Midweights-Decyfer Down, Jonah 33, 12 Stones, Dead Poetic,

These bands fall on about the middle of the scale of my musical tastes.  I don't generally have to be in the "right mood" to listen to them.  If I'm shuffling through my music and they come on, I perk right up.  Between the different artists here, there's some great guitar work, thumping drums, and some really good vocals that back up awesome lyrics.

Decyfer Down Vocals/guitar-T.J. Harris, Lead Guitar-Christ Clonts, Guitar-Brandon Mills, Drums-Josh Oliver

Decyfer Down is a straight-up rock band, and a good one to boot.  I first encountered this band about three years ago with their album, End of Grey.  I liked it well enough and bought a few songs, but they were just off from my tastes.  I think it was something about the vocal style of many of the songs; it wasn't bad, it just wasn't my style.  Well, not too long after, I heard them on the Anvil and the Hammer.  They were releasing a new album, Crash, which introduced their new lead singer.  A few songs played and I was hooked: everything was spot on.  Whether it was a solid rock song or a ballad, there was always plenty of energy and some awesome riffs.  The vocals were pure rock, some of the songs even reminding me somewhat of Chris Cornell, and the lyrics were as good as they had ever been, maybe even better.  I ordered the whole CD in the mail, because I wanted the hard copy.  I listened to it nearly non-stop for several weeks and I still love it.  For those who love your basic rock, these guys are gold.

Crash

Over My Head

Wasting Away

Jonah 33  Vocals/guitar-Vince Lichlyter, Guitar-Jason Rooney, Bass-Cory Riley, Drums-Joshua Dougan

Sadly, Jonah 33 is no longer together, but they have left some excellent music in their wake.  They have a vibrant, strong sound that moves at a really good pace.  The lyrics have a lot of energy and some good things to say.  Their most recent album, The Heart of War, was written with soldiers in mind and is an album of songs that were written to get you motivated to action.  The Strangest Day is a little softer, but just as good.  From their self-titled album, I really like "I Want a Faith Like That", which is very powerful and heart-felt.

Last One Standing

Scream

Faith Like That

12 Stones  Lead vocals-Paul McCoy, Guitar-Eric Weaver, Rhythm guitar-Justin Rimer, Bass-Kevin Dorr, Drums-Mike McManus

12 Stones is a bit different from the two above bands.  They are rock, but they tend to have a more grunge-like sound.  This varies (as it should) from album to album and song to song.  For example, Anthem for the Underdog is largely closer to alternative rock.  They create their target sound very well and have maintained it for quite a while.  Their lyrics cover a wide range of topics and deal with both God and other people in roughly equal parts.

Speak Your Mind

Anthem for the Underdog

Dead Poetic  Vocals-Bradon Rike, Guitar-Zach Miles, Drums-Jesse Sprinkle

This is another band that is a little different, though still (I would say) within the middle range of rock.  Their style has a fairly wide range to it, between their faster and slower songs.  Generally, their vocals tend towards the higher range and is similar to some hardcore bands.  But at times, it drops lower and is more like standard rock music.  They have some nice guitar work, which switches between chunky pounding and distinctive strumming.  Here's some songs that take in a fair part of their sound.

Cannibal Vs. Cunning

Sinless City

Modern Morbid Prophecies

Lightweights-Falling Up, The Classic Crime, House of Heroes

In calling these bands lightweights, I'm not trying to say that they're weak or that their music doesn't have an impact.  Their music simply falls on the (comparatively) lighter side of the rock spectrum.  Whether it's alternative rock, punk rock, or whether I've got the terms completely wrong, these bands play some pretty good music that is, perhaps, a little more user-friendly.

Falling Up  Lead vocals/rhythm guitar/keyboard-Jessy Ribordy, Drums-Josh Shroy, Bass/Keyboard-Jeremy Miller

This band is an interesting mix of styles.  There's definitely some metal sound to the guitars, but there's also keyboards and sometimes even synthesized vocals.  It's kind of hard for me to describe.  But basically these guys have a pop-rock/metal sound.  They tend to be fairly explicit about God in their lyrics and have a lot of songs that deal with our relationships with Him.  Some of their songs could almost be called worship songs, at least lyrically.  I like listening to just a song or two of theirs at a time, but they definitely have found their sound.  If you like Switchfoot or Relient K, Falling Up might be your kind of band.

