Reviews

Band: Decyfer Down Title: End Of Grey Label: SRE Recordings Release Date: 6/6/06 Review By: Josh IndieVision Tracklisting: 01. Break Free 02. Life Again 03. Fight Like This 04. Burn Back The Sun 05. I’ll Breathe For You 06. Walking Dead 07. Here To You 08. Never Lost 09. No Longer 10. Vanity Members/Duties: Caleb: Vocals, Bass Brandon: Guitars, Vocals Chris: Guitars, Vocals Josh: Drums Rounding out the trio of hard rock releases on June 6th is Decyfer Down on S/R/E & Columbia. They, unlike their counterparts were signed secular as well as SRE releasing it in the Christian market.… Continued →

Band: eleventyseven Title: And The Land Of Fake Believe Label: Flicker Release Date: 5/16/06 Review By: Josh IndieVision Tracklisting: 01. More Than A Revolution 02. A Stellar Sayonara 03. Nostalgiatopia 04. Myspace 05. Here With Me 06. The Unicorn Revolt 07. Anti-adieu 08. Odd’s And Even So’s 09. Teenage Heartbreak 10. Yesterday’s Glues 11. Reach That Far Members/Duties: Matt Langston: Lead Vocals, Guitar Caleb Satterfield: Bass Jonathan Stephens: Drums The South Carolina trio known as Eleventyseven, have been together for nearly 4 years now. They have previously and independently released 3 projects already and now have garnered national attention with “And The Land Of Fake Believe”.… Continued →

Band: Homeless J. Title: Three Seconds To Gaze Label: Selectric Release Date: 5/2/06 Reviewed By: Josh IndieVision Tracklisting: 01. The Flash 02. Beauty Boy 03. To Uona 04. B-Fly 05. Did You See It? 06. Slip 07. Sister 08. Man On The Radio 09. Bra In The Window 10. Not The Sun 11. If I Could Raise Myself From The Dead Members: Chad Vanmeter Brad Amstutz Jon Hill Matt Minnick Lance Hill Ft. Wayne, Indiana is the home of Homeless J, a band that has been together, under the radar, since the early 90’s.… Continued →

Band: Society’s Finest Title: And I, The Drunkards Label: Hand Of Hope Release Date: 5/16/06 Review By: Josh IndieVision Tracklisting: 01. NYC 02. And I, The Drunkards 03. Cutters, Oh Cutters 04. One More Kiss 05. Holland 06. Sunday Prayer 07. Goddess 08. Fourth Floor Corpse 09. Nebraska 10. Dear Rebecca Nurse 11. Untitled 12. Deadlightstrangers Members/Duties: Joshua Ashworth: Vocals Eli Bowser: Guitar Guy Turner: Guitar Daniel Barton: Bass Stephen Poole: Drums Society’s Finest have been a household name in metalcore for over 8 years. They’ve released an EP on Pluto Records (“Private Conflicts And Suicides”, then took over Solid State with their crushing debut “The Journey So Far” (which by the way still maintains a slot in my disc player), then after that seemed to disappear.… Continued →

Band: Jesus Wept Album: Show’s Over Label: Strike First Records www.myspace.com/jesuswept www.purevolume.com/jesuswept www.strikefirstrecords.com Buy Here: http://www.facedownrecords.com/store-sf.htm Review by: Brandon Jones Since I don’t get free copies of cds from the mighty Facedown any more, I took matters into my own hands and actually bought my own copy of this album from the very cool Facedown store. What arrived on my doorstop just about 2 days later was an awe inducing collection of songs that I was unprepared for. Bombastic, Tight, Anthemic hardcore with strains of rock with the intensity of passion unmatched.… Continued →

Artist: Sufjan Stevens Album: The Avalanche Label: Asthmatic Kitty What does it say about the state of music that Sufjan Stevens can put out an entire album of outtakes and unused demos from his Illinoise sessions and still have a better album than all but 3 other artists this year? Does it speak to the wretched state of music, or does it speak to Sufjan’s genius? I would like to think that it speaks to the latter. And I’m hoping that there are people out there who would tend to agree with me on this.… Continued →

The Black Unicorn Tour – Montreal, QC Review by: Joel Cuthbert So to start it off this show was rather confusing. The initial ads I saw advertised the show as being at El Salon… which is one of the three event venues owned by members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, El Salon being the one used most for this type of show. I tried to see As Cities Burn at El Salon a few months ago, and when I found out the band didn’t make it across the border I walked out and wound up seeing Downhere, a good band but weird when you were pumping yourself up to see As Cities Burn, but I digress.… Continued →

