided they were done so it was a little awkward.
After they played i decided to go home, apparently i was not alone in that decision as many others headed for the door as well. Another solid effort by Comeback Kid, when the come through in Fall on a headlining tour it will be even better!
my video of False Idols Fall: .
False Idols Fall lyrics: YOUR TIME IS UP We’ve been counting down your days Going over every false THING YOU SAY We wish it could be different We wished you stayed the same Tearing down our idols living life OUR OWN WAY Taking the chance to say
All my heros are dead All my heros are dead
Were we too blind to see you were only human like me But we can’t help but feel Empty words they're all you gave Struggling to take back our days
They build you up to watch you fall Can’t you see they can’t be what you want You build them up to watch them fall
Where did we lose control We thought it'd last forever
We're come and count away your days Our heroes are not what they used to be (OUR IDOLS FALL) Our heroes are not what they used to be (OUR IDOLS FALL AWAY)
I could get used to this! Nothing against my homie Aaron Britton but a "Night of Worship" led by Phil Wickham, Leeland and Matt Maher is pretty sweet! The Mercer's and the Boyle's trekked down to Wheat Ridge to catch the A Night of Worship Tour co-headlined by Leeland and Phil Wickham. Wickham is amazing live, i've only seen him once before where he did an acoustic set so i was excited to see him with a full band. I've been a fan of Leeland since their first album but somehow have not managed to catch them live. The tour info indicated this was a "co-headline" tour which meant either could be the main act, it turned out to be Leeland this night.
We found our seats in this average size sanctuary of Crossroads Christian Church, actually it was 3 different section of General Admission, which i can't stand personally but whatever. The house-lights dimmed and we were greeted with 3 dudes on guitar and a piano player, playing common worship songs the typical church-goer would recognize (songs made popular by Chris Tomlin like Your Grace Is Enough). Expecting Matt Maher who i didn't know much about, i was surprised to see all three performers on stage, Leeland, Wickham, and Matt Maher, and Leeland's piano player Jack Mooring. The vocals were impressive, each having their own unique sound; Maher was strong and lower than the other three, Leeland has a higher range and some indie-sounding raspy tone, and Wickham is all over the place, crazy vocals as Randy Jackson might claim. I could get used to this team leading worship, incredible!
After 3-4 worship songs there was a smooth transition in Matt Maher, accompanied by Leeland's band. I was not super impressed with Maher's original stuff, his voice was cool but his lyrics were a little corny / elementary for my liking. he did however bust into Bob Marley's Everything Is Alright for a few minutes which was pretty cool. He only played about 3-4 songs before Phil Wickham was on.
Phil Wickham is currently supporting his latest album, Heaven & Earth, his third full-length album. It was a little different to see Wickham rocking an electric guitar, and with a band, but he pulled it off no problem. He opened the show with Eden off his latest record and then continued to move effortlessly into his collection of great worship songs like Cannons, True Love, Divine Romance, and In Your City. Wickham does a great job of mending songs together, leading into the next song usually with an insightful explanation of his lyrics.
After this group of songs Wickham brought out his acoustic guitar and let the band take a break. He lead into Safe, his latest "single" off of Heaven & Earth, my favorite track. Without the band you could really see that Wickham is most comfortable just playing his guitar and singing, his voice is spectacular. Unfortunately Safe was the only acoustic track we got to hear as the band made their way out and played a new track that according to Wickham he just wrote. he played probably 2-3 more songs and then it was intermission.
During the intermission Leeland, Phil Wickham, and Jack Mooring (Leeland) came out to make a presentation, showing a video of LEeland's recent missions trip with Food For The Hungry and presenting the case for FFTH. We were given the chance to sponsor a child right then, through Food For The Hungry, in either Cambodia or Haiti.
After the intermission Leeland was set to play. His sound is different than Wickhams in the sense that Leeland isn't so much congregational worship songs, but just rock songs that have lyrics about everything. It was a little harder to sing along with since Leeland's vocal range is higher than most people, and despite having the words displayed on the wall (same for Phil Wickham) a lot of people didn't know most of Leeland's material. We saw a handful of people leave during Leeland's set as well, i think a lot of people were there for Phil Wickham, i wish he would have headlined because Leeland is a great band if you give them a chance.
Anyway, they rocked on through Carry Me Through, Pure Bride, Yes You Have, Beautiful Lord, New Creation and my favorite track of the night; Sound of Melodies. Unfortunately i was waiting to take a video of Tears Of The Saints and they never played it, so i didn't get any video. I was hoping for more of a rocking set with songs like Opposite Way and Count Me In but i'm thinking that since the tour was billed as "Night of Worship" they skipped out on the rock songs and stuck with the corporate worship songs.
