Author: Loyd Harp

Brazilian black/death metal band Zurisadai came from the coastal city of São Luís in the northern State of Maranhão. The band formed in 2001 and released their debut album Symphony of the Souls the following year via Extreme Records, one of the more prolific Christian metal labels for Latin America. After a lengthy silence they released the follow-up The Coming of the Annihilation in 2014, also initially on Extreme Records. However, the album was impactful enough that it was re-issued no less than four times (!)… Continued →

Rivulets and Violets was a short-lived project spearheaded by Masaki Liu. Liu is a producer and engineer whose name appears in literally dozens (actually over a hundred!) of albums from Christian alternative and metal bands, especially in the 90s. He also owns his own studio, and has been a member of post-punks The Lonely Now and roots rockers Dimestore Prophets. But R&V was a unique project. Their first album was released in 1993, and featured mostly instrumental songs. While there were no lyrics, there were occasional vocal parts, mostly in the form of la’s and other non-verbal vocal sounds.… Continued →

Zion was a melodic/glam heavy metal band from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. After releasing a pair of self-released cassette demos in 1982 (Roll the Rock/Less of Me) and 1984 (Rock for Eternity), they signed with Image Records out of New York. The band’s full-length debut Thunder from the Mountain seemed to be a huge success for the label, getting rave reviews from critics and fans alike. “It It a Crime?” spent several weeks on Christian rock radio charts. For my money, Thunder is a top-5 album in the glam metal genre, a list that also includes Angelica’s self-titled debut, Holy Soldier’s self-titled debut, Guardian’s Fire and Love, and just about any album from Stryper’s early years.… Continued →

Oh my! After a 20-year hiatus, post-punk/hardcore darlings Crash Rickshaw are back! The band, comprised of members of Project 86, Innermeans, Rainy Days, Starflyer 59, and more, will release a brand-new EP, entitled Big Sir. The new project will release via Velvet Blue Music on August 1st, and will be the label’s 250th release! In addition to digital downloads, physical media will include blue & yellow haze vinyl, and compact disc. Pre-orders are now live at Velvet Blue Music… Continued →

True Liberty is a true-school punk rock band from Richmond, VA. The band was active for roughly 10 years, from the mid-2000s through the mid-2010s. In that period, they released an impressive collection of four full-length albums, all in the old school punk rock style. “Lost” is the opening track from their sophomore album Brotherhood, released in 2008 via Raging Storm Records. The band also released albums through Wounded Records and Thumper Punk Records. They also contributed tracks to several different Christian punk compilations via labels like Indie Vision Music, Rottweiler Records, Caustic Fallout, SkyBurnsBlack Records, in addition to the aforementioned Thumper Punk.… Continued →

Denison Witmer is a guitarist and vocalist. A classic singer-songwriter in the indie folk style. Witmer grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania attending Lancaster Mennonite School, representing the faith tradition in which he was raised. At some point during his youth, Witmer began taking guitar lessons from Don Peris (The Innocence Mission), and recorded his first album while he was in high school. The project was not marketed to the public, so his true debut came a few years later in 1998, in the form of Safe Away.… Continued →

The Julies was a barely-known indie pop band from Pennsylvania who released one highly-regarded EP for Flying Tart Records in 1996 and then disappeared for roughly 27 years. I caught up with the band recently to discuss their origins, their revival, and their connection to the Christian indie scene. IVM: I’ve been a huge fan since Lovelife. It’s one of my favorite EPs. You guys had some clear influences, but at the same time didn’t sound like anyone in particular. You must have been pretty young when you recorded that.… Continued →

I recently had the chance to video chat with Rob Withem, of indie pop outfit Fine China. The band has been active since the late 90s, and recently released the beautiful, sophisticated, elaborate I Felt Called (available on Double LP and CD, as well as digital formats via www.velvetbluemusic.com. IVM: Let’s start on a light note. Cloud has informed me that you’re an aficionado of dad jokes . . . RW: You know, that’s funny. I think he’s making that up to be funny, because I don’t think I’ve ever told a dad joke in my like.… Continued →

The music community lost a great one this week. Sadly for us, Mike Peters of The Alarm has passed from this life and into the next. The Welsh singer/guitarist was 66. Peters had first been diagnosed with cancer in 1995, and fought throughout the better part of 10 years before being diagnosed with yet another form of cancer in 2005. All throughout this time, Peters continued to perform, sometimes with The Alarm, sometimes solo, and at other times collaborating with others. He briefly fronted a version of Big Country, and also collaborated with Billy Duffy of The Cult in a project called Colorsound.… Continued →

Fat and Frantic was a delightfully quirky indie band from England, active from the mid-80s and into the early 90s. While the band was made up of Christians (at least one of whom later entered full-time ministry in the Church of England, and another who has a decorated career as a choir director), they managed to stay out of the ‘Christian ghetto’ and had lots of mainstream exposure, at least in their home country. When I lived in England, I would come across people who had no connection to the church but had fond memories of seeing Fat and Frantic live.… Continued →

