Skillet - Awake - Review

There’s always a level of expectation for any band’s newest LP, sometimes they aren’t very high. It usually depends mostly on how successful the previous album was with fans. So along comes a band that’s been releasing albums for years and suddenly let loose an amazing album that everyone loves. That’s all fine and good, but how are they expected to top that amazing album next time? There’s a staggering amount of pressure on that band. This time that band is Skillet, the archetype for all modern Christian rock. They cycled through a lot of genre changes until they released ‘Collide’ and seemed to settle on that style with another masterpiece, ‘Comatose’. Now they have to top it or at least do as good. Unfortunately their newest addition ‘Awake’ did not meet my expectations proceeding ‘Comatose’. The biggest and most irritating reason that fuels my opinion is their song choices.

The album opens raw and fast with ‘Hero’; immediately I got pumped up for a sick album. It sounds just like hard rock should. Catchy riffs and sing-along worthy vocals from lead vocalist/band master John Cooper. I was impressed by the beautiful backing vocals from Jen Ledger, the drummer and newest member of the group (appearing in the leave of former drummer Lori Peters). Personally, I enjoy her voice even more than the yet-worthy vocals of Korey Cooper in ‘Comatose’. The fun fest keeps going in the second track, ‘Monster’. This only gets my hopes up even more for an amazing album. The song is catchy and powerful, albeit the lyrics are a little bare. But other than the disturbing electronic growl close to the end, it continues the album nicely.

Following the good start is ‘Don’t Wake Me’, a slower track and a comfortable breather, not surprising for Skillet’s album style in the past. I wouldn’t be surprised if I heard one or two more. That alone wouldn’t bother me, but let’s just move on for now shall we? Close to the end of this song as well, John Cooper’s vocals seem to be failing him slightly as he attempts to sing higher notes. Honestly, surprising. Now as would be expected, another rocker, ‘Awake and Alive’, opens up with a short launch of strings, a fancy touch they pulled from their previous two albums. Still welcome in my opinion. They fill in the background noise through most of the song yet as well. Drummer Jen Ledger joins in to duet with John Cooper again for this one. Overall it isn’t as heavy as the beginning of the album, but still trademark Skillet sound, most enjoyable. However, don’t expect to be hearing anything like the opening tracks after this. ‘One Day Too Late’ stirs in another dose of heart-felt mellowness. Still not surprising.

Now, a slow song has just played, you expect something heavier to lift you back up into rock mode right? Wrong. The song that follows is not exactly my favourite. ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’ is less than inspiring to say the least. It isn’t totally a softer song. By no means, it has some of the heavier riffs thrown in, but it’s terribly cliché and predictable. I am aware that Skillet is trying to sound mainstream, but this is exactly the kind of dreg that every awful mainstream rock band writes. What bothers me even more is the lyrics. Lines like “It’s not me, it’s you, always has been you. All the lies and stupid things you say and do. It’s you.” And “You were a poison. Flooding through my veins. Driving me insane, and now you’re gone away.” In all honesty it pains me to hear such a talented band write such amateur lyrics.

With that over, prepare to hear another soft song with subpar lyrics ‘Should’ve When You Could’ve’. If this song impresses anyone, I have lost all hope in humanity. This is where my hopes begin shattering. Another soft-side song plays through called ‘Believe’. This is even more disappointing because it is actually a pretty good song with good vocals, an epically soft guitar solo, and soothing strings, except I just heard a couple mellower songs, I don’t want to hear another one already. On that note, ‘Forgiven’ is another sappy emotional song, not impressing me even more. ‘Sometimes’ finally picks up the pace a little bit, finally! Not as heavy as ‘Hero’ or ‘Monster’ though, but the low guitars and occasional angry vocals at least get my blood pumping again, slightly. A very short guitar solo takes place near the end, but doesn’t last very long. I wish they could have impressed me with a whole solo at least once like the awesome one in ‘Falling Inside the Black’ from their last album.

Don’t get used to that blood flowing though, as the last two songs slow down the album even more than had been previously done. ‘Never Surrender’ starts very melancholy with a unique string set, but veers over from a slightly more upbeat chorus into very sluggish verses. Lastly ‘Lucy’, the song that ends the album is directed to mourning the loss of a loved one. It’s a beautiful song, I won’t deny that, but it only pushed me further down into the sad rock rut that the better half of the album forced me into. Then the album ends, and I totally forgot that it started with two good songs. Wow.

