Shut Up And Rock!

It's been a long time since we at The Night Beat could let our inner headbanger out to rock. It's no secret that I am a metalhead, at least the CCM subvariety. From the moment I was introduced to metal in the 80's it was love at first bang. In this case I can say I was in on the ground floor, because even though a case can be made for Rez Band being the Father of Metal in the late 70's, it didn't gain prominence in CCM until the mid-80's with the arrival of Stryper. Other great Metal Bands of the era were Barren Cross (Stryper's Enigma Records Labelmate), Whitecross, Messiah Prophet, Sacred Warrior and Bloodgood. Though now derisively labelled Hair Metal, (I prefer the term Melodic Metal), the compination of harmonies, screaming fast guitar riffs and blast out your eardrums sound puts some of the best Thrash/Core Metal to shame (sorry TDWP, but I call it like I see it. I love you guys). Hair Metal got some heavy airplay on my Radio Show on WENC. With the exception of Stryper, a look over the CCM landscape would make you think those days were gone forever.

"Bang Your Head. Shut Up and Rock"  Such is the exhortation by Montreal based Blessed By A Broken Heart (abbreviated BBABH). What is it about Canadians and Great Music?. Their Tooth and Nail (Big Surprise) Debut Feel The Power could almost be mistaken for a Stryper Tribute Band, except for the original material. This CD takes me back to the Golden Age of Metal. Check out the guitar riffs on Skate or Die and Sleepless Nights or the Sweetesque "Devil" Scream by Lead Singer Tony Gambino on Deathwish. While there are a few well placed Thrash growls to placate some more modern metalcore fans, this is unashamedly a 80's Metal band, which the Band admits. If you have been nostalgic for the days when you could still hear the lyrics of a song regardless of the volume, this is for you. There's even a top class ballad with I've Got You.

This week the Album Streams at AOL Music, and it has been on Auto repeat for this blogger. I guess Third Time is the Charm (It's the bands third album, but its Tooth and Nail Debut). Remarkably, they started out as a Thrash band but made the transition to Melodic Metal. Though I like both styles, I LOVE the 80's Melodic style. I wish more bands would make the transformation. Maybe these guys will spark a trend.

I Feel The Power. I am giving this CD a Solid 5 Emeralds. Metal Bands, here is the bar to shoot for. King Midas sure knows where to find talent. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

P.S.- Don't forget to vote for your favorite musical decade in my poll. It closes at the end of the month.

Heating It Up: Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees - Hard Rock

Hard Rock, Metal, Metal-core, Thrash. The Devil Wears Prada. You get the idea. This is the hard stuff, cranked up to a billion. These are the best of the Summer.

Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees

This quarter we had eleven nominees in this genre. This is a very good showing. I will have to some serious slashing in this genre this year. Fans will be crushed.

Hard Rock

• Call to Preserve - Validation
• The Devil Wears Prada - Dead Throne
• The Great Commission - Heavy Worship
• Hands - Give Me Rest
• Haste The Day - Haste The Day vs Haste The Day (Live)
• Nothing Til Blood - When Lambs Become Lions
• Oh Sleeper - Children of Fire
• A Past Unknown - To Those Perishing
• Phinehas - The God Machine
• We Came as Romans - Understanding What We've Grown to Be
• Your Chance to Die - Suscitatio Somnus

That's a lot of entries. A lot of tough choices. I know my friend Melissa will be crushed if Dead Throne doesn't make it, but I think it has a lot in its favor. The links go to my reviews of the albums. Only Rock to Go. As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Fresh From The Zombie Apocalypse

Well that was fun. The Interview with a Character blog fest was a little something to stretch my writing muscles. I've known for a while that Melissa (the host) was doing a Zombie Apocalypse story, and while that wasn't what my forte was (One interview was historical fiction, and the other Sci-Fi/Action) we writers have to hang together, and it never hurts to get your work before as many eyes as possible.