It’s Holy Week, the most important season in the church calendar, so it’s important to celebrate everything Jesus did for us, displaying his love through the ultimate sacrifice on the cross. When it comes to music, it seems that the metal bands give us the most material when to comes to focusing on the passion events. Sacrament was a super-heavy thrash metal band from Pennsylvania. They formed in 1989, and played a style of thrash that was at times much closer to death metal. One could almost argue they were the first Christian band playing in the death metal style, and they wouldn’t be too far off.… Continued →

Sally Grayson has a new single out as of this week. The American singer-songwriter, living in Germany, has fronted both Black Swift and Standbye in the indie rock field but more recently has turned to dark alternative country. She released a brilliant album called The Darkness in Me (reviewed here). Written from a place of grief and deep empathy, Grayson’s new single “The Empty Place” is a cinematic and haunting tribute to the suffering of Palestinians. Blending intimate, close-mic vocals with walls of atmospheric, distorted guitars and mournful synths, the song evokes the emotional weight of loss and displacement with raw beauty.… Continued →

Brutal deathcore band Desolate Tomb are set to release a new single on Good Friday. The timing of the release isn’t coincidence, as you can see by the title of the track, “Pierced on the Hill.” While still operating from a base of deathcore, the riffs and arrangements are closer to traditional death metal than ever–a fitting move for such a brutal topic. Be sure to check out the Rottweiler Records page this weekend to download or stream the new song. https://rottweilerrecords.bandcamp.com/music… Continued →

Electronica/EBM artist FHTH is a solo project of Slava Malinin of progressive metal band Angel 7. That, however, will give you little to no context of what to expect here. Where Angel 7 mixes proggy power metal with death metal (sometimes), FHTH is straight up electronica that leans in an EBM direction. There are no guitars or acoustical-based instruments, but there are some occasional harsh sounds woven into the catchy electronic dance music. One thing the two projects do have in common is a high standard of quality.… Continued →

Over a decade after the advent of the first “Spirit-filled hardcore” movement, Sleeping Giant helped kick off a second wave of the movement, sometimes referred to as “preachcore.” There is now actually a third wave of Spirit-filled hardcore happening now, but that is a story for another day. The first wave was spearheaded by bands like Southern California’s Focused, Unashamed, and No Innocent Victim, as well as Florida’s Strongarm, Cleveland’s Six Feet Deep and Arizona’s Overcome. Each of those bands featured different takes on the genre but what they had in common was a deep commitment to sharing Christ through the music.… Continued →

Along with the 80s alternative rock bands like U2, Midnight Oil, The Alarm, and Simple Minds, King’s X were the ultimate “Christians in a band” scenario. Despite numerous Christian labels and festivals trying to get the band on board, they always felt their audience was much wider. And yet, their lyrics always hinted at faith in bountiful ways. Musically, the band often functioned as a ‘band’s band.’ They were praised and recognized by members of Pearl Jam, and tons of others as an influence. They played a strange mix of classic rock, funk, heavy metal, and alternative in a unique concoction of progressive metal that predated genres like grunge, alternative metal and even post metal.… Continued →

Everyone’s favorite quirky pop musical genius returns with five songs. Having done stints with Fold Zandura, Lassie Foundation, and Cush, Lenz has ventured out solo since 2001’s Hot Stuff. So what’s it like? This is pop cynicism at its finest. Sugary sweet pop melodies with some of the most bizarre and quirky lyrics yet. Is Lenz Scottish? Because this is right up there with Belle and Sebastian or early Teenage Fanclub. Then again, this EP is hard to peg for so many reasons (yes, the release title is ironic).… Continued →

Sev Statik (born Joseph Evans) is a hip-hop MC originally from Albany, NY. His credentials and discography run pretty deep. While most average listeners were first introduced to his music through his 2002 release on Uprok Recordings (a short-lived hip-hop label affiliated with Tooth & Nail Records), he had been active with Deepspace5 since 1996. The collective also included Labklik (featuring Listener), Ill Harmonics, and Mars Ill. Are you keeping up? To make matters even more confusing, Sev Statik has also recorded under the alias Stu Dent.… Continued →

The 90s was such an interesting decade for music in general, but for the Christian scene in particular. There was such a diversity of sounds and multiple genres exploding in all different directions from alternative to metal to punk to hardcore to hip-hop and electronica. Then even within each of these there was a multiplicity of subgenres all moving in different trajectories at the same time. It wasn’t uncommon to go to a gig in the 90s and see a ska band opening a show that also included indie rock and hardcore.… Continued →

After publicly calling it quits last year, 2Minute Minor decided to release one final EP. Due to family commitments, touring and playing live was no longer possible, so rather than keep the band going, they decided to end things. This is that final record. Interestingly former members Marko (on guitar) and Zach (on drums) both returned for the final recording, as well as having lead guitar contributions from none other than Bryan Gray (The Blamed, Left Out, Mortal, Six Feet Deep, et. al.) Mainstays Wiley (vocals), Bob (guitar), and Sean (bass) are back as well.… Continued →