Band: Kingston Falls Title: The Crescendo Of Sirens Label: Strike First Release Date: April 4th, 2006 Tracklisting: 01. The Infection To Quarantine 02. Brutality And The Beast (Part 1) 03. We’ll Let The Dice Decide 04. Botulism (And A Horse Called Bartholemew) 05. The Weak Shall Prevail 06. Lieutenant Never 07. Beauty And The Sentiment (Part 2) 08. Diplomacy, Day 8 09. Alibi: Destroyed 10. This Is Ghost Town Members/Duties: Josh B: Guitar Josiah G: Guitar, BV’s John B: Vocals Brent Z: Drums, BV’s Jason G: Bass Kingston Falls, out of Indiana, was a band I was turned on to a few years back.… Continued →

Band: Burden Of A Day Title: Pilots & Paper Planes Label: Blood & Ink Release Date: May 9, 2006 Review By: Josh IndieVision Tracklisting: 01. For Tomorrow We Die 02. High Noon 03. Escapism Is An Art Form 04. No Blood No Foul 05. “Oh The Humanity” (A Prologue To Tragedy) 06. Ashes To Ashes 07. Hello My Name Is Euphoria 08. Cupid Missed His Mark 09. Anatomy Of A Scene 10. Bite The Bullet 11. Sound Of Solace 12. Lost In The Shuffle Members/Duties: Bryan Honhart: Guitar Kendall Knepp: Vocals Terry Clark: Bass Josh Sommers: Guitar Jesse Hostetler: Drums Burden Of A Day coming from the ever blossoming band haven of Florida bring a melodic hardcore sound that we’ve seen so many times before.… Continued →

Band: The Classic Crime Title: Albatross Label: Tooth & Nail Release Date: May 23rd, 2006 Review By: Josh IndieVision Tracklisting: 01. The Fight 02. Flight Of Kings 03. Who Needs Air 04. Blisters & Coffee 05. The Coldest Heart 06. All The Memories 07. Say The Word 08. I Know The Feeling 09. Warrior Poet 10. Bitter Uprising 11. We All Look Elsewhere 12. Headlights Members/Duties: Matt MacDonald: Vocals Justin DuQue: Guitar Robbie Negrin: Gguitar Skip Erickson: Drums Alan Clark: Bass It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Tooth & Nail promote a band this much.… Continued →

Band: Family Force 5 Title: Business Up Front, Party In The Back Label: Gotee Tracklisting: 01. Cadillac Phunque 02. Kountry Gentleman 03. X-Girlfriend 04. Drama Queen 05. Put Ur Hands Up 06. Love Addict 07. Earthquake 08. Replace Me 09. Lose Yourself 10. Peachy 11. Supersonic 12. Numb Members/Duties: SOUL GLOW ACTIVATOR (Solomon Olds): Lead Vocals, Guitar, Keys CROUTON (Jacob Olds)—–Lead Vocals, Drums PHATTY (Joshua Olds)—–Background Vocals, Bass NADADDY (Nathan Currin): DJ, Percussion, Keytar CHAP STIQUE (Derek Mount): Guitar My first experience with FF5 was a mixed video featuring a few of their tracks mixed into one video.… Continued →

Band: Fair Title: The Best Worst-Case Scenario Label: Tooth & Nail Release Date: June 6th, 2006 Review By: Josh IndieVision Tracklisting: 01. Monday 02. The Attic 03. Carelessness 04. The Doubfound Game 05. Pause 06. Grab Your Coat 07. Bide My Crime 08. Get You Out Alive 09. Cut Down Sideways 10. Confidently Dreaming 11. Blurry Eyed 12. Unglued Members/Duties: Aaron Sprinkle: Guitar & Lead Vocals Erick Newbill: Guitar & BGV’s Joey Sanchez: Drums & percussion Nick Barber: Bass & BGV’s Aaron Sprinkle is a name that many people will recognize.… Continued →

Band: WRENCHINTHEWORKS Title: Prodigal Transmission Label: Redscroll Records Review By: Josh IndieVision Tracklisting: 1. Pale Fire 2. Tonight Is War 3. Caterpillar 4. Bitten By Flies 5. Psalm 151 6. Wires Of Resentment 7. Woven 8. Streets Paved Of Gold Members/Duties: Mehl: Guitar & Vocals Darrell: Bass & Vocals Andy: Drums WRENCHINTHEWORKS is a 3 piece metalcore outfit hailing from Connecticut. After a few years together they completed “Prodigal Transmission”. I ran across this band on myspace and wanted to check out the full album to get a good vibe.… Continued →

Band: Woodale Title: Finish What You Start Label: [none] Release Date: Out Now!! Review by: Josh IndieVision Tracklisting: 01. Here 02. Listen For Me 03. She’s Got A Way 04. Baby, I can’t Wait 05. Keep Driving Members/Duties: Matt: Lead Vocal, Guitar Ryan: Drums Tom: Bass Dubs: Guitar, Piano, BGV’s Adam: Guitar, BGV’s The EP starts off with “Here”, the piano and vocals really stand out on this track. The first verse stays on the softer side and then the backbone of bass and drums kick in.… Continued →

