Broken Flesh Warbound CD Physical Copy Full Review

Just picked up my copy of Broken Flesh's new CD 'Warbound' from drummer Brandon Lopez a little while ago. Popped it in the car CD player and turned it up! The first song was one they had released on video for a preview, but it sounded better pumping through the car system! Head bangin!!

From the first burst, this CD takes off in a direction upward from their last release. Recording, songwriting, everything is made perfect on this one. The song structures are much more free, and the tempo and time changes are interesting and more unpredictable. There are some very cool riffs here, and well coordinated with the drums. It's sounds like the songwriting included everyone, and utilized the strengths of the individual members.

On the 3rd song, we start to hear some shredding of sweeps and scales by studio guitarist, Steve Giddens (of the band Horde Casket). He hits some nice sweeps and runs, and it gives the music a well timed boost of heaviness. The 4th song, Warbound, begins with a traditional sounding crunchy intro riffage that is perfectly accompanied by a resounding battle cry, "WAR!!" After an enthralling speed-death frenzy, you get to hear a monster metal scream-gutsqueal duet featuring high screams by bassist Joshua Mathes. I think it's one of the standout songs on the album, though all of the songs have their own distinct things about them.

I liked their use of the semi-famous Bell Labs for the drum recording. They sound excellent! The kick is tremendous, cymbals cutting through but not taking your eardrums out. Another local secret, Pirated Audio, was used for other recordings. The album has an excellent balance in volume and frequencies, it sounds very well mastered. The cover art, which you have seen a preview of, is really cool, and it extends around the back and sides. A complete lyric sheet for those who dare to follow, and a sticker of the album cover that is the same size as the CD! I'm glad to have held out for the hard copy. Go get your copy Saturday, June 15th at The Chameleon Room! Or grab it here at Big Cartel! DO IT!

New A Wolf. A Liar. release streaming live now!

I've been waiting for a chance to give this one a full listen-thru. The new album from A Wolf A Liar made its appearance on iTunes this week, which I don't use much at all. The previews sounded great, but I like to hold out for the physical copy. Well I'm not sure if I will get a copy before their show opening for Impending Doom on June 25 at The Chameleon Room (tickets here). But thanks to Under The Gun website, the entire album is streaming free. I had a hard time getting the songs to play on the above link, but here is the link to UTG's soundcloud page, which may work better.

The type of scream vocals used on this album are, in my opinion, a little harder to pull off. I like the screams a lot, the lyrics are decipherable to attentive listeners. The music is quite faithful to the metalcore genre, but has some really interesting breaks from the norm, like the title track, "Persevere". It takes you on an atmospheric, ambient journey far away from low tuned tritone powerchords, even utilizing some electronic drums and synth sounds. I'm a little less of a fan of the clean vocals on this album, but I don't dislike them. They are used well and in the right spots.

So right now is the time to give this one a listen for free! They did a great job and took their time to get everything right. I will really be looking forward to getting my hard copy of "Persevere", and seeing them open up for the great Impending Doom!!! Pics to follow!

New Upcoming Righteous Metal Releases, from Traditional to DeathCore

Hey! Blog stalled, sorry. May got busy with my birthday and now a natural disaster hits very close to home. Oklahoma is unbelievable when it comes to helping those in need. Just send your prayers our way and we will make it through! Now on with some new music I've been waiting anxiously to hear.

A new Trouble album will be out July 16th. It features a new vocalist, Kyle Thomas, whom original member Rick Wartell says has an unbelievable range, and the whole band seems really excited about him, and the new music they are producing. They haven't put out an album since 2007, and this one should be worth the wait. Rick also said that this one was written with the same freedom of expression as the early albums. In an interview, Rick said that outside influences can stand in the way of your own creativity, and they felt that they have avoided those kinds of blockades in the making of "The Distortion Field".

Impending Doom has been in the studio working on a new album, which they seem super excited about. I would assume they plan on getting it all done this month because they are due out on tour in June. Hopefully their proficiency in the studio will have a good outcome.

Locally, Broken Flesh has their album out now on iTunes. Listening to the previews of the digital iTunes version, it sounds like the band has advanced from their former EP "Stripped. Stabbed. Crucified." This album contains a little better songwriting, more squeals within the licks, and low growl, gutteral vocals. I'm holding out for the hard copy, which will be out in a month or so.

