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4.5/5 | Posted June-19-2010
Three years ago the general public was formally introduced to metal band As I Lay Dying through their amazing album An Ocean Between Us. That album brought this band out from nowhere and made them a tour de force of the metal scene. Now we get their follow up, The Powerless Rise, and it is every bit as good as An Ocean Between Us. The production quality is cleaner and the screaming vocals are easier to understand. It's all you will ever need from a metal record. 44 minutes of in your face vocals, crunching guitar riffs and solos, and thumping double bass drumming. If you enjoyed An Ocean Between Us you will definitely enjoy The Powerless Rise.
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4.5/5 | Posted May-27-2010
I found this band when I was just cruising the internet one day and happened to be on the Tooth and Nail website. Their play list featured a song by this band and I loved it. i just had to hear more. I found their myspace page, listened to those songs, and loved them as well. I couldn't wait to listen to their upcoming debut. Well it's here and it is every bit as good as the songs I listened to on myspace. Sent By Ravens seems to me to be a mix of alternative rock and metal. There are some really metal worthy riffs found in this album. (And screaming as well, but not so much that it will disinterest the casual listener.) The only complaint I have with the album is that, aside from the first song, none of the other songs are all that memorable. The songs are structured really well, but they are just not that memorable. Aside from that, I would still listen to these guys and I will definitely be waiting for the next one.
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4.5/5 | Posted May-26-2010
Fireflight's third album feels a lot like their previous album Unbreakable. That's not to say it's worse in any way, I actually thought this album was quite good. The choruses and hooks are catchy as always but, like with Unbreakable and the Healing of the Harms, it just feels to short. This album and Unbreakable only have 10 songs that fill up around 35 minutes. Healing of the Harms has the same length but with 11 songs. If you enjoyed Unbreakable, you might enjoy this one as well because it sounds the same, and I'm okay with that.
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4.5/5 | Posted June-08-2010
Now that Aaron Gillespie has left Underoath he can now spend more time developing The Almost into a force to be reckoned with. The sophomore album, Monster, Monster, is a big step up from Southern Weather. Their sound is more polished and heavier here. The songs are arranged better as well. Southern Weather's songs started to sound the same after a while but this album's songs are different and unique. Aaron's vocals are still top notch as ever and his songwriting abilities are as impeccable as always. It's a very good album that does not suffer from the dreaded sophomore slump.
NOTE: Aaron has in fact left Underoath. The band officially announced it last month. Daniel Davidson, formal drummer for Norma Jean, has taken his place on drums.
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4/5 | Posted May-24-2010
3 years after the best album of their careers, Skillet returns with the "sequel" entitled Awake. Why do I call it a sequel? Because both albums have the same sound to them. The messages from both albums are opposites of each other. Comatose was about how we appear to be sleeping when the world needs help. Awake tells the opposite, we need to wake up and take charge of what we need to do to help the world. Awake is basically Comatose part 2 in every way shape and form.
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The Classic Crime returns | Posted April-12-2010
The Classic Crime returns with album number 3 called Vagabonds. After listening to it, I can honestly say that this is a very good album. They have mixed their light-hearted sound from their debut album and the darker, more heavier guitar laced sound from their previous album The Silver Cord. The songs are well mixed and are all special in their own way. This could also be the most controversial of the three as one song is sung through the perspective of a nihilist. Aside from that song, this is another great album that should be a part of any rockers music collection.
And the band donated all of their pre-order proceeds to Haiti. If only other artists could do that.
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Great. | Posted March-27-2010
Eleventyseven releases their first independent album (3rd overall) and it is good. They have kept their Galactic Conquest flavour and if you enjoyed that album, you'll definitely enjoy this one as well. Even though there are only 10 short songs found on this album they are all fun, upbeat, and will get you into a happy mood. A surprise I found on one song has the guys throwing down a little Family Force 5 from the Business/Party years. One little gripe I have is concerning the beginning and ending of the song "Redeem the Scene." There's some out of place rapping on it but other than that, it's a good song.
Overall, If you enjoyed Galactic Conquest than this album is for you. Everyone else should just listen to it and form their own opinions over whether they like it or not.
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Portable Sounds part 2 | Posted March-25-2010
If you enjoyed Portable Sounds, you will love Tonight. The songs follow the hip-hop?rock combination introduced in Portable Sounds but there is more hip-hop in this one than on the last album. Of course no tobyMac album is complete without an appearance by his son Truett. It was cute on ht efirst 3 albums but here it just sounds out of place. (He needs his own record deal and should put Justin Beiber to shame.) At least we get to hear Toby's other little boy on this album. I hope we hear him on the next album. Overall, it's a fun album to listen to and is a great addition to anyone's music library.
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While still written well, it's just not his best work. | Posted February-03-2010
Boneman's Daughters starts off great, has a sub par middle but a killer finale. I think Ted works well with single people as his characters. Though I do give him credit for trying to make a realistic family drama but it was just kind of boring to read. The beginning, with our main character being kidnapped by terrorists and his imprisionment with them was really well written and gave us some set up as to what the "serial killer of the week's" method of killing is. (Boneman breaks bones. Duh!) The middle half of the book is just kind of boring as it deals with family troubles and the eventual ostracizing the family does to the main character. The last half of this book is pretty much what you read on the inside cover blurb. It is vintage Dekker. He gets us into the mind of the killer as he usually does and always makes the confrontations between the main character and the killer as great as always. (Albit not as terrifying as some of his earlier works like Thr3E or Adam.) But with all of it's misses it's still an enjoyable book that people should definatley read.
UP NEXT: MY REVIEW OF GREEN! (HUZZAH!)
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Extrordinary | Posted January-24-2010
The mainstream debut album from Owl City really speaks for itself. It's a great synthpop album that is truly one of the better albums of the last year. There is a reason why this album is so popular with both the Christian and secular crowd. I think it speaks to all of us on a different level and you can interpret it however you want. Another interesting tidbit is that this album was co-produced by Relient K frontman Matthew Theissen and he also contributed some vocals work into 4 songs on here. It's a great synthpop album that is both artistically well done and entertaining.
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