I know it’s hard to top an album released at the peak of a band’s musical ability, but they didn’t have to take such a steep step down from ‘Comatose’. They just sound sad. John Cooper was quoted saying that this album would have “a lot of today’s heavier rock influences”. I’m just wondering what bands he thinks are “heavier rock”. Savage Garden? Coldplay? Even the best songs on this album didn’t compare to older songs like ‘Rebirthing’ and ‘Falling Inside the Black’. Cooper said he wrote 40 songs in preparation for this album. And he picked these 12 as the best? I think I might cry if I heard his other material. I may sound negative, but I just don’t know how such a good band can disappoint me so much. I loved Skillet’s last two albums, but this one just made me sad. I’m giving Skillet’s ‘Awake’ 2.5 out of 5 napkins. I know they can do better.

Artist: Skillet
Album: Awake
Label: Ardent/Lava/Atlantic
Release: August 25, 2009
Length: 42:12
Rating: 2.5/5

Oh, Sleeper - Son of the Morning - Review

"Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you", Ephesians 5:14. A lot of bands write music about any odd thing they can piece together. Mostly, it will be about certain struggles or individual experiences of the writer. Sometimes, however, the band as a whole writes and plays for a specific cause. Any band that really knows what they dedicate their sound to usual does a good job of it too. That’s why I believe Oh, Sleeper has lyrical efficiency on their side. They know who they’re playing for. With their first full length album, ‘When I Am God’, they quickly accumulated a fan base dedicated to their unique metal style. The majority of the genre listeners however took issue with their sound, as it held little musical structure, but hopefully with their sophomore release, ‘Son of the Morning’, they can claim a few new listeners.

The album opens quick and strong with the title track, embracing a formula of odd and on time chugging as well as some pro tweadling from the lead guitarist. A successful breakdown fuels the pace before they represent their progress as a band with a wise inclusion of exquisite clean vocals front and background. Slowing it down at first, ‘The New Breed’ carries on the album successfully. It’s not as intense as ‘Son of the Morning’, but makes a loud point nevertheless. This is enough already to show that their sound hasn’t changed much, which is good. They’re holding tight to the signature sound they’ve found, but tweaked it a bit at the same time. The song structure is obviously more fixed down, giving it a more professional sound overall since their last release. ‘In All Honesty’ opens up strangely with some almost off tune singing reminiscent of Underoath in their ‘They’re Only Chasing Safety’ days, but it moves into story-telling passion soon enough. The way it’s all pieced together, it really sounds like I’m listening to a story being told. Different vocal patterns keep popping up at different intervals and overlap, like a scene with characters. They accomplish this well, as ‘Son of the Morning’ is a concept album.

‘Breathing Blood’ blasts through in the usual style at first, but softens up for a minute or so demonstrating the band’s level of transition from heavier parts, which is good for the most part. Even at softer times, the intensity is still evident. The clean vocals are effective, trimming up the harsher parts nicely. They have found a much steadier balance in this release than in ‘When I Am God’.

‘Reveries of Flight’ has a long, slow, monologue-like opening. But then it steps straight up suddenly, leading off into a decent remainder. ‘World Without a Sun’ is a gem of a song though. I dare you not to smile and clench your gut at the increasing kick pedal role and dauntingly long opening scream at the start. A sick, but weird riff pulls it along into a breakdown that essentially lasts the remainder of the song, ending it short in my opinion. In ‘A Banquet For Traitors’, a back and forth swing of breakdowns to harmonies exhibits the band’s love for ugly notes and some of the stranger noises a guitar can make, then ends angrily in a fit of metal essence. The pace is cut short with another slow intro into ‘Commissioned By Kings’, but quickly throws a lot at you at once. Constant showboating by drummer Matt Davis and lead guitarist Shane Bay is proceeded by a short singing interlude to let the audience breathe. This is drowned back out by another blast of metal concentrate, riling you up for ‘The Finisher’.

A final end to the album (that came too quickly for me) truly narrates a battle of unearthly proportions. A choir-esque harmony fills in the gaps of pure head banging terror. With ears twitching from musical ecstasy, packing no less than a couple of mini guitar solos, I couldn’t ask for a better end to the album than the overall power of the very last breakdown, with the vocalist screaming “I’ll cut off your horns!”.

‘Son of the Morning’ is very lyrically driven, telling the story of the final battle between God and the devil. The opening song is cleverly structured, with the screaming vocals being the devil speaking, “Where I'll lead them and teach them to feast on the skin that defeats them, the skin they crave”, and the clean harmonies being God’s responses to him, “If you could see like me you'd see you haven't won anything. If you could see like me you'd see, it's by my grace that you're breathing." ‘The New Breed’ speaks about rising up from the filth of the world and claiming a place on the side of God.

