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2007 was definitely a strong year for music. As much as I enjoyed some of the more popular releases of the year, the lesser known albums certainly held a place in my heart. The albums listed below are a mix of independent, underground, and mostly over looked releases from the year 2007. Feel free to dissect and discuss below in the comments. Oh and I left off 2 important 2007 honorary IVM releases because that would be self-promotion am I right? Quick and the Dead “Going Home“, and “Hearts Bleed Passion Vol.… Continued →

Hey friends it’s that time again, time for another “list”. Feel free to offer up your big Laugh-Out-Louds and smirks for some “hits” I found appealing 10 years ago. A lot of stuff from that year was enjoyed by me, some I am rediscovering, and others were missed opportunities. Check out my “list” below and feel free to listen to the playlist I created on Spotify for this list found in the article. Remember kids, “some” of these releases may not have the best language so if you get queasy at the thought of dirty words from general market (do we still use the word ‘secular’?)… Continued →

It has been years since A Hope for Home served us an album. I remember when “In Abstraction” dropped my freshman year of college. I got the email my preorder had shipped and it was the highlight of the week. Of course, that’s quickly approaching six years ago now. I’ve had plenty of time to listen to their discography and have actually found it to be their weakest album; on the same token, “Realis” is quite possibly one of my favorite albums ever and “The Everlasting Man”, despite its stylistic consistency, is also a pretty great album.… Continued →

The show this past Saturday night was an incredible experience. It was bittersweet in the fact that they put on a fantastic, entertaining, and emotional show while at the same time effectively ending their more than two decade career as a band. So many memories are rolled up into this band for me and I’ll be forever thankful for the music & ministry of this mighty Ska band. I wrote a deeply personal account of my experience and love for this band on the IVM Instagram page.… Continued →

I feel the needs to start a new feature here on IVM that spotlights different organizations that I feel are worthy of attention. I will try and make a post weekly but it may turn into a biweekly feature. Please click here to read the story behind YoungLives and our experience dealing with this deeply personal issue.

After months of bated silence, the indie super-group Lo Tom have released a debut song and launched album pre-orders. The self-titled record will be released July 14th, and it can be pre-ordered through Undertow Music. The first single, “Overboard”, is the only title that has been released from the 8-song track list. Lo Tom is comprised of longtime collaborators Jason Martin (Starflyer 59, White Lighter), David Bazan (Pedro the Lion, Headphones, Overseas), Trey Many (Starflyer 59, White Lighter, Velour 100), and TW Walsh (Pedro the Lion, The Soft Drugs).… Continued →

Well it’s been awhile since I’ve wrote one of these. So I hope you all enjoy and I hope you check these amazing bands out! Go headbang! 10. Every Knee Shall Bow Every Knee Shall Bow is a death metal band that started in 2002, with brothers Drew and DJ Wibblesman, but didn’t get going until 2008, when their two younger brothers came of age: Cole and Shane. Two years later, the band hired their friend Chris Hull and recorded an EP titled Weary Warriors.… Continued →

Punk Never Dies, no really it doesn’t. We are led to believe that the flavor of the month is heavy metalcore/djent/hardcore/etc. and we know every little “Christian” label is pushing that stuff. I do love a lot of those bands but my passion has always been on the punk rock side of things. I never understand why the punk purists were so slow to embrace the poppier side and how come no independent (or major) labels have signed bands like this in the past decade.… Continued →

I am always on the lookout for new bands to listen to. Sometimes it feels like an eternity passes between finding one new band and the next, but then again, that could also be because I can be a little picky about my music. In those rare instances when I DO manage to find a new band, I’m just happy or excited I found something new to add to my music library. Still, there are those even rarer instances yet, where I’m every bit as eager and excited to let others know about these bands as well because I think they’ve really got something special and I’m eager to see how God uses them in the future.… Continued →

A really great article on the current explosion of the digital streaming marketplace and it’s subsequent takeover of standard music purchases can be read here (Billboard Article). It is interesting how much things have changed in the past decade and half. I remember the times of the pirates like Napster, Morpheus, Kazaa, etc. and how they threatened to undermine popular music. Then digital stores started popping up like iTunes, Rhapsody, eMusic, Amazon, Google Play, and many more. With each new incarnation of digital distribution there have been the critics who have tried to signal “the end is near” for popular music and yet time and time again they’ve been proven wrong.… Continued →