Band: The Working Title Title: About Face Label: Cause For Alarm (Universal) Release: June 27th, 2006 Tracklisting: 01. About Face 02. Nothing Less Radiant 03. P.S. 04. Glorious 05. Under The Ground 06. The Crash 07. Something She Said 08. Weigh Me Down 09. Never Run Again 10. The Mary Getaway (I Lost Everything) 11. Blind 12. There Is None 13. Enslaved 14. Turbulence Members: Joel Hamilton – Vocals Adam Pavao – Guitars Chris Ginn – Bass Ross Taylor – Drums This South Carolina quartet formed in 2001 and have been making their mark ever since.… Continued →

Show Review: Further Seems Forever Farewell May 21st 2006 Location: House of Blues, Anaheim, Ca. Well, I ventured outside last night to attend the final farewell show from Further Seems Forever and what a night it was. It took place at the fabulous House of Blues in Downtown Disney (Anaheim, CA.) on Sunday May 21st. The venue is perfect for live sound of any kind and they have the best overall sound quality of any venue I step foot in. I got there and the room was about 1/4 filled for the opener, then a few more poured in for William Tell.… Continued →

Band: Flee The Seen Title: Doubt Becomes The New Addiction Label: Facedown Records Release Date: March 14th, 2006 Review by: Josh Indie Vision Tracklisting: 01. Celebrate The Static 02. Wardrobe Full Of Fiction 03. Do You Think Dallas Is Still In The Slammer? 04. I’ll Be Back On Sunday 05. November 5th 06. Wire Tap Out 07. Broken Thoughts Of Praise 08. Walking Past You 09. Right Before You Disappear 10. Start The End Again 11. 300 Voices At Liberty Hall Members/Duties: *Kim Anderson: Bass, Vocals *RL Brooks: Guitar, Vocals *Manuel Sanchez: Guitar *Aaron Crawford: Drums This four piece, formed in 2003, had independently released 2 EP’s and made a name for themselves around Kansas City, where they are from.… Continued →

Artist: The Juliana Theory Album: A Small Noise Label: Tooth & Nail Records Review by: Eric 1. Duane Joseph 2. For Evangeline 3. August In Bethany 4. Constellation 5. The Closest Thing 6. If I Told You This Was Killing Me, Would You Stop? 7. Into The Dark 8. To The Tune Of 5,000 Screaming Children 9. Is Patience Still Waiting 10. We’re At The Top Of The World 11. You Always Say Goodnight, Goodnight 12. This Is The End Of Your Life 13. Breathing By Wires This is going to make some of you feel very old, but The Juliana Theory was before my time.… Continued →

Album: How to Live With a Curse Artist: Stavesacre Reviewer: Dusty (Disclaimer: contrary to what some of you all may think of my musical tastes [from all my other reviews], I, like so many of you, am a massive Stavesacre fan. They’ve released 2 of my all time favorite albums in Friction and Absolutes, and have, with “At the Moment”, a song in the all-time greatest songs argument…top 10, no question. I have seen them more times than I can count. I have always loved their originality, to the point where, if you were to start playing a Stavesacre song to anyone who knows them, before Mark even starts singing, you can tell, even if you’ve never heard it before.… Continued →

Band: Quick and the Dead Album: “Consider Your Options” Label: None (Unsigned) Review by: Aaron Feldman www.quickandthedead.com www.myspace.com/quickandthedead Quick and the Dead – Consider Your Options It took all about two minutes listening to Consider Your Options, Quick and the Dead’s recent release, to ask myself “How is this band unsigned?” Hailing from Pleasanton, CA Quick and the Dead is a 5 piece punk-metal band who is storming the Christian punk world. They have played over 500 shows, many alongside bands such as Squad Five-0, Eleventeen, NIV, and Prodigal.… Continued →

Artist: August Burns Red Album: Thrill Seeker Label: Solid State Records Lancaster, PA is just half an hour away for me, so when I heard this local band had been drafted to the Tooth & Nail Empire, I was pretty surprised. But why not? Lancaster (pronounced locally as lank-ister, NOT lan-kaster as most others seem to say) has had a decent music scene for years, but until now hasn’t really gotten the attention of national record companies. The question remaining is whether or not August Burns Red does a good job of representing the 717 scene.… Continued →

Band: Transition Album: Get There Label: Floodgate Records Releases: May 9th, 2006 Transition will be new to most people, however they’ve been under the radar for awhile independently releasing two independent albums. (Including the extremely impressive “Sunset Wakeup” which by the way can be ordered from the band’s merch site). Having listened to that album and seeing they had signed with Floodgate I was looking forward to this release. Then finding out Mike Herrera (frontman: MxPx) was at the helm producing only doubled my interest. I’ll be honest and say that I went straight to the fourth track #4 featuring Mike Herrera, because well I have always been a huge MxPx fan.… Continued →