New Hope Generation

The Classic Crime  Vocals/guitar-Matt MacDonald, Bass-Alan Clark, Guitar-Robert Negrin, Guitar/vocals-Justin DuQue, Drums/vocals-Paul Erickson

The Classic Crime is one of those tough cases that shows that the term "Christian music" can be inappropriate.  They are not specifically a Christian band, by their own admission.  However, I am still putting them up here for three main reasons.  First, several of the band members are Christians, and I think that shapes some of the lyrics.  Secondly, while many of the songs can be interpreted as being about relationships in the more general sense, some still ring true for me about my relationship with God.  My last, and biased, reason for including them is that they are from Seattle.  Local music and all that, right?  Anyway, the Classic Crime has a softer, almost indie sound (again, they're from Seattle), although on their newest album, Vagabonds, they get more aggressive.  Consequently, I like Vagabonds more than their earlier work.  But here's some of both.

Who Needs Air

The Fight

Cheap Shots

House of Heroes Colin Rigsby and Jared Rigsby, Tim Skipper, A.J. Babcock

I just recently found this band, thanks to Pandora (sometimes it's worth the thousands of commercials).  House of Heroes tends to be an alternative rock band, thought they hit both edges of that range.  I don't know if the deal is still available, but I found several of their songs (Lose Control, If, and In the Valley of the Dying Sun) available for a free EP download on Amazon.com.  Turns out it was a great deal.

Lose Control (Sorry, but this is the only non-live version of the song that I could find)

In the Valley of the Dying Sun

Staff Favorites-Project 86, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, Seventh Seal.

Here are a few of my current favorite bands.  They spread over several styles and genres, but I think that they all rock quite a bit.  So, without further ado:


Project 86 Lead Singer: Andrew Schwab, Guitarist: Randy Torres, Bassist: Stephen Dail
These guys are my number one pick, no contest.  There is so much to say about this band.  They started back in '96, so they've been around for a while and their music reflects that.  Their musical style has evolved over the years through rap-rock, hard rock, hardcore, metal, and pop rock.  Yet they have maintained a unified sound that has only gotten better.  These guys stick out to me for one reason more than any other: their lyrics.  Andrew Schwab is the main songwriter and the man is a poet.  Literally.  He's published several books, including poetry. I have called Project 86 a Christian Rage Against the Machine, not so much for their sound as for their content.  They aren't anti-establishment as much as anti-some establishments, but they definitely aren't afraid to take a dig at main forces in the culture, including the church, when it deserves it (and it does sometimes)  The words absolutely seethe with meaning and energy and cover the gambit of topics.  They talk about faith, hope, evil, the problems with our culture, relationships, and sorrow.  If I need to get fired up about something important, it's these guys that I turn to first.  Plus, Andrew Schwab has quite a lot of personality, so Project 86 is a live show worth seeing.

Here's a few of their songs, just to give you a taste.
The Spy Hunter

All of Me

Normandy

 

Maylene and the Sons of Disaster Lead Singer: Dallas Taylor, Guitarist: Chad Huff, Guitarist: Jake Duncan, Bassist: Brad Lehmann, Drummer: Matt Clark

And now for something completely different.  Dallas Taylor and Matt Clark, previously of Underoath (a Christian hardcore band, worth checking out) went out and formed Maylene.  The best way I can figure out how to describe this band is southern metal.  As far as I know, there's not a lot like it in existence.  The story behind the band name is pretty interesting.  You can read the full version on the band website, but basically the songs draw on the story of a family of criminals in the South and the justice that came their way.  I would suggest their album III as the most user-friendly to investigate.  The earlier ones have quite a bit of hardcore influence for most people.  

