There are plenty of fantastic rock and metal bands who work very hard to create great music. It can be easy to find a band on your favorite record label, but I love finding passionate, independent bands. As I give you a glimpse into the independent metal scene, I hope you search around and find others that you can support and enjoy listening to. Here are seven bands to get you started. If you like your heavy music to be influenced by the Christian faith, these bands are sure to please you. Enjoy.
1. Weeping Hour
Weeping Hour is a five-piece progressive metalcore band from Louisiana, U.S. Throughout their first full-length album, Hunger and Thirst, they ponder, question, and sing about the struggle of pain in our lives. I love the thematic approach that they take because they include hope and faith in this ever-present topic. Similarly to C.S. Lewis calling pain 'God's Megaphone,' this band has their own interpretation of pain. They would probably refer to painful seasons in our lives as our "Weeping Hour."
Musically, they remind me of metal bands like Silent Planet, Oh, Sleeper, Meshuaggah, and Rival Choir to name a few. This album also has quality cinematic elements to it, driven by artists like Jóhann Jóhannsson, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Hans Zimmer. The closing track, "Woe To Those At Ease," is exemplary of this.
Taken from interviews with the websites AnchorMusicNews and BeyondTheGrave777, Ethan Prodhomme, the lead singer, describes the band's heart. From the former interview, "...'Woe To Those At Ease' is the theme lyric of the album. The phrase is both a warning and a calling. A warning to not let this world become 'home'. To not get comfortable, to not become complacent. It is a calling to a life of meaning and substance through following Christ and seeking to live by His example." And from the latter interview, "There is fellowship and a chance to comfort others through our suffering. We can take comfort in the fact our Lord has experienced suffering just as we have. "
2. Dreaded Dale
Dreaded Dale is a five-piece, Southern-influenced metallic hardcore band from Kentucky, U.S. If you like your metalcore music fast, heavy, and honest, Dreaded Dale has you covered. They boast deep growls, deep, distorted bass, and even the uncommon clean singing vocals are fairly gritty.
Heavy metal fans have a lot to enjoy in Dreaded Dale's music. I like how they describe their sound as a "Southern-fried blend of metallic hardcore." They have several EPs released already, with a new album on the way. They plan on opening and closing the new album with a song like "Psalm." I anticipate everything in between to be ultra-heavy and just as creative.
From The Band:
"During these turbulent times as a band, we've decided to put our faith in God and the promises of his word. Psalms 91, in particular, has always been a strong chapter that our vocalist Mikey Root has always stood on and, as a band, we've embraced this beautiful promise of protection into the form of a song by the simply titling it 'Psalm.' We want to take a moment to encourage each believer that hope is not gone. There is no season that surprises God. He still has a plan for each of us and it's a plan to prosper us, to protect us, and to give us the promise of a hope-filled future. We encourage you to hold fast to the promises in the word, use wisdom in everything you do, and choose to believe that God will make beauty from ashes while working all things out for the good of all that choose to believe."
3. Confessions of a Traitor
Confessions of a Traitor, or COAT, is a metalcore band from London, England. With two previous EPs under their belt, they've taken some to explore different musical styles. Now, the band has since doubled-down on a modern metalcore sound for their first full-length album, Guided. Mens Winter Coats expertly blends the metalcore sounds we love, including rhythmic guitar skill, breakdowns aplenty, empowering double kick, and soaring choruses. This album will please any fan of modern metalcore. On top of the very enjoyable style, Confessions of a Traitor speaks messages of hope, love, and faith while addressing several honest struggles of life.
From The Band:
"Our journey as a band is one of positivity, happiness and determination. A message of belief and strength in one's own being is our mantra and lyrical theme. We are forever grateful for the ability to tour and play music, knowing that thousands of people have listened to us and seen us still humbles us. Thank you for taking the time to read this and this feature. We will see you on the road soon. Stay safe always and respect others."
4. Windvent
Windvent is a progressive post-hardcore band from Chihuahua, Mexico. Their Spotify bio includes a touching note: "The meaning behind our lyrics holds deep importance for us; we encourage you to listen to it." The meaning behind the music we listen to carries great importance and the members of Windvent agree. Musically, they infuse electronic elements in their post-hardcore sound to create a unique sound with messages that everyone needs to hear. Windvent is also one of the metal bands who contributed to the online Christian rock music festival, ContagionFest 2020.
Windvent has released one EP titled Relief--plus an instrumental version--and three singles. They have put out two singles in 2020 so far, "Krisis" and "Thankful." The first, "Krisis," contains impressive, narrative-based songwriting and noteworthy musical growth. The second, "Thankful," shares a truth so simple, but so crucial for us all to remember, "Guilt will never tear you down/There is mercy for you and me."
5. Aenon
Aenon's style of metal is sure to grab your attention. This is not just due to their sweet Australian influence, but also thanks to their past experience in the metal scene as the band Burial At Sea - AU. Now, as a reformed band, they can bring a fresh sound and renewed passion. Their 2018 single, "Prodigal," caught the attention of metal fans. The band recently released The Comforter, a five-song EP that's filled with melodic metal and great life messages. The EP's music is fairly experimental, with melodic and atmospheric elements integrated, plus a faded spoken word section in one of the songs. As for the metal-side of things, you can expect technical guitar and bass work alongside primarily guttural screams with few clean vocals.
From The Band:
"Our message as a band is to share hope and build community while often addressing dark and heavy subjects. We hope to write music that can reach and be with people in their darkest moments, to say 'you are loved and you are not alone.' While the lyrics are written from a Christian perspective and usually revolve around those themes, we still aim to make music that anyone can connect with and take away something regardless of beliefs."
6. Luther's Hammer
Luther's Hammer is a Christ-centered hardcore band with metal influence. They quickly reminded me of well-known, outspoken Christian metal bands such as Sleeping Giant and For Today, both of which no longer make music. I foresee this band to potentially be of their calibre.
Luther's Hammer has few fans and listeners currently, but I do not believe it will remain that way. Their crushing drums, often usage of gang vocals, and energetic guitar work all combine to bring a solid package of hardcore with refreshing, overtly Christian lyrics. They released their EP Strength To Save in 2020 and then followed with an instrumental version of the EP shortly after, only on Bandcamp. Keep an eye on them, they have tremendous potential.
7. The Reversalist
The founder of this band, Jason Wisdom, is no stranger to the Christian metal scene. Many in the Christian metal scene loved his former melodic death metal band, Becoming The Archetype. He departed as their lead singer in 2011. He did vocals for the metal band Solamors until 2015. He now has two passion projects, Death Therapy and The Reversalist. While Death Therapy might be a name you recognize, The Reversalist probably is not. Death Therapy is an electronic metal project that he has had going for a few years. The Reversalist is straight-up metalcore, fresh in 2020.
From The Band:
"The newest effort from Death Therapy is an instrumental journey into electronic and video game nostalgia. I wanted to take some time during the quarantine to dig deeper into my love for electronic music and classic video game soundtracks. The new EP Dance Therapy Part I: Pre Apocalyptic Cyber Funk For Late Stage Humanoids is the result."
"The Reversalist is a project that I created, sort of by accident. I was writing some song ideas and stumbled across some riffs that were not really a good fit for Death Therapy. They were a little too straight forward hardcore/metalcore for that. So I decided to just let them lead me where they wanted to go. The result is a handful of new ultra-heavy songs, the first to be released is "Broken Crown." I hope to have some more new ones out soon."
Ryan Adams lives in Ohio, working locally. Graduated from Boise Bible College in 2018. Writing about heavy music through NRT.
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