‘In All Honesty’ and ‘Breathing Blood’ both narrate people wishing for God to turn their sinful lives around. “Please teach me how to breathe because this air keeps failing my need.” Then, the end begins in ‘World Without A Sun’, just like Revelation says, with the sun turning black. The battle against hell takes place in ‘The Fire Dawn’, narrating an individual fighting the legions of hell outnumbered “one on one-thousand”. Finally, to end it all, ‘The Finisher’ contains God’s final speech to the devil, informing him that he will soon lose the battle he started. “Your challenge has been met, because with a breath I could snap your neck. This won’t be like the first time you tried, because my patience and mercy for you has run dry.”

In this album, I can find no flaws other than things they probably should have included, like a little more range in the lead vocals, or some more time to show off the amazing skill of the lead guitarist. But the structure is solid this time, not so pieced together like ‘When I Am God’. They threw a lot at me at once, but it wasn’t too crowded to enjoy. Usually one end is chugging and the other is continuously shredding like he has ADD. The drummer kept it interesting by changing up the beat often, and overall they play with such an urgency that makes your heart race. I had to hold myself back from screaming along some parts, but my fingers wouldn’t stop tapping along with the drums. The second album is always a tough hill to cross, but I believe they managed well. I give ‘Son of the Morning’ 4 out of 5 napkins for a “pretty great but not perfect”.

Artist: Oh, Sleeper
Album: Son of the Morning
Label: Solid State
Release: August 25, 2009
Length: 32:23
Rating: 4/5

Texas In July - I Am - Review

It used to be normal that a band’s first signed album wasn’t usually that good, but it seems the standards are being raised. I’m seeing more and more fresh faced bands releasing professional sounding albums. That being said, Texas In July, ever heard of them? Me neither, but their first LP, ‘I Am’ has got raw talent written all over it. (And interestingly, they’re from Pennsylvania.) This is one of those bands that will make you feel lazy and inadequate. Forming only two years prior with band members ranging from ages 15 to 17, they already have a record deal with CI Records. What have you done in the last two years?

After an intro track, the first song, ‘It’s Not My First Rodeo’ introduces the album very well, showing off just how brutal the band is. Very quickly, you get to hear how crazy talented the lead guitarist and drummer are at what they do. The vocals could use a little work, but the range is commendable at least. ‘Elements’ and ‘Lancaster’ continue the intensity with a lot of breakdowns, a few gang vocals, and even a few finger licking bass drops. The following track, ‘Hook, Line and Sinner’ opens with a quick paced beat humming to a southern metal feel. But it doesn’t last very long before they’re back into another breakdown. Drummer, Adam Gray has no problem showing off in this song.

Now take a break for a few minutes with the beautiful instrumental interlude ‘I Am Yours’. I really like how this track dissolves all the tension you built up from the previous tracks. Because, namely, when it leads into the next, you appreciate the brutalness of it even more. ‘Aurora’ pulls no punches, prepare for your face to be distorted in the best kind of way. This fun bus is mostly sick-as-anything breakdowns and something else. At this point, I really noticed how much Texas In July sounds like August Burns Red. If you’re sitting down, remove all near-face objects, as your head may hit them repeatedly.

‘Page One’ is essentially the same thing I just described, but condensed into a minute and a half. It’s concentrated metal for your body-flailing pleasure. ‘Reflections’ is definitely the highlight of the album. It starts out like the others, but with the help of another couple of breakdowns, it slowly materializes into a shredding session from the lead guitarist. But the point is that they aren’t just slapping breakdowns together to make a song. I think this track culminates the entire band’s musical prowess quite well. This is what they should be aiming for in their next album.

As they progress closer to the end of the album in the last two tracks, starting with ‘Satellites’, they seem to be inching slightly away from just the breakdown fetish and moving a little closer to the melodic intensity that they can actually pull off really well but don’t do enough of. The song ends with a sweet vocal guest appearance from Gwen Stacy’s Geoff Jenkins. Finally, the last song, ‘Father Time’ ends ‘I Am’ the way every metal album should, powerfully and emotionally.

For the band’s first album, this effort is quite impressive. The vocals have room for improvement and the drums don’t sound extremely well recorded, but neither of these things are huge annoyances. One issue I have that only half bothers me is how similar their style is to August Burns Red. Although this is the first band I’ve heard do so, they probably shouldn’t piggy back their sound too much. Hopefully their next album will improve on that. Nevertheless, the fact that they can mimic ABR so closely is a skill to be commended, especially at their age.

They seem to be overly fond of breakdowns as well, a mistake a lot of fledgling metal bands make. On the up side, they do make each breakdown original and exciting. There are definitely a lot of premium breakdowns on the album, I just can’t get over that they may have put in too many. The reason being that by doing so, they take away from the time they could spend showing off their other musical talents, of which I’m sure they have plenty.