A Wolf A Liar new 8 song album soon called "Persevere." Recently, they have released a new song from the album, "Passion", which you can listen to here on YouTube. I have heard them do a few more songs from this album live and I like the interplay between their clean and scream vocals. The guitar holds down some low, solid chords and non-complicated musical structures. I still like their progressions, they utilize the music around the basic structure well.

Some other national acts with new releases to look out for are Ark Of The Covenant, coming out with a new CD on May 26th, just around the corner! The Burial is releasing a new one on Facedown Records July 9th, and have released a lyric video here on YouTube that is a metal contender for sure! I Built The Cross is threatening new material, as is This Divided World. As They Sleep was in the studio a few months ago, but I haven't heard another word about that endeavor except for the Billy Squier cover they released as a free single. Hopefully we'll get a new one from them soon too.

Well, within a month I will be on metal overload, and I'll probably have some reviews and such to post on here, along with some of my famous phone pics/ vids of some killer bands making their way through the state. Everyone take care, be safe, all that goodness.

Pics from the A Hill To Die Upon concert

Walking in the door at The Conservatory, I knew I would have to take it easy. My neck still sore from the headbanging last weekend, and back still hurting from the fall I took in the pit, restraint was rough at this show. I got there in time for most of A Wolf. A Liar.'s set. They have worked up some new tunes that rock! I like the voice changes between the singers screams and the guitarists cleans. They are releasing a new album this year, and I'll be eager to check that out.

I expected Commotio Cordis to be the next band, but they switched with AHTDU, since a lot of local CC followers were there, and they wanted to make them stick around. I like their strategy!! hehehehe. Commotio Cordis played as the headliner, and lived up to it! Their new songs kick, and I am ready to hear this new album they have been pouring their sweat into! Anyhow I think I grabbed a few cool pics to share, all of A Hill To Die Upon. Have a look.

 

They have a cool older style blackened-metal sound. I was into their show a lot. Afterwards, they went to hang at the merch table. This band is going on my 'nicest bands I've ever met' list. They are very genuine, pure at heart people. Sometimes people get into arguments about how Christians and metal mix together, and what message do they send to all of the listeners. Jesus said that we would be a witness by our actions. I think that its true for so many of these bands I meet, whether they are Christians in a metal band, or an actual Christian band or just a band that proclaims Jesus, some of these bands witness by their actions incredibly well offstage. And I am sure that there are some that do not do such a great job of that, but it's often something that I read about when non-Christian music writers interview or interact with a Christian band that they liked. A lot of the time they talk about how nice the band was, how they weren't looking down on them or anything and were very welcoming. That sounds like a great 'witness-by-actions' to me, and very Christ-like. Hope everyone liked the photos!!

Chameleon Room's Most Brutal Night Ever Kicks Off With Broken Flesh

Oklahoma Death Metalheads just had a neckbreaker of a night at the Chameleon Room last weekend. My neck still hurts from all the headbanging. Somehow I ended up in the pit for about 20 seconds. That worked out about as well as the time I thought I was still young enough to ride a skateboard at the skatepark in Colombia, MO. Still hurting a little from that. Anyway, it was a grind death gore thrash metal fest, and the lineup for the show from headliner to opener was Suffocation, Exhumed, Jungle Rot, Rings of Saturn, local bands Enfuneration, Dark Arsenal and, one of our favorites here on Righteous Metal, Broken Flesh!

The guys from B.F. had some new music to expose us to, and got started immediately after soundcheck with brutal blast beats, growling vocals and a low string assault that flung the crowd into a head banging frenzy. The new songs stood out among the others in the setlist. The vocalist, Jacob Mathes, was full throttle, high energy and drummer, Brandon Lopez, just kept the beats insane all set. Guitarist Kevin Tubby's riffs on the new songs have some cool squeal elements and higher string runs that give some good contrast to the low chugs. They have a real solid bass player in Josh Mathes, who also does some vocals, as does Kevin. I was able to get a few videos, one of the opening song, and then another of a new song. Sorry I can't remember what its name was. So to watch the videos just click the pic!