Here are two of my favorite of their songs:

Step Up (I'm On It)  This is a loose plot summary of the movie Deliverance

Listen Close

Seventh Seal

This is a very obscure Christian metal band that I found practically by accident while looking up iTunes recommendations one day.  They've only put out a handful of songs, but they're still working on more.  I think that one of the things I like about them is that they are so unheard of.  It gives me a chance to tell other people about them and feel like I'm helping the band out.  They most certainly deserve more recognition than they have.  They've got a nice, heavy sound (such as on the songs Martyr and Eden), but they also have some more melodic tunes (All These Things, Daylight Bleeds).  Sadly, because they're so obscure, I don't know the names of the members, nor can I find any recorded versions of their songs on YouTube (and the live recording quality is not very high).  So my best advice is to check out iTunes, their band MySpace, or PureVolume to hear their music.

The Other Guys

If what I say on this blog interests you (or if it doesn't, but the topic does), there are a few other resources that you might want to check out.  One of my inspirations for starting this blog was a podcast called the Anvil and the Hammer (they're also on iTunes).  The Anvil and the Hammer is run by a couple of Southern guys who care a lot about bringing more Christian rock to wider audiences.  The podcast is mostly formatted around bringing bands onto the show for an interview about the band and their music.  Punctuating the episodes are songs by the band.  It's a great place to hear about new bands, hear what they sound like, hear what the band members are like, learn about their songs, to discover what the bands are trying to do, and to figure out what kind of music you like.  Even the bands that I haven't liked as much (musically) have still had some excellent things to say.  The interviewers know a lot about rock history and about instruments, so they know what they're talking about.  Episodes generally run about an hour.

The second resource that I'd like to send your way is a website called hopecore.com.  I actually heard about them while listening to the Anvil and the Hammer, but I've since checked them out on my own.  This website is a (free) online magazine about Christian music.  They have short articles interviewing Christian musicians and have some really interesting things to say (for example, they have an interview with Brian Welch, Korn's former guitarist).  They also have a radio station that streams through their website that plays Christian music, mostly rock, that is a little less run-of-the-mill.

For those of you with a taste for music that hits a bit harder, you might want to investigate The Full Armor of God Broadcast.  This is a podcast that deals with primarily metal and hardcore music.  It's fairly heavy stuff and I haven't really listened to it just because I don't enjoy that kind of music as much, but it's of pretty good quality.  The host is the self-titled Kuba the Demonslayer.  They mostly play music, although they do have guests on to take about different things, primarily music.

I hope that you check out and enjoy at least one of these.  I recommend them to you strongly.

P.S.  I have also found some pretty good music on Pandora, using one Christian band (Project 86), as well as using iTunes' Genius recommendations.  Even though they aren't specific to the purpose, they're worth playing around with.

Request Hour

I would like this blog to be something of a two-way street.  If anything here interests you or if you'd like to know more about a band, please leave a comment and I'll do my best to get you an answer.  Also, if you have a favorite kind of music and you're looking for a Christian band in that style, let me know in the comments and I'll see if I can find some good ones to fit.  Alternatively, if there's a band that you like and you would like to find something similar, write that up.  I mostly know rock, hard rock, and metal, and not even those very throughly.  But if you're looking for something outside of those, or a very specific sound, I'll talk to some of my friends who would know.  So please, let me hear from you.