It’s that time of the week – Throwback Thursday! Today’s band showed a lot of promise but personal differences, growing up, and moving apart ultimately was the band’s demise. Well-Wisher stands as a great nod to what could have been. History Counselor was a melodic hardcore band with pop-punk and indie elements based out of Muskegon, MI. that released music during 2012 and 2013. A few singles preceded Well-Wisher and a fully EP followed. However, the latter suffers from incredibly poor production and mixing that sadly ruins the listening experience.… Continued →

New Jersey isn’t one of the biggest states in the country, in fact it’s one of the smaller ones. Despite that, it’s still large enough, in it’s own right, to inspire surprise that there aren’t more Christian musicians here who are willing and able to take their gifting beyond the four walls of the church. However, inasmuch as NJ may lack Christian bands and artists in quantity, it’s something we certainly make up for in quality. In the southern part of our state, in a town called Vineland, there is a band called Silent Culture.… Continued →

Terminal 1998-2006 RIYL – old school Anberlin, Dead Poetic, Jimmy Eat World, Number One Gun In this new series, we will be bringing to light many bands that showed us a brief but bright gem of music before disbanding. This entry is about the Tooth & Nail band – Terminal. Don’t let the years above confuse you, though the band was active for 8 years, they only had 1 full length release. Terminal was a band that erupted quickly and died the same. In 2005, their debut and only album titled How The Lonely Keep released on Tooth & Nail Records.… Continued →

Idealist was a North Carolina post-hardcore band that mixed elements of Norma Jean and Defeater, along with guest contributions from Attalus.

Welcome back to our throwback series. This week’s feature is more recent than our previous throwbacks, but after going on an indefinite hiatus, this band never got much exposure. History My Mantle might be considered a forerunner of the strange blend of indie and post-hardcore we find from bands like My Epic, Wolves & Machines, and sosaveme. While the genre certainly has gained prevalence, it was certainly still on the rise in 2011, when they debuted their first EP, Giants. It’s a strong release that definite deserves its own proper listen, featuring powerful lyrics, moving instrumentals, and, well, it falls in line with the aforementioned bands so that should give you an idea of what to expect.… Continued →

Welcome to our third edition of throwback reviews. I know it has been a couple weeks since the last one, so I hope you’re ready for a good one. Today’s feature is The Dawn Retreat, who have recently reunited with a new single. While the new single shows a progression in sound and lyrical maturity, I invite you to follow me back to 2011 to the release of their first album. Royalty is 11 tracks (well, 12 if you have the CD with the acoustic bonus track) of late-teen, mid-to-late 2000s angst.… Continued →

One IVM author burns the midnight oil while listening to what he feels may be the best heavy album of all time.

It’s been ten years since Anberlin released their third record, Cities, on February 20th, 2007 through Tooth & Nail Records. Cities is widely regarded as the Florida band’s finest release and for good reason. Their first two records offered a strong start for the group and showcased an increasing realization of their potential. Cities is simply where it all seemed to come together. The album highlights are almost too numerous to list. The record contains high energy rockers such as “Godspeed” and “Adelaide”, quiet, heartfelt numbers in “The Unwinding Cable Car” and “Inevitable”, mid-tempo songs like “Alexithymia” and “Dismantle.… Continued →

Hey everyone. In case you missed last week’s introductory review (about Good Luck Varsity, which you should definitely read), I’m doing a throwback review series – mostly pertaining to bands who new made it into the spotlight before breaking up but who I think deserve a listen. If you have any examples who fit the mold, let me know! This week’s feature is the excessively-titled EP (or LP? I’m not really sure) (New Breath + New Heartbeat) = Change by This Armistice. History This Armistice was a short-lived ambient and post-hardcore band whose discography was a paltry two releases.… Continued →

Back in 2014 we told you about 10 bands YOU needed to listen to as a fan of heavy music. Just over two years later, here are ten more.