I really liked the way Broken Flesh delivered their message, being the only Christ-inspired band of the evening. The singer just said that the band would not want to push anything at you, or shove anything down your throat. They just wanted the crowd to know that Jesus loves them, and that the band would be open to talk about that, or anything else, with anyone that would like to talk to them. I think it was handled well, and the crowd itself never met them with a negative response; and, for the most part, the other bands didn't react in a condescending or offended way either.

Well, the show rocked and I hardly had time to take more pics or video. The new B.F. album might be out around June or July, so be on the lookout! Many many more shows coming up, so I hope to grab some more video for all the metalheads out there to see.

Righteous Bands That Must Not Be Missed Or Forgotten, The 80's!

Today I have been thinking about how music has evolved, especially metal, and some of the finer points in Christian Rock/Metal history. I know I am going to miss some great stuff here in this post, but please humor me for a bit while I recap the first bands in my life that gave me the music that I enjoyed listening to from the Christian Rock genre.

1981-2

My knowledge of Christian rock music began in 1982, with the Resurrection Band. I had left the public school in my hometown, and started at a private school. I remember some kids on the bus talking about how heavy the Rez Band was. So I got a copy of DMZ on cassette from my friend who's dad worked at a Christian bookstore. I took it home and ended up playing the whole tape over and over for almost the entire weekend.

Resurrection Band - Military Man
The album 'DMZ' was released in 1982, and the Rez Band was already known to be a rockin' Christian band. But with this album, and songs like 'Military Man' and 'Babylon', the Rez had definitely shown the ability to match the output of secular radio rock bands of that time period.

Another band that stepped even further into 'heavy' territory around this time was Jerusalem. The third album by this Swedish group has some of the heaviest, and most definitely longest, jam out rock the Christian music world had seen. Their epic song "Sodom" lasts over 12 minutes, and includes an opening piano serenade. On the title track for the album, Warrior, the wah-wah pedal is full tilt on the intro...

1983

I was fortunate to get to see this band, Solid Rock, perform in an auditorium somewhere, I don't remember. But I had their album, at least one of them, and really liked their jam-rock style. This song is from the album 'Interdesign'. Click the pic to watch the video

1984

Although Stryper set a post in Christian rock history in 1984 with their EP release, The Yellow And Black Attack, the album that year that had even more influence on metal as a whole was the debut album by Trouble. I think many would say this is one of the heaviest albums released to date, and possibly kept afloat the 'doom' metal sound that has continued and revived in this millennium. They were able to turn a Bible scripture, Psalms 9, into a metal head banging fest without losing the feeling of the scripture.

1988

Christian metal was on the rise. Other bands like Saint and Whitecross were showing that Christian musicians were willing and able to attract fans from all walks of life. Rex Carroll offers up some shredding solos on the intro, "Eruption" style! Because Of Jesus!

 1989

Christian metal was still rocking hard, but the crossover had begun. Metal and thrash had merged, and the speed of punk rock had influenced some huge bands in the metal scene. Christian music was expanding too, giving us bands such as... The Crucified.

Well, I'll try to tackle some more of the timeline in another post. Hope everyone has enjoyed the flashback!

New Release from Lawton, Oklahoma's 'In Honor' Finding Ears in the Inner City.

Lawton is in no way estranged from the listeners in central and northern Oklahoma! This small town that holds a military base and several college education options also is responsible for pouring out some of the finest local bands seen in the club circuits here in Oklahoma City. In Honor has brought about a new EP which is circulating at shows and in fans ears.

The 5 song output from this Lawton quintet has a great hard and heavy sound. The vocals are gutsy, hardcore type vocals that stay in the range of bands like Obey The Brave or Onward To Olympus. There are some incredible additional vocals by featured guest singers; Jose Rodriguez from the Lawton band 'Valleys', Ethan Blasdale of Enid, OK's 'Thought Crime' and  Josiah Lyle of Texas band 'Mouth of the South'.
Guitars are full, powerful and chunk out some really pounding riffage, a great sound balance between guitarist Richard Bowen and bassist Caleb Cephas. The drummer, Zaq Thomas, is rock solid in delivery, and does not succumb to double-bass overkill. Their overall sound is solid, intense and not overly simplistic or technical.

You can listen to the new EP on their facebook page, or go to their bandcamp if you would like to download it. Otherwise, grab a physical copy from them at The Conservatory on May 6, 2013 when they open up for Creations, Deserters and a few other really good bands.