Tag: Castingsuchathinshadow

The 90s were a great time for quirky fun Christian rock music. Believable Picnic is closely related to the Beatles-esque PFR aka Pray For Rain as the frontman was the older brother of PFRs frontman. The lyrics for this SOTD elude to the Biblical viewpoint that Christians are not of this world per John 17:14 & 18:36.… Continued →

This band is “Anything But Plain” as their debut released in 2003 & was a modern rock band fronted by a female singer who had a distinct way of singing her vocals with Guardian’s Tony Palacios helming the production. Their name comes from the idea that no one is a plain jane in God’s eyes.… Continued →

The Calicoes are a fun rockabilly/psychobilly/surf rock band with a sound akin to Ruby Joe & mainstream band Social Distortion. Hailing from Texas, one can find their one full length, EP & single through Velvet Blue Music. As far as lyrics, they are atypical of the love lost variety. Hope you like the sound & if you do check out the instrumental Rice Burner.… Continued →

When I first heard this song, I was diving in the “alternative rock” scene & my musical overfilled mind was whirling from all this weird music that was not like the Petra’s or White Hearts I had grown up listening to. There were so many linked bands to this project such as Fluffy (check my review on Guitars Guns & Girls!)… Continued →

American Made was a fun band that only released 2 LPS, but some of their songs have remained my fave in their tiny genre. What I mean by that is that they combined rapcore with funk & punk & hip hop. Interesting combo for sure, but imho it worked for its time.… Continued →

Not to be confused with the AC pop band East to West (lol), Cali’s East West were a driving force in the rap metal scene in Christiandom along with EDL, Pillar, Beanbag, etc… I actually saw them live in Greenville, SC in the early 200s with Pillar & The Benjamin Gate.… Continued →

British progressive power metal band Balance of Power is what I would consider a unappreciated gem in the genre. Forming in circa 1995, they have release 5 full lengths & one comp. Vocalist Lance King eventually joined in 1997 & left in 2003 & I would think he is the most well known member as he was in Pyramaze, Avian, Defyance, Ilium & Shining Star, all of whom I have heard over the years.… Continued →

Pulling from the archives, Oregon’s The Clergy had a sound that was a cross between the Go-Gos & old skool punk rawk. With only one album under their belt & songs on several compilations, this seemed to be a one-off in Christian music. One of the band members even went on to start the quirky art rock band Yum Yum Children who found themselves eventually on 5 Minute Walk records.… Continued →

With the band name pulling from Matthew 12: 40, 3 Days Under is a hard rock band from Kentucky that is not ashamed of the Gospel. Today’s SOTD is my fave from them, but their song Mended comes in at a close second. They also just released a new single called Bleeding Through on March 21st, 2021.… Continued →

The late 90s/early 2000s had some great emo bands including The Juliana Theory, Brandtson, Acceptance, Further Seems Forever, Dashboard Confessional & today’s SOTD band, Ancient of Days. The background of this band is they were musicians before they became Christians & had played the bar scene back in the day. The LP was released by Rescue Records whom had released bands such as Dogwood, P.O.D.&… Continued →

Ravenhill is a soulful blues rock tinged band hailing originally from southern Illinois. Nearest mainstream bands would be The Black Keys or The Ranconteurs. My son Tyler & I had the pleasure of chilling with vocalist Joshua Clifton a few times locally at a music festival called Audiofeed & seeing them live. … Continued →

Indiana’s Richard Wayne Mullins is a vital part of the Christian music industry. Besides penning & performing one of the best worship songs of all time, “Awesome God”, he also was a very talented musician who was proficient with the piano & the dulcimer which can be heard on many of his songs.… Continued →

Arkansas’ Common Children reminded me plainly of a cross between The Prayer Chain & Skillet. Why, might you ask? Well, CC has some serious ethereal atmospheric music akin to The Prayer Chain. And Skillet due to the obvious grunge influences and the three male band members when they first formed. Skywire came out in 1996 as did Skillet’s S/T.… Continued →

Peoria, Illinois’ Must Build Jacuzzi are a throwback to 90s era ska music. Having seen them multiple times, I can say they are most def a fun band to catch live. My son had fun the last time back in 2019 when he learned how to crowd surf at 12 years old!… Continued →

The Sprinkle brothers are very talented & have been very busy in the music world. Just think about all the bands the 2 of them have played in: Poor Old Lu, Demon Hunter, Rose Blossom Punch, Fair, Blank Books, The World Inside, The Wrong Mind, Serene, A Cold Vein & Transparent, amongst many others.… Continued →