Review by: Josh IndieVision Band: Anam Cara Title: Ready To Live Label: Strike First Records Release Date: April 11th, 2006 Tracklisting: 01. Intro 02. You’re Not Aware 03. Our Air To Breathe 04. Consequence Of Being Irrational 05. Ready To Live 06. Closer 07. It’s Not Too Late 08. Don’t Look Back 09. Thief In The Night 10. Hear Me Out 11. Just Reassure Me That Everything Is OK Members/Duties: *David Bills: Vocals *Matt DeSear: Guitar, Vocals *Bobby Canfield: Drums *Alex Zalo: Bass Anam Cara, the self-proclaimed “Florida Hardcore Band”, does indeed put out hardcore music but with enough variety to set them apart from their cohorts.… Continued →

Band: Zombie Gutz Title: Who’s Come’n With Me? Label: Wounded Records Tracklisting: 01. Moonpies And Brownie Chocolate 02. Wilkesboro 03. Bo Fever 04. How Does It Go 05. Burned Alive 06. Sold 07. Wacko Jacko 08. Track 7 09. Keep Poundin 10. Dumpzilla 11. Alexander 12. Water Hockey Members: Ryan C. – Lead Guitar Ryan H. – Drums Chase – Vocals Brandon – Guitar Van Lowe – Bass/Vocals (currently serving in Iraq) Joe – Bass (fill-in) My first thought was man these guys have a great name to design merch for.… Continued →

Band: Stretch Arm Strong Album: Free At Last Label: WPO Records Reviewer: J Scannell www.stretcharmstrong.net “Stretch Arm Strong, where have you been all my life?” was the first thing that came to mind when I popped this into my CD player. I had previously had a song or two from SAS on a Solid State compilation, but nothing in the way of owning their CD’s. Recently I was checking out some live video from “This Is Solid State Vol 4” and was convinced I had to check these guys out.… Continued →

Band: My Epic Album: This is Rescue Label: None (Unsigned) Review by: Brandon Jones www.myepic.net www.myspace.com/myepic I am at a loss for words at the scope and imagination this 5 song release holds. The album invites you into a sound scape of originality and sheer focus, enough to captivate any listener. Though the band shares influence from a number of artists, it’s tough to completely place a finger on who and what this band sounds like. They escape all definitions and for that you will be captured by their sound, beyond belief.… Continued →

Review by: Josh IndieVision Band: Dalton Title: Taste The Sky Label: Selectric Release Date: May 2nd, 2006 Tracklisting: 01. City Lights 02. Taste The Sky 03. Life Afraid 04. Overlight 05. 600 Feet 06. Gabriel (Hold On) 07. Above You 08. Take What You Want 09. Streets 10. Breathing In 11. Hold Me Now (Summer’s Song) Members/Duties: *Steven Kanicka: Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals *Spencer Dalton: Drums & Lead Vocals *Preston Dalton: Guitar & Lead Vocals *Chris Santos: Bass Dalton brothers, Spencer and Preston, decided that music was their mission back in high school.… Continued →

Review by: Josh IndieVision Band: NeedToBreathe Title: Daylight Label: Atlantic Records Release Date: April 4th, 2006 Tracklisting: 01. Don’t Wait For Daylight 02. Quit 03. Shine 04. Don’t Leave Just Yet 05. Haley 06. You Are Here 07. Knew It All 08. More Than 09. Over Now 10. Lost 11. I Won’t Look Back Members/Duties: *Bear Rinehart: Vocals, Guitars *Bo Rinehart: Guitars, Backup Voc’s *Seth Bolt: Bass, Backup Voc’s, Programming *Joe Stillwell: Drums, Backup Voc’s The quartet known as NeedToBreathe has been creating quite the buzz lately.… Continued →

Band: The Echoing Green Album: The Winter of Our Discontent Label: BEC/Tooth & Nail www.toothandnail.com www.becrecordings.com www.echocentral.com www.myspace.com/echoinggreen Review by: Brandon Jones Listening to this album was a unique experience in itself. Going in, I already knew that this group had been around about ten years and released several album i’ve heard briefly. They were another one of those early 90’s Christian Bands that ended up somehow in the awful label failure mix. The one where every small Christian rock label goes under except for T&N… Anyway, back to the record.… Continued →

Album: Reasons For Living Label: Future Destination Records Review by: Cory www.fdrecords.com Slamming down 22 tracks mixed with a little bit of hardcore, pop punk and some progressive rock. Each band or artist on the sampler is extremely innovative and all the songs are very catchy. Future Destination Records did a great job on the song choice for this sampler; I found myself listening to every track over and over again. They bring a great mix of bands who are all for Jesus and a lot of the tracks provide for a worshipful experience.… Continued →