Author: Loyd Harp

I've lived in 7 different states, and 3 different countries. Having lived and worked in England for 13 years, my family and I returned to the United States in 2021. I'm a pastor in northern Iowa, I serve on the core leadership team for Audiofeed Festival, and I own and run Call & Response Records. I'm a huge music lover at heart. Metal, punk, hardcore, indie rock, free jazz, folk, classic country (and more) all have a place in my collection. I wrote a book on youth ministry called "Middle Space Youth Work" that is available in all major online bookstores.

January 23, 2018

REVIEW : Katharos - Stay My Captain/Warrior (single)

By Loyd Harp in Reviews | 2 Comments

Katharos is yet another project from Fire (Elgibbor, Fire Throne, Nuclear Blaze) on vocals and guitars, this time with help from drummer Taberah. There is also some collaboration from former Frost Like Ashes members Sebat and Azahel for live dates. This recording is a single and ‘b-side’ and what we have here is no-frills, raw black metal. No ‘atmospheric’ or ‘symphonic’ keyboards. No overdubs or anything of the like. This could easily pass as a release from the mid-90s Norwegian BM scene. Appropriately lo-fi with hissed/snarled vocals and trebly guitars, this is great if you like first or second wave black metal.… Continued →

January 16, 2018

REVIEW : The Beckoning - The Desolation of War

By Loyd Harp in Reviews | No Comments

Canadian progressive death metallers The Beckoning have been making noise since 2010. This release combines two earlier demos—Desolate (2014) and War (2012) into one remastered full-length. Truly progressive, this 4-song clocks in at over 29 minutes, making it either a very long EP, or a full-length with only 4 songs, depending on one’s perspective. While the formula has been done before—screamed/growled vocals + clean/operatic vocals + heavy riffing + melodic leads—it works well here. Founder/drummer/vocalist Roy Turple pulls off the screamed and clean sung vocals, and when he chooses the latter approach, resembles Jimmy Brown or Eric Clayton. … Continued →

January 15, 2018

REVIEW : coopertheband - Kingdoms

By Loyd Harp in Reviews | 1 Comment

The press release labelled this as “Indie Folk Rock.” And while that is mildly accurate, it certainly doesn’t tell you all you need to know. Full disclosure: I’m a bit of 90s slacker kind of guy. So indie rock to me means loud guitars, dissonant riffs, punk attitude and band photos that make it look like the members are made up of blind golfers. Back then, Nirvana had come in and changed all the rules. Alternative rock had overtaken the airwaves and become mainstream. Indie rock was an even deeper underground version of alternative. … Continued →

January 10, 2018

New Kekal song for free download!

By Loyd Harp in News | No Comments

Experimental metal band Kekal have just released a new song for free download here Announcement of the track came via the band’s website: “Deeper Underground, Kekal’s upcoming 11th full-length album, follows pretty much the same release process as with the latest album “Multilateral” (2015), with majority of tracks to be released individually as they are ready, before the album release date in 2018. As of October 2017, five tracks are now available for digital download or streaming, fully-produced and mastered. You can purchase and download them individually from Bandcamp in either lossless audio (FLAC, ALAC) or high-bitrate mp3, or free download mp3 either from ReverbNation or by extracting the audio from YouTube, or just stream online from SoundCloud or ReverbNation.… Continued →

January 9, 2018

REVIEW : TIMŌRĀTUS - Reverentia

By Loyd Harp in Reviews | No Comments

While this band hails from Louisville, I would have sworn they were from eastern Europe somewhere. That’s a good thing. Reverentia is yet another quality post-metal release I’ve come across recently. But whereas the mysterious band God revel in djent rhythms and instrumental anthems to connect the listener to God, TIMŌRĀTUS takes a different approach altogether. Each album is written and recorded in a different style. I’ve sampled some of the other albums and there’s black metal, thrash, doom and experimental hybrids. The music on Reverentia was takes on form of post-metal is impregnated with black metal atmospherics, layers of shoegaze wall-of-sound sonics and doom metal riffs, creating a drone metal beast! … Continued →

December 16, 2017

REVIEW : God - God II: Jesus Christ - The Origin, The Life, Death & Resurrection Of Jesus Christ

By Loyd Harp in Reviews | 1 Comment

This mysterious band has been making music since 2016. Their website states, “GOD will challenge you to consider your life, death through the power of music.” While I am in contact with the band members, repeated requests for information regarding the member(s) have been unsuccessful—even to the point of denying my request to know which country the band is from. This is the second album from the band, and there are two more planned—each one with a conceptual theme. God I focused on the nature of God, while God II as the subtitle suggests, is all about the person and work of Jesus Christ. … Continued →