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Silverstar was a 4 man band that released one LP. The electronic influence is surefire & the guy who provided it ended up starting another one-off project titled Gathering Of Souls. The song featured here has a Smashing Pumpkins vibe & has been featured on a Ballistic Test Productions comp & even a HM compilation. I love the lyrical portion where the vocalist sings “I Stand free in Jesus’ name!” at 3:03. It can be pretty hard to find information on many of these older releases so feel free to chime in if you know more about them.… Continued →

The funk-punk and funk-metal scene(s) rose quickly in the early 90s and then disappeared just as quickly. At one point, it was looking to be the next big thing, but as a genre it never dominated alternative rock as it once looked like it would. In fact, aside from Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane’s Addiction, few in the general market ever made it big, even though bands like Fishbone and 24-7 Spyz were just as talented. However, the fusion/hybrid genre did help pave the way for other crossover genres to gain steam, particularly third wave ska (with its derivatives ska-punk and ska-core), rap-core, and industrial metal.… Continued →

Blacklight Records Californian Temple of the Times was a 2 man fare that released an EP & several remixes of the song featured here. Anthony Roberts & Bikos have created an industrial EBM laden hybrid which will surely be enjoyed by those into the softer industrial/darkwave genre.  I actually played a track of their EP on my latest Ripper Radio show. Beware, the song is different from my normal spectrum & will appeal to fans of Skinny Puppy, Circle Of Dust, Argyle Park, etc…… Continued →

Listen: Amazon Music | Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube Lyrics:… Continued →

I am stealing this idea from the whole Gamestop / AMC Theaters / Silver concept being run through Wall Street by savvy investors and reddit users. In this case we have created a special Spotify Playlist to increase exposure for some great independent talent. The goal is to get these songs to 100,000 plays to support great bands. It’s a hefty goal but I think with enough attention we can get it done. These plays will not only help independent bands who own their music but also independent labels who rely on streams and purchases across digital networks (yes, including Indie Vision Music).… Continued →

Formed under the name Switch in 1997, Arizona’s Re:zound switched their name after finding another band w/ the same name. Ironically, there is a current pop/synth Christian band also called Switch!  Well, Re:zound is one of those rock bands that turned into primary worship music before most had. Their second LP Re:Worship was released a couple times w/ new tracks added & is actually really good w/ great tracks such as Majesty, Great I Am, & one of my fave worship songs of all time In This Place.… Continued →

It’s always a pleasure to find a new band to listen to and many times I find myself wondering how I’m only now hearing about them, especially when they sound so good.   Windvent is a progressive post-hardcore band from Chihuahua, Mexico. They have a very heavy, yet melodic sound. The guitarwork is incredible and the vocals range from sounding like Mouth of the South to Lifelong, and also feature some really great sounding cleans. Excellent lyrics! The band released a few singles in the past year or two and have a full length release, “Relief” that dropped in 2018.… Continued →

Much like the song Hey Gene by The Choir, this song is an homage to the late Gene Eugene who fronted mainly Adam Again, but also conspired on various other projects. Tragedy Ann’s band members have risen from the ashes of one of my fave 90s bands Sometime Sunday (especially their Stone release) & then went to start a rock ‘n roll worship band literally called The Rock & Roll Worship Circus. This song reminds us to be humble no matter what our profession is and inspire others to look to our Saviour Jesus.… Continued →

Industrial music has a long and complicated history, which we don’t have time to get deeply into here. Its roots lie in avant garde experimentalism of the 1970s, its name coming from literal industrial sounds as its inspiration. As the genre developed, it became intertwined with other styles–most notably dance music and techno, or at the other end of the spectrum heavy metal, and occasionally even hip-hop. For the longest time, Blackhouse (featured here) was the only industrial band exploring Christian themes, but all of their albums were released as imports and mostly on secular and/or independent labels.… Continued →

Fit For A King vocalist Ryan Kirby (band whom is on my bucket list to see live) & Currents guitarist Chris Wiseman (whom I have seen live last year) have teamed up for this new band Our Eternity. Starting with a keyboard intro then crescendoing into almost a black metal scream before erupting into a metalcore verse complete with clean & unclean vocals is how this barnburner rolls. To hear this & other loud music, tune in to the Castingsuchathinshadow radio show on Ripper Radio from 6-7 pm CST. … Continued →