What was amazing was how seamlessly my two works blended this time. Who woulda thunk it? CCM and Zombies. Never in a million years? How about a year. Metalcore band The Devil Wears Prada just released its latest Tuesday. Entitled Dead Throne, the album is a Vast improvement, at least in my opinion, over their last CD. That one, an EP Themed around a Zombie Apocalypse, was a bit to Thrash for my tastes, and it suffered therefor in my review. This time around there are an abundance of what is termed Clean Vocals, and for someone who grew up on 80's metal, I like it more. You can make out the words. Even the growls are less gravelly than I remember last time around.

Since I am continuing to have blogger bugs, this will be a relatively short post. As to the nature of the bug my Amazon Associates widget is not working in the old interface, and since the updated interface isn't truly "live", it doesn't appear there either. Right now my favorites on the CD are Mammoth, My Questions, Kansas (instrumental), Holdfast and Pretenders. I hope to have the links problem straightened out early next week.

I gave the aforementioned Zombie EP 3.75 Emeralds, and it just missed being in the Inaugural Platinum Vinyl Awards. This time around Prada is Platinum bound. Though I am not reall a thrash fan, this album rocks. I am giving it 4.75 Emeralds. Though it will have some tough competition, I think it fair to at least predict that it should be among the final seven in Hard Rock.

That's it for now. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Celestial Completion

I consider myself a fairly well rounded person, musically speaking, and I can find something to enjoy about just about any style of music (county & southern gospel excepted). That being said, I think I am a headbanger at heart.

We close out March (though this post is written in April) with two albums that any headbanger will love. Not surprisingly, both are signed to the most successful label in the Christian Music Industry Tooth and Nail Records (along with its sub-labels BEC Recordings and Solid State Records), which happen to be run by King Midas himself, Brandon Ebel.

First out of the review gate is Georgia Metal Band Becoming the Archetype and their latest release Celestial Completion. In their writeup accompanying their listening party, the folks at AOL Music described B.T.A. as experimental, and if such is the case, then I am in favor of experimentation, at least musically speaking. The album primarily is described as Thrash Metal or Death Metal (in the Christian Music world Apocalyptic is possibly a better word, as the dominant theme is the end of the world, not life), continuing the tradition proudly begun by Saint. The thrash growls are highly understandable, a rarity, and there is an abundance of clean vocals. The experimentation is diverse, and can throw one for a loop. There are Sitars (yes, you heard right, sitars) on the instrumental, blink and you'll miss it Invisible Creatures, Opera on The Resonant Frequency of Flesh, and the DDMHO/OC Supertones Channeling Cardiac Rebellion (this one has to be heard to be believed). Finally there is the three part Rock Opera (Music of the Spheres, Elemental Wrath, and Xenosynthesis, all under the umbrella of Requiem Aeternam). The ride is thrilling, and worth it. I give Celestial Completion a near perfect score of 4.75 Emeralds. Even if metalcore or Death Metal, isn't your cup of tea, I encourage you to give Becoming the Archetype a listen. They have cooked up a giant smorgasbord so that everyone may find something that appeals to their taste. Experimentation. It's a good thing.

The Winter Melodies: Platinum Vinyl Awards 1rst Quarter- Hard Rock, Alternative and Hip Hop

We wrap up the first quarter of the Second Annual Platinum Vinyl Awards with a mega post encompassing the Hard Rock, Hip Hop/Rap, and Alternative genres.  We begin with Alternative.

• Who Can Know It by Showbread
• de-plumed by The Choir
• The Art of Letting Go by AJ Cheek

We now move to the Hard Rock Genre. This is a genre of convenience. While it could be said Rock is Rock, it seems best to ferret out the harder stuff to keep the numbers manageable.

• Follow by Shake The Nation
• O Disambiguation by Underoath
• Dynasty by As They Sleep
• 15.Live by Project 86

We conclude our first quarter contender list with Hip Hop and Rap

• My Time by Byron "Mr. Talkbox" Chambers
• Captured by Flame
• Level 3:16 (Self Titled) (D)

(D) Debut release

The First Quarter nominations are now concluded, the Second Begins Now. 