Dispelling myths

The prevailing reason that I've heard people (many of them Christians) give for why they don't listen to Christian music is that it isn't very good.  For many years, the prevailing stereotype of Christian music is that it is very basic, not very deep, derivative, childish, or out of touch with reality (its usually seen as unrealistically happy, plastic, or as my pastor would say, "earthworm baby") and must say "Jesus" or "God" in every other sentence.
Frankly, this stereotype has some fair points.  Worship music is often fairly basic instrumentally, and sometimes lyrically.  However, this is because it is helpful for most worship music to be easily memorized to sing and/or play.  That said, I don't generally listen to worship music when I'm not actively worshiping (I know plenty who do, I just don't).  There is also a lot of mainstream (non-worship) Christian music is pretty simple.  Some of it features synthesized instruments rather than a true band.  There is certainly music that features lyrics which aren't especially meaningful or which seem to have been written by someone constantly on Prozac.  But I think that it is unfair to level these accusations squarely at Christian music.  After all, when was the last time that Brittany Spears impressed anyone with her instrumental complexity or Kesha (sorry, the dollar sign isn't available) moved people with her lyrics that dealt with the great issues of life?
While the stereotype may hold on the surface of the Christian music scene (even I don't listen to the local Christian radio station), there are whole areas of the music industry that are shattering it.  I'm sure that there are genres where this is not true.  For example, I have no idea how the Christian folk scene is doing.  I would have thought to write off most Christian rap as well, but I have a friend who tells me that there is some pretty good stuff out there.  For the purposes of this blog, though, I'm going to restrict my posting to Christian rock and metal, because that is what I mostly listen to (though if anyone knows a Christian Irish folk band, I'd love to hear about it).
I've heard it said that Christian rock is an oxymoron.  I disagree.  It may take a little digging to get past the mainstream music, but there are some fantastic bands out there, 'even' compared to non-Christian music.  I've seen lots of comments from people who are upfront about saying that they are not Christians, but who still love the band's sound.  I'll work on covering bands from rock, to heavy rock, to metal, and some of the things in between.  I get a little fuzzy on sub-genres and sub-sub-genres, so forgive me is the hardcore band I'm talking about it actually metalcore or if the rock band is actually alternative.  If you can nitpick that much, you obviously already have figured out what it actually is.

Who cares about Christian music?

Why bother listening to Christian music?  When I ask this question, it is primarily directed at Christians, because I recognize that most of the reasons to listen to it doesn't make sense for them.  But for Christians, why?

When my youth pastors encouraged us to listen to Christian music over "secular" music, the reasoning wasn't so much that is was good, but that secular music was bad and Christian music is the only alternative.  These are their arguments, as well as others that exist:

1. Music that isn't Christian will encourage sinful thoughts and mindsets.
2. It wasn't created by Christians, so it is inherently bad or evil.
3. It doesn't glorify God.
4. It doesn't help your testimony.

There is some (not much!) merit to a few of these, but I think that they are mostly wrong, or at least misguided.  I think that there is definitely music out there that was not created by musicians who are Christians that, by the listener's interpretation, can help our faith and glorify God.

I like a lot of non-Christian music, and I own and listen to a fair amount.  But I do think that for Christians, Christian music is better (or at least as good).  If most Christian radio is to be believed, this is because it is "safe" (okay for the kiddies to listen to) and "positive" (puts you in a good mood), and because it glorifies God.  I think that the third is valid, but I have better some additional reasons:

1. It can connect you emotionally with God and following after him.  Essentially, it can get you pumped up and excited about living as a Christian
2. It makes you think about your faith.
3. Music is an excellent thing to share with people who aren't Christians.  Some people find God through music, and listening to a Christian band might help someone come to God more than sermons or evangelism.  I've heard lots of people say, "I'm not a Christian, but I still really like this music."
4. It supports the Christian musicians who are living out their calling.
5. Lastly, but most importantly, the music is good!  This is contrary to popular belief, but it is true nonetheless.  I'll go into this more on the next post.

Purpose

Why does this blog exist?  I don't generally like blogs and I've never written one before, so why start now?

There is a simple answer to these questions and a more complicated one.  The simple answer is that I was assigned a marketing project, which was to start a blog.  However, that only gets me to the start of the blog, not why this blog.  So the longer answer has to do with why I'm writing about, of all things, Christian music.  The assignment gave us a care blanche to write about whatever interested us-essentially, whatever we wanted.  So I started coming up with ideas.  I didn't want to do a blog about myself (though, granted, that's partially what this section is, but bear with me), because I recognize that most people out there don't particularly care about what I had for lunch today, my secret crush on Susie Q, or what my favorite color may be.  So I started thinking of things that interest me.  I thought of writing about my favorite book series, which is becoming a T.V. show that is coming out soon.  But then I thought that if this is the one blog that I'm going to write, it should be about something that is important.  Something reflecting my faith.  So I decided to write about Christian music, which is something that is important to me, but also something that I want to be important to other people.  So here it is.