Listen: Amazon Music | Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube Lyrics:… Continued →

It was inevitable for me to write the review on one of my fave songs of all time. This band brings back so many memories for me. I first heard of them through an indie Christian online radio website out of Florida (no wonder I know!). I was stationed as an active duty soldier in South Carolina, Back in those days, they were dabbling in unblack metal with great full lengths/EPs Act of Depression & Cries of the Past. I bought a drum set shortly afterwards!… Continued →

Punk rock developed somewhere in the 1970s when what had essentially been garage rock bands got louder, snarlier, and started playing shorter, faster songs. While critics argue about the official beginning of the genre (is proto-punk still punk?), it was fully fledged in the late 70s, and had already started giving way to what would become two new genres. New Wave was the poppier extension of punk (that would further develop into synth-pop and electronica). Post-punk was the darker, more introspective branch that would eventually give birth to goth and alternative rock.… Continued →

I admit, in spite of my wide voray into the annals of endless genres of Christian music, I did not familiarize myself with the progressive, doom or power metal genres until recently. Yes, I liked some songs from what I would later come to realize as these styles such as Fourth Estate’s instrumental Poet’s Lament & Paramecium’s I’m Not To Blame. I have since grown fond of greats such as Theocracy (my personal fave), Narnia, ReinXeed (who do fantastic covers), Golden Resurrection, etc… Sweden’s Veni Domine (Latin for Hear My Prayer, O Lord) plays a mix of the aforementioned genres & there is no denying lead vocalist Fredrik Sjöholm can sing.… Continued →

Edit: Five Iron Frenzy themselves have posted updated lyrics with corrections made, click here. Also, I left out info on “So We Sing” which is a catchy song in it’s own right but I didn’t mention because it was the first single released a few months back and I assumed most had heard it. Carry on…. Five Iron Frenzy surprised just about everyone by dropping their brand new, electrifying full length album on Friday. It is a complete, total dumpster fire wreck of an album and filled with nothing but pure feces.… Continued →

Oklahoma’s Chaotic Resemblance plays music reminiscent of 80s hard rock/glam metal. This review is in high expectations of their upcoming release which will probably sport their most current single Unto The Lamb which features Stryper’s very own Oz Fox who has undergone some health issues recently but is recovering. Plus, they just have a cool name & my buddy Kelly & I got the chance to see them live a couple years back before this whole Covid hit. They have new pretty cool t-shirts as well on their site: https://chaoticresemblance.com/collections/all… Continued →

California’s The Beautiful Mistake is one of my faves from The Militia Group label which sports greats such as The Rocket Summer (whom I’ve seen live!), Copeland, Brandtson (whom I’ve also seen live!) & Acceptance, just to name a few. Their most recent 2020 release, EP You’re Not Broken, I Am, continued the post hardcore/emo trend they became known for. They have played a few Christian fests including TomFest back in 2002. The following is my fave from them and I dare say dabbled in the math rock genre.… Continued →

Remember when hardcore was still exciting? Fast loud rules! While hardcore can still be interesting, I find the monotony of some in the genre to be irritating. Here’s the formula: melodic leads, heavy use of breakdowns, some clean singing somewhere, and just enough tempo changes to give the appearance of being innovative. Okay, I’ll stop. I sound as old and jaded as I actually am. I still love the heavy music scene, and hardcore in particular. I just hate the fact that it’s getting harder and harder to tell the bands apart from one another (especially metalcore and deathcore).… Continued →

Ever heard of Deitiphobia? Massivivid is what became of Wally Shaw’s (founder of Deitiphobia) musical endeavours. Likened to Nine Inch Nails, the music is more guitar driven than his previous. I remember hearing Wally’s music back in the mid 90s & loved the song Red Society when industrial was at its peak in the mainstream. My email address back then was even industrial_remixx! Well time has progressed & Massivivid even won a Dove award in the Christian market with 1998s Hard music Album of the Year.… Continued →

So this review is partially due to a music review veteran Kevin Crothers’ latest top 10 video for Mortification on his YouTube channel in lieu of his White Throne Metal Radio show.  I myself, have been a die-hard Morty fan since probably circa 1996 when a friend of mine in high school gave me ripped copies of Circle of Dust S/T, Mortification-Best of 5 Years & Sixpence’s This Beautiful Mess. I know, a rather all over the place in genres! I really dug Morty’s sound. At the time, the heaviest stuff I had ever heard (& still pretty darn heavy) was from Living Sacrifice’s Darkened & Crimson Thorn’s Your Carcass.… Continued →