Everybody Move Right Now

I have always imagined this phrase, uttered in the first few moments of the CD as something God is going to say to us in eternity.  While some may have visions of floating around on clouds playing harps, or, God Forbid, singing Southern Gospel for eternity, I feel quite secure in my belief that that style of music will be cast into the Lake of Fire along with the Beast and False Prophet.  In eternity, it's Par-Tay Time.

I am also confident that 15.Live, the latest release by Orange County Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Band Project 86 is on the Angel's Permanent Playlist, and I don't mean the baseball team.  From the opening notes of Sincerely Ichabod to the closing tones of The Spy Hunter, it is a don't stop to catch your breath party.  The 12 Song Album, which marks 15 years (That's 1995 for those of you in Rio Linda) is Headbanger Heaven to say the least, and not a thrash growl to be found.

My favorite songs on the album just happen to come from Rival Factions, my pick for project 86's best album, Illuminate and Evil: A Chorus of resistance. As a final verdict, I give it a near perfect 4.75 Emeralds.

 I think all of us wish Project 86 15 more happy years.  Can't Wait for 30.Live!

Clear as a Bell

Disambiguation: v. 1. The Process of resolving the conflicts that arise when a single term is ambiguous. 2. n. The Title of a new release by Underoath.

Enough with the grammar lesson. O Disambiguation, the latest release by Tooth and Nail Metal-core band Underoath, is the first release, it is said, with none of the bands founding members. The title of the CD refers then to the new members trying to "clarify" the question of "Who or What is Underoath?" The answer: Underoath is a band in transition. At its heart it still is metal-core, with its deep growls which border on the unknowable. Coming to the surface though is some Original Metal tendencies, with great gang chorus vocals and some songs that are sung and not growled.  Being an O.M. fan the songs I call my favorites are those that either omit the thrash growls or keep it to a minimum, such as Catch Myself Catching Myself, Paper Lung and In Completion.

O Disambiguation is a very good album, but falls short of Perfect Album Status. Primarily because of Track 8 Reversal. It is very short, growl only, and seems out of place on the album. It may be a perfect metal-core without it, why it made the cut is one of the mysteries of the recording industry. It is located between to of my favorites Who Will Guard the Guardians and Vacant Mouth.

O Disambiguation gets 4.5 Emeralds for a final rating from me which will put it into early contention for the Platinum Vinyl Awards for the 4th Quarter. Whether it will make the final cut remains to be seen. It has some serious competition in the Hard Rock Category.

The Shot Heard Round The World

The saying goes that close only counts with Horseshoes and Handgrenades.  Knoxville, TN Christian Heavy Metal Band Disciple gave this title to their eighth full length studio release to indicate that they had no intention of letting success go to their head and "mail in" the new album. They didn't just hit the target with this release, they obliterated it.

Take Me Home for The Showdown

Blood in the Gears, the fourth full length release by Solid State Records/Tooth and Nail artist The Showdown is a type of musical dichotomy.  The album starts out as a typical hardcore/metal-core album (although with growls that can be understood on the first listen to the untrained ear), then they abruptly switch gears and turn into a Southern Metal/80's Metal Band a la Disciple or Messiah Prophet.

Do Zombies Wear Prada?

Zombie EP, the latest release by Tooth and Nail Metal-core act The Devil Wears Prada, chronicles a fictional invasion by Zombies, yes Zombies.
My problem with most Metal-core is "you can't tell what's going on without a program", in this case printed lyrics, at least with the thrash growls.  The good ones have a lot of easily discernible group choruses to appeal to the untrained ear. TDWP falls somewhere in the middle on this count.
Based on gang vocals and the music, I am going to give Zombie 3.75 Emeralds.  It would be four but I'm taking off for a short EP