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Dawning Of The Age of Modern Elitism (and it's many annoyances) Reading the cesspool of comments online whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, or heck even old school “www” websites (remember those?), one is left with a dilemma….do I bite my tongue or join in with the crazy circus monkeys? Hopefully not the latter, am I right?......

A little known independent band by the name of Blood and Water from Nor Cal splashed onto the scene towards the end of the last decade with a few indie releases (one of which can be found here) before signing with upstart new label Eden Records and releasing their label debut “In Character” in 2010. This critically acclaimed and fan adored full length has come to be accepted as one of the finer independent releases of the past decade. It’s incredible how much connects people and this band did just that.… Continued →

Good morning everyone and Happy New Year! Just thought i’d post a little blurb about an alarming “trend” I have seen in recent months. A few artists/bands have hooked up with some marketing firms, more like infomercial style marketing if you are looking for a definition. Anyway, I have been blasted with these ads for whatever reason on Facebook due to my young teenage demographic that I so lovingly belong to. I’m almost 40 going on almost 20, am I right? I have nothing against promoting art/music/products on social media and the web in general, I’ve done it myself for IVM and friends/labels do it for their bands all the time.… Continued →

1. The Ongoing Concept – Places This is how you make a rock album. Whereas Saloon can be a bit too intense and Handmade a little reserved, Places finds the sweet spot. You can check out my five star review here. Favorite songs: “You Will Go,” “Off the Cuff,” “Domesticated” 2. Theory Hazit – IT’S WHATEVER The Portland, OR emcee and producer released an instrumental album (with the exception of an MF Doom remix album) every month this year. Simply put, he is a beats and rhymes wizard and IT’S WHATEVER is the album that kicked off 2017.… Continued →

Here is a small selection of originals and covers throughout the years by some of our favorite artists.

I love “best of” lists. But I hate waiting until the end of the year for them. Hence my new monthly feature “What Did You Listen To?” Leave a comment and let me know what you listened to this month. Here are few of my favorite releases from November 2017: Kingslynn – Into the White LightWhat Did You Listen to? – November 2017 Into the White Light is the debut album from the indie pop band from Miami, FL. After two EPs, Kingslynn has hit their stride with this album of 80’s influenced synth-pop.… Continued →

We're proud to celebrate the (second) one-year anniversary of IVM. Take a look at some of our most-read content and share your own memories.

The Mexican deathcore band My Place Was Taken has joined the roster of Rottweiler Records. The band formed in 2014 with Guitarist Abraham Barberi and Vocalist Jesus Salas.They came together to see if they could help change the drug, alcohol and violent part of their home town, Matamoros, Mexico: the metal scene. Adding Helix Nebula on bass and Daniel Castaneda on drums, the band began promoting their message; to love God and to love others. The band has a self titled EP available now and their sophomore, Imparables, will be available on January 19, 2018.… Continued →

The extreme progressive metal band, The Beckoning  have announced the new title of their upcoming re-release, their first release through their new label, Nosral Recordings. The album is a release of their EPs, Desolate and War, put together and simply titled The Desolation of War. The tracks have been remastered by Luke Dinan (Children of Wrath) and will be available December 29, 2017. If you haven’t listened and downloaded their music before, you are in for a shock. There’s not one band you can truly compare them to.… Continued →

How many of you are fans of extreme metal bands that have solo projects totally not metal? Luke Weeks of As Earth Fades has a new project coming. But not a deathcore project. While the band is on a brief hiatus, Weeks has decided to do something in his spare time. He has recorded an entire solo album, titled Recorded Dreams, under the name of Slight Edge Effect. The project’s single, “Falling from this High”, will be available shortly.… Continued →

Symphony of Heaven and Nosral Recordings have decided to join up with us here at Indie Vision Music and reveal exclusively the artwork of Symphony of Heaven’s debut album. With re-recorded tracks from …of scars and soil… and remastered tracks, courtesy of Luke Dinan of Children of Wrath, the new album sounds like Devin Townsend and Fleshgod Apocalypse. Go check out the label and stay tuned for the release of SOH’s debut, The Season of Death.… Continued →

Hello friends. I just wanted to announce that I am hosting a special “fundraising campaign” via our Teeblaster page (Click here). I have two different tshirts designed by Joshua T Design posted for sale and a zippered hoodie. Each piece of clothing has 3 color options. The two tshirts are printed on Next Level Brand and the Zippered Hoodie is Gildan with sizes up to 5X. The shirts and hoodies will begin shipping at the end of the campaign on Teeblaster (see countdown clock).… Continued →

It’s a little slow with music news the past few days so I am going to talk about Star Wars: The Last Jedi. That’s right friends, one of my favorite franchise series of films has dropped the brand new trailer to the 8th film in the Skywalker saga for “The Last Jedi”. Watch the trailer below and comment with your love (or disgust) of all things Star Wars. Personally I absolutely can’t wait till this is released on December 15th. In fact, I just bought tickets last night for IMAX 3D once the Fandango site was back up and we are officially going December 15th at 4pm!!… Continued →

Yep, the list you’ve all been waiting for (not really) is finally here. Feel free to offer up some laughs and critical remarks for the music I listened to the most 20 years ago. You’ll notice a heavy T&N presence and I just couldn’t help myself. There were a lot of albums and releases I found myself spinning back then and still getting plays today. I think that’s where this list falls in place, it’s the albums that had the longest lasting impact with me and had a catchy sound that I just couldn’t get enough of.… Continued →

Do you like heavy hitting metalcore? Well take a listen to O, House of Jacob, self proclaimed metalcore for Christ. The band released their debut EP, after forming in June 2016. The EP is titled A Parable Discourse and it also features Ryan Kirby of Fit For A King. If you like Wage War, Attack Attack!, In the Midst of Lions, For Today, The Devil Wears Prada, Beartooth or As I Lay Dying, then you’ll love this band. … Continued →

RIYL: Emery, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Microwave, Kids in the Way, The Classic Crime In 2001, before anyone in the Tooth & Nail community and crowd realized, one of the most under appreciated bands formed for an 8 year existence. Far-Less put out a total of 2 EPs, 2 full lengths, and one final EP that was never released. Bands that ended too soon, Far-Less, it’s your turn. When Far-Less was signed, they were actually signed to Solid State Records. That’s a testament of how heavy they once were.… Continued →

You'd be surprised how many bands go unnoticed.

In this new segment, we'll take a look at a classic band and a modern band with a similar style.

Though the article was first published in late February of 2016, Rapzilla linked to it yesterday on Facebook, asking followers the same question. The response from both staff and followers has been pretty diverse and fun to read, and so, I thought it would be apt to continue the conversation here. Share the 10 Christian Hip-Hop albums that have had an impact on you in the comments below.… Continued →

Glasslands is a band formed by former members of Beartooth, Icon For Hire, and Before Their Eyes. They have a hard rock sound with vocals reminiscent of bands like Spoken and Memphis May Fire. Their debut album, “Pariah” was released in September of 2016 and was met with a very positive response by critics and fans alike and features a track with a guest spot by Fit For A King’s Ryan Kirby. They currently have a song as well as a video at the #1 spot on RadioU and are at #22 on the Christian Billboard charts.… Continued →

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 →