Celtic punk-now that’s a genre one doesn’t hear much of!  But, Chi-town’s Ballydowse does it well. along with other genres such as oi, folk, klezmer & aboriginal. The band rose from the ashes of one of the best hard punk bands ever Crashdog & released 2 LPS produced by Steve Albini.… Continued →

L.S.U. has been around since the mid 80’s & have had several monikers including Lifesavers, Lifesavers Underground & L.S. Underground. They have also attacked several genres including, alternative, new wave, indie rock, surf rock & a tad being goth tinged with Michael Knott being the mainstay. Freedom is the first I heard from them from 1994’s Grace Shaker & the lyrics portray an homage to the death, burial & resurrection of Jesus.… Continued →

Rising from the ashes of 2 other bands (one of which A Past Unknown has been played on a few Christian radio shows, including Ohio’s RadioU), Iowa’s Then It Ends is a metalcore band that has some great melodic stuff. Besides their most awesome energetic Kingdom which has profound lyrics (Someone else already beat me to a quasi review on July 3, 2014!),… Continued →

Bam-this is hands down one of my fave songs of all time from a band that hails from the same town as another great (softer) band Eisley. This ballad just has some type of energy with its musical prowess & soaring vocals & provocative lyrics that makes me contemplate my life & relationship with YHWH.… Continued →

Now here is a rarety from a Texan industrial rock artist known as Laing. His given name is Trevor (Laing) & his music falls somewhere in between Circle Of Dust & Mortal or even Skillet’s Hey You, I Love Your Soul release. He released 2 LPs 2001’s Groove & 2005’s Ashes.… Continued →

David Meece is a classic singer/songwriter hands down. Known primarily for his piano skills & his many Christian contemporary radio hits, he was also a subtle rocker. I think I remember seeing him on Trinity Broadcast Network’s Fire By Night hosted by Blaine Bartel back in the day.  Today’s SOTD is a bittersweet story of his life growing up & how Jesus was there all along.… Continued →

This band reminds me so much of mainstream’s 5 Finger Death Punch. Hailing from Kentucky, the band incorporates melodic hard rock from a Christian perspective. The band formed in 2009 with 2 members meeting due to the military bringing them to the same area. Being prior military for close to 8 years, this resonated with this reviewer.… Continued →

This Arkansas macabre husband/wife team has finally crossovered to mainstream with their catchy song Bring Out The Dead. Their musical talents seem to have many influences as heard in their many great songs including Try The Swine & Black Heart Hearse (alt-rock) & I Didn’t Come Here To Die (alt-country). This band is on my bucket list (to see live In person that is!).… Continued →

Kiros (Greek for a moment of divine time) was a Canadian punk influenced modern rock band that had an 11 year career ending in 2013.  It also appears a review was made on their release prior to today’s SOTD on this very website! Today’s SOTD is extremely catchy so check out these lyrics & hilarious video!… Continued →

Veio is a crossover Oregon band that has a progressive metal sound akin to Tool & Deftones & being a fan of Maynard’s voice, I was happy when I found about this band on another Christian online radio site. Their mainstream song was Flare of Defiance & they have toured with other crossover bands Red & Starset .… Continued →

Pulling from the way back archives, Harvest was an original ministry oriented band from Texas. Comprised of Jerry Williams, Ed Kerr & Paul Wilbur when I first heard of them, their releases appealed to Christian radio big time. Mostly an 80’s band, their discography entailed many early Christian radio hits ranging from the worshipful All That Is In Me to the rocker We’re Gonna Take Hell. … Continued →

There are so many songs I could have chosen from this Californian band that are top notch such as Struck By The Chord, Step Away, Who Loves You More, The Meaning Of It All, etc… I remember being at Central Bible College) in Springfield, MO during a college days back circa 1995 when I first heard the Spill album.… Continued →

Today’s SOTD from Arkansas’ rock band Jonah33 was a single released during a 2004 campaign called Redeem The Vote that in essence was shooting to let Christian voices be heard during voter registration aimed for youths. This has always been my fave song due to the lyrics which remind me of 2 Chronicles 7:14.… Continued →

Another holy SOTD that belongs in my top 20 worship releases! Formerly known as Clearview, this hard rock band had some great songs such as Disaster, Wineskin & We’re Not Keeping This Quiet. Also check out the video for Searchlight which features American Sign Language. Hailing from Maryland, the 3 Willet brothers have since disbanded circa 2019.… Continued →

Canadian’s hard rock Daniel Band found its way to my collection via a local pawn shop in my hometown in Illinois back in the early 90s I would guesstimate. My mother used to buy these old totally illegal rips of bands on cassette tape. It seems so weird now that these arena rock bands we thought of as heavy metal back then!… Continued →