Every once in awhile, an album falls through the cracks; IVM’s hiatus, bands breaking up, or even just the simple discovery of “old gold” years later results in plenty of great music that hasn’t gotten much coverage but certainly deserves to be revisited. So, this is the first of what I hope will become a growing list of throwback reviews. Feel free to send me some ideas and I’ll do my best to make sure they’re covered. For a variety of reasons, I’ve chosen to not make these traditional reviews with ratings but instead want to highlight the artist and encourage readers to check out bands.… Continued →

Check this out please!

Check out 3 new merch offerings from Indie Vision Music and 1 from He Exists at this link here. All sales from the Indie Vision Music items on TeeBlaster will go towards printing some vinyl of bands I love. Consider supporting today by purchasing one of these items. I have to sell 10pcs of any one garment in order for it to become “profitable” on TeeBlaster. Let’s do this! All orders are printed and shipped at end of TeeBlaster campaign.… Continued →

Facedown Records has just announced the lineup for Facedown Fest 2017. The festival has hosted many bands that were signed to other labels or the subsidiary Strike First Records, including Clear Convictions (Strike First), Comrades (ex-Blood and Ink), Bloody Sunday (Strike First) and several others. This year is the 20th anniversary of the label so they have had many of their prominent acts come join in or even reunite. The label is also hosting the Fest for 3 days, which is very abnormal as it is usually a one day event.… Continued →

The newly signed Death Therapy has teased the release date for the debut album. Death Therapy started in 2015 as the vision of former Becoming the Archetype vocalist/bassist Jason Wisdom. Wisdom left BTA in 2011 and joined a project with former Aletheian members called Solamors. Since 2013, when Solamors album was released, Wisdom has not done much in the way of music. He re-emerged musically with this project, which is himself and a drummer, named Josh Seagraves. The band just signed to Solid State Records and now have released the release date for their debut album.… Continued →

Fleshkiller has announced that they have a new vocalist. The band started last year as a supergroup with members Ole Børud (Extol, Schaliach) and Peter Dalbakk (Vardoger, Schaliach) started the project and later added on Drummer Andreas Skorpe Sjøen. On January 10, 2017, Børud went to Facebook with a video of good news and bad news. Dalbakk is no longer apart of the band, as he is busy with life, but the band announced his replacement. The band has announced that Elisha Mullins of The Burial will be taking over vocals.… Continued →

The Industrial/Groove metal band that is Death Therapy has just signed to Solid State Records and has released a new, or rather a re-done track, titled “The Lie”. Death Therapy is the solo project of Jason Wisdom of Becoming the Archetype and Solamors fame. Wisdom left BTA in 2011 and went on to do Solamors in 2013 with ex-BTA/Aletheian Guitarist Alex Kenis and ex-Aletheian Drummer Travis Turner. Turner now hosts a podcast, on which Wisdom has been a guest on twice. The most recent episode, he announced that had signed to Solid State Records, which is now being announced by Solid State.… Continued →

The metallic hardcore act, Strengthen What Remains has a new song streaming, as well as pre-orders for their Promo cassette for 2017. The band started in 2010 and released two studio albums and an EP. The band recently had a few members step down and had new members join. One of those is Logan Hayworth, former Bassist for Abated Mass of Flesh. The Promo tracklist is:

1. Exploit. Enslave. Overpower.
2. Liberation of the Spirit
3. Against the Stone

Pre-order it here.… Continued →

The Christian metalcore band Clear Convictions has announced their disbanding. Clear Convictions started in 1999 but didn’t release their debut album, Warning until 2004 through Strike First Records, the subsidiary of Facedown Records. The band recorded another album that came out through On The Attack! Records and most recently as of 2015, their EP, New Seasons. The band announced on New Year’s Eve that they had disbanded. The band stated that “some us wanted to bring this chapter to a close”. They ask their fans to go to their merch store and buy some stuff.… Continued →

Phinehas, Christian metalcore band from California, has had a successful couple years. Last year they already released a Acoustic EP, titled Fight Through the Night. This year might be a bit rough on the band, though as Drummer Lee Humerian has announced his departure from the band. Humerian, alongside Vocalist Sean McCulloch, have been the main members of the band since 2007. Over the years, they gained Bassist Bryce Kelly (2012) and Becoming the Archetype Guitarist Daniel Gailey (2014), and this became the lineup most knew for the last 3 years.… Continued →