Speaking of time, the LP is way too on the short side, at only 32:38. But I’ll let them off with a warning this time because it’s their first album. But anyone sporting August Burns Red, slap these guys a high five for a great first effort. Give them some support, they’re an up and coming band that’s a little wet behind the ears, but they show a lot of potential. I’m giving them an honest 4 out of 5 napkins. They had a few notable problems, but they made up for by sounding really sick. I’m definitely keeping an eye on this one.

Artist: Texas in July
Album: I Am
Label: CI Records
Release: August 11, 2009
Length: 32:38
Rating: 4/5 Napkins

For the Fallen Dreams - Relentless - Review

Hearing For the Fallen Dreams’ first album ‘Changes’, I had built up pretty high hopes for their new album ‘Relentless’. However, upon listening to it for the first time, I was just a little bit disappointed. I had established some very keen enthusiasm for their first album, and this one is a little different. But don’t fret; as I listened to it a few more times, it has grown on me. Really its only flaws are evident when comparing it to its last album, which I honestly think was better in some respects. Take my word though, that standing all by itself, it is a great album.

It opens with a silly little intro track, but after that, ‘Perceptions’ spells a new, angrier sound for the band. I quickly noticed that they have drastically reduced their emphasis on the raspy, high toned guitars that made them who they were throughout ‘Changes’, and replaced it with more background tweedling. If you don’t know what I mean, check out Misery Signals. But anyway, I was caught singing along to the line ‘Our dreams won’t die, they’ll never go away’ the first time I heard it. ‘A Plethora Of’ continues on a catchy note with a cool guitar riff to open it and carry through the verse. This pulls into a well built up breakdown that made me smile. And finally, after finishing up there, you get to hear some beautiful, clean harmonies that really bring a welcome improvement to their sound. It gives a little meaning to my “classy metal” moniker.

End the sap fest with the fist pumping ‘Nightmares’. It gruffs the album right up, squeezing out that goosebump-giving rage that jams you up something fierce. Even still, it quiets down in the chorus with some clean vocals you may recognize. Courtesy of none other than Jeremy McKinnon of A Day To Remember. The anger continues in ‘December Everyday’. They whip a few old school punk beats as well, feeling a bit more metalcore again for a second. At the end, a point of impression is the brilliantly coordinated transitions between yelling and growling from lead vocalist Dylan Richter. He has obviously improved since last year as well, removing a lot of his hardcore yell sound from his screams. A welcome fix in my book.

'Defiance' shows off another choice breakdown. A neat thing about FTFD is that the backbone of most of their songs are constant breakdowns behind the rhythm, but when they want you to notice one, they’ll jazz it up so it’s not just a generic chugging session. Even if they’re not always that technical, they keep them fast paced and energetic, and usually add vocals half way through so you don’t get bored. Also, drummer Andrew Tkaczyk intros them nicely with his technical fills I loved back in ‘Changes’.

The rest pretty much goes on like that, but for your interest: ‘Smoke Signals has a short guitar solo, ‘In Sincerity’ is a prelude with echo-y guitars and clean harmonies, ‘Two Twenty Two’ is super pissed off, and ‘Resurface the End’ gives you something to bang your heads to. But ‘The Pain Loss’ I didn’t think did the album justice as an ending song. It just doesn’t feel like the album should end after it. Although that could be because the album is only 37:36 long! I mean seriously, is this the way CD’s are being made now? What am I paying for with only half an hour of tunes to hear?

Anyway, as far as anyone listening can tell, this is a pretty sick piece of work. But some of the things they took out, I wish they hadn’t. It doesn’t catch my ears quite like ‘Changes’ did, but that’s just me.

A far as the lyrics go, there is a lot of negativity in the words. They deal with depression and confidence issues, how to deal with the problems in the world. They are very poetically written, but it would take some studying to decipher the more specific meanings. I doubt most people will care anyway since the vocals are mostly hard to understand before you look them up.
Take a listen and find your own opinion, but I can’t accept this album as much of a step forward. They changed some things for the better, like the clean vocals and the catchy guitar riffs, but their old sound has come and gone. ‘Relentless’ places more focus on angry chugging than meaningful melodies. Maybe if you haven’t heard their old album you won’t see my point, but then again I would say don’t miss out on it. In the end they’re still For the Fallen Dreams, and I love ‘em. I’m giving ‘Relentless’ the benefit of the doubt with a solid 4 out of 5 Napkins.

Artist: For the Fallen Dreams
Album: Relentless
Label: Rise Records
Release: July 21, 2009
Length: 37:36
Rating: 4/5 Napkins