I dig most “core” music genres, & there are tons of them (metalcore, screamo, nintendocore, etc…). One of my faves is electronicore which fuses unclean (growled or screamed vocals) with clean & double bass pedals & a lone keyboardist (which this song has the perfect mix of imho. Formed in Rock Hill, SC, at a pentecostal church, WOE i one of my friends son’s band. My friend Paul Gaskin is the youth & children’s pastor of the church which is also known for a Helloween event that showcases a “haunted house scenario”, but shows how life’s end can be very scary without our Saviour Jesus.… Continued →

Glam metal gets a bad rap. Especially in punk/indie/hardcore circles. Except for the occasional semi-ironic nod to the genre, it doesn’t get much love outside of 40- and 50-something dads who like to show off old photos of their teenage mullets. Whether the cheesyness or the sleaziness is to blame, folks seem to have a love-hate relationship with it. Occasionally, however, there are some real gems. Rage of Angels released one fantastic album in 1989 through Regency Records. Shortly thereafter, the Connecticut-based band split up, leaving 2 members to join the newly-formed mainstream pop metal outfit Steelheart, who had huge radio hits with “She’s Gone” and “I’ll Never Let You Go.”… Continued →

Angie Turner is the given name for soloist Miss Angie who has been releasing music since 1997. She was married to Oran from Johnny Q Public (whom I saw back in probably circa in their hometown of Springfield, MO). 2 LPs were released in the 90s that went to the Christian market. Consisting of what I would consider 60s esque/bubblegum/hard alternative rock music, the music was hip & akin to Veruca Salt or what I think Avril Lavigne would have made if in the Christian market.… Continued →

Listen: Amazon Music | Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube Music Lyrics:… Continued →

Jaded Thorns were a grunge band that hailed from New York . Releasing 2 LPs & disbanding, this was a band that I wished for more of.  It is hard to find much on them as their record label did not last long. Both Epiphany & Things My Father Taught Me were on Word of Mouth (The Roosevelts, Sides of the North, Mending Point, Poor Man’s Riches). A few songs hit radio: Epiphany, Remnants, Lie Awake & Lost In The Moment & the one featured. The lyrics come straight from Psalm 130 verse 1: “If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?… Continued →

Creating a list of my top 100 albums and EPs has been fun and all, but it’s really these last 25 that are my personal favorites of 2020. They’re the ones that I’ve listened to the most and the ones I think I will keep coming back to in 2021. So here it is, my top 25 albums and EPs of 2020:… Continued →

Starting this new year off right with some fun ska music from B.U.C.K. (building Up Christ’s Kingdom) aka Buck Enterprises. This Detroit, MI six piece band released a few albums before disbanding. I remember writing a college paper on ska & B.U.C.K would be classified as 3rd wave ska. Their 1998 self-titled release featured more horns than the second & featured a cartoon character which appeared to be skanking in a raincoat while holding up a checkered black & white ball which are the normal colors for ska music.… Continued →

Something I realized once I started breaking my top 100 albums and EPs of 2020 list down into four posts is that each post became a micro-list of its own. For example, I wasn’t really thinking too hard about what album I was going to rank 26th when there were 100 albums. But when I split the list up suddenly being ranked 26th seemed really important as it became the last album a reader will see in this post. The reverse proved be true as well, ranking an album 75th where it’s going to be first album a reader sees when they click my post became important too.… Continued →

Despite all the despair, hopelessness, fear, anxiety, death, destruction, and uncertainty that 2020 has thrown at us, we have all taken solace in our music and found hope through it. We are carried through the pain with messages of inspiration, songs of motivation, and songs that just plain electrified our souls. The following is a collection of albums, eps, and songs that were meaningful to me in 2020. Not all of the releases listed below are “Christian” but most of them rocked me to my core!… Continued →

Some would say that putting together a year-end list of your top 100 albums and EPs is insane. And I agree. It’s one of the most ambitious things I’ve attempted since I started writing for IVM. So how did I do it exactly? Well I started out by putting together a list of all the albums and EPs I listened to during 2020—a feat in its own right. When I was done I had a list of about 300 releases which I then set out to rate on a scale of 1 to 10.… Continued →