The late, great Exeter Flud was an alternative rock from the Atlanta area, whose music danced around indie rock, emo, and shoegaze, but never fully committed to any of those. It’s not too surprising that the band had formal connections to other Georgia and Florida bands like Dear Ephesus, My Hotel Year, Vivian, and more. The roots of Exeter Flud were in Remnant, who released one brilliant 7″ single in 1995, “The Cloud/Dirge.” The songs were recorded while they were still in high school, and engineered by the masterful J.C.… Continued →

Let the debate be finished, and let this be the final word: Sister Rosetta Tharpe was the first Christian rock artist ever. Decades before Larry Norman, or even his English predecessors like The Crossbeats or The Pilgrims, Tharpe was writing and performing a new take on Gospel music, utilizing skillful guitar playing and innovating techniques that were used by hundreds of others after her. In fact, it is likely that Tharpe is not only the first Gospel rocker, but the first rock-and-roll artist period, with her early material being created as early as the late 1930s, more than a full decade before Bill Haley and the Comets released “Rock Around the Clock” or Chuck Berry was instructing Johnny on how to B.… Continued →

In the “I never thought that would happen” news department, official members of Tourniquet have reformed the band (sans drummer/composer Ted Kirkpatrick, RIP) recently for a few shows. Guy Ritter, Gary Lenaire, and Luke Easter are all currently performing together as Stop the Bleeding, as they don’t currently have legal rights to use “Tourniquet.” While not much is known about future plans, (and the band is being somewhat secretive) they are, however, playing a few upcoming shows of note. They’ll be playing in Sweden in March (with Extol’s David Husvik filling in on drums) and one in Versailles, OH at home of Immortal Fest, BMI Center, (with former Haste the Day drummer Devin Chaulk filling in).… Continued →

We continue our series in February of focusing on contributions to the Christian independent music scene from our black brothers and sisters for Black History Month. While heavy metal, and especially this form of ‘glam metal’ was dominated by people whose skin color resembles mine, Seventh Seal stood out from the crowd. They were a commercial metal band from Palmdale, California whose 5 members were all African American. Seventh Seal was truly an anomaly in this regard. While there are other heavy metal bands with black members, I can’t think of any others where the entire band was made up of black members *and* who played in this particular style.… Continued →

For the remaining weeks of February, I’ll be focusing on African-American contributions to independent Christian music, in celebration of Black History Month. Both rock and roll in general, and Christian rock/indie/whatever music owe a huge debt to the African-American experience. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to overstate this. Andrae Crouch is one of the most influential Gospel artists of all time. In fact, he has often been known as the “father of modern gospel music.” And while the connection between traditional Gospel music and Christian indie/punk rock might not be obvious, it’s not as distinct as one might think.… Continued →

This Ukrainian band started out as a semi-melodic black metal band, who later morphed into a thrash/death metal band, with a sound that worked a little better overall. After forming in 2003, in their hometown of Kremenchuk, they released a full-length album in 2007 in their native tongue. In 2008 Sullen Records issued an English language version of the album, which was entitled Evangelion. This pressing was on limited edition, hand-numbered CDr. The label re-issued the album yet again in 2010. In 2010, Australian label Soundmass (known for top-quality extreme metal releases) issued a follow-up release, the mini-album Death is Dead.… Continued →

It’s been a while since we’ve covered some grindcore here, so it seems like the right time. One of the most–if not the most–intense genres of metal and/or hardcore and/or noise (depending on which angle is taken), grindcore is generally an acquired taste and is more often than not a ‘love it or hate it’ genre with very little room for bystanders. Having emerged in the 1980s as an ever-increasingly intense subgenre of hardcore punk, it is generally characterized by ridiculously fast, and very short songs.… Continued →

The Remnants (not to be confused with Remnant, The Remnant, nor Remnant Militia) was a punk band originally formed in Alabama in the late 90s, but then transplanted to Chicago sometime in the 2000s, where they had a connection to JPUSA and Grrrr Records. The band was a part of a sort of hardcore punk revival that was taking place in the late 90s/early 00s, a movement that included bands like Headnoise, The Discarded, Combat Junkies and a handful of others. The band’s early material featured tried and true punk sounds (no pop-punk here) mixed with a raw rock and roll influence, drawing influences from the L.A.… Continued →

I love the old playful quote about the difference between knowledge and wisdom: Knowledge is knowing Frankenstein isn’t the monster. Wisdom is knowing Frankenstein is the monster! A similar thought could be applied to Norwegian band Royal: Knowledge is knowing Royal isn’t punk. Wisdom is know Royal is punk. If punk is about shedding notions of convention and rules, then Royal was as punk as they come. Royal blended genres like chefs blend fancy soups. They were simultaneously indie rock, jazz, post-hardcore, emo . . .… Continued →

We are grieving today with our friends in Roadside Monument and fans of the indie rock innovators. This sad news came from the camp yesterday (Jan. 9, 2025): “We are sad to say that our friend and band mate, Joel Metzger passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday. Joel played drums on the My Life is Green 7” and the Beside This Brief Hexagonal album as well as playing with Damien Jurado on a few of his projects. He went on to become an amazing barber / hair stylist, eventually opening his own barber shop.… Continued →