Posted: February 16, 2025, 5:00 PM | Category:New Releases Artist Tags: Disciple Source: Big Machine Agency
In their acclaimed career spanning nearly three decades, veteran hard rockers Disciple have recorded 13 studio albums, earned 18 #1 singles, and sold hundreds of thousands of records. Their music has been featured on ESPN's NFL Live, WWE, Fox Sports, as well as in commercials for CBS' CSI: Miami and Criminal Minds. They've received multiple Dove Awards and played thousands of shows worldwide, including a 2023 stint in 40 arenas on the Winter Jam Tour. This year saw the band's first Grammy nomination, receiving a nomination for Best Contemporary/Christian Performance Song of the Year for the track "Firm Foundation (He Won't)." A career first for Disciple, who has been a mainstay in the heavy Christian music genre, this distinction adds to a list of accolades and pays homage to the duality Disciple has always reconciled in their music: a high-adrenaline rock sound with a worshipful, gospel-first heart.
Now, hot off the heels of this historical accolade, Disciple is back with a new single "Sound the Alarm" (out February 28, 2025) ahead of the deluxe version of their 2023 album Skeleton Psalms, releasing April 25th. The deluxe album includes several unreleased singles, acoustic renditions, and studio mixes.
The band reveals, "'Sound the Alarm' may be seen through the eyes of a survivor in a post-apocalyptic landscape, but it's really about the dangers that surround our soul on a daily basis. The thief who comes to kill, steal, and destroy...and our rally call to stay vigilant while alerting those around us to do the same. We wrote it with our friend Kellen McGregor (Memphis May Fire) and we think our listeners are going to love it."
Skeleton Psalms was created in-house: produced by guitarist Josiah Prince at his studio The Ranch, written by Kevin Young, Andrew Stanton (guitar) and Josiah Prince, with drums from Joey West and additional backing vocal support from touring bassist Marco Pera. For additional support on instrumentation, Mark "Traa" Daniels (P.O.D.) played bass. The band called on mix engineer Nick Rad (Skillet), mastering engineer Sam Moses (Tenth Avenue North) and the drum recording skills of Lester Estelle (Pillar, Kelly Clarkson) to round out the creative team. The album has spawned three #1 singles ("Executioner," "Promise to Live" and "Bad Words") and was a 2023 Dove Award nominee.
The veteran Christian rock band was originally formed by high school friends in Maryville, Tennessee in 1992. Just a teenager at the time, founder and frontman Kevin Young was inspired to follow in the footsteps of bands who shaped his own belief -- acts like Petra, Stryper and Whitecross, Christian bands who were scandalizing listeners of the time even as secular acts like Pantera, Skid Row and Def Leppard easily ruled the mainstream airwaves.
"The Christian music scene was completely different back then," Young recalls. "Most of what was played on the radio seemed tame in comparison to the influences of my childhood, particularly punk and hard rock. I wanted to write and sing music that sounded like my culture but that also carried a message and reflected my values."
The result was Disciple, a name chosen initially as a simple placeholder to represent the band's core mission to be followers of Jesus Christ in all things. That commitment drove them through early independent records and across the South, playing concerts as a three-piece band. By 1997, their dedication had landed them their first record deal. By 2001, they were releasing their third album and navigating the harrowing challenges of road life as their following grew.
Looking back on the band's history, Young reflects, "It's the call and the cost of being a disciple of Jesus: sometimes you're going to have a lot, and sometimes you're going to have a little. That doesn't matter; we're on a mission. I feel like that has been our life as a band."
Currently, the band is a collective of musicians who have held the ferocious hard rock sound steady for over 10 years: Young on vocals, Josiah Prince on guitar, Andrew Stanton on guitar and Joey West on drums. The growth of their tightly knit musical cohesion is evident on their most recent album, Skeleton Psalms. From scorching riffs to thunderous drum fills to alternately melodic and searing vocals, Disciple is a band intimately familiar with their own toolkit while unafraid to push their own limits.
