ASHES REMAIN "Let The Light In"

(c) 2017 BEC Recordings

1. Rise
2. On Fire
3. All Of Me
4. Always Faithful
5. Six Feet Down
6. Greater Things
7. Captain
8. Criminal
9. Follow
10. All I Need

Josh Smith--Lead Vocals

Jon Hively--Bass, Backing Vocals

Ryan Nalepa--Rhythm Guitars, Backing Vocals, Co-Lead Vocals on "Captain"

Rob Tahan--Lead Guitars, Backing Vocals

Ben Kirk--Drums, Percussion

Additional Musicians

Mikey Howard--Programming, Backing Vocals

Mike Payne--Guitars

Eric VanZant--Guitars

Dave Stovall--String Arrangements

Easily one of my most anticipated modern rock releases of 2017, Let The Light In is the first new album by Christian rockers, Ashes Remain, in more than 6 years.  Following up the excellent What I've Become wasn't originally supposed to take this long, but outside of a Christmas EP, and one digital single, 2014's "Here For A Reason", there has been very little heard from the Ashes Remain camp in that time, and I was starting to get concerned this album would never actually come to fruition.  Picking up where the last album (and single) left off, Let The Light In is a solid post-grunge modern rock album, composed primarily of uptempo rockers or somewhat mellower praise and worship styled tracks.  

The album's opener, and lead single, "Rise" falls immediately into the harder-edged camp and is a perfect bridge from their last album into this one.  A ringing guitar leads the band into the mid-tempo rocker, pulling behind it the drums and rhythm guitars, clearing a path for the powerful, emotive vocals of Josh Smith, a strong tenor with just enough wear and tear around the edges of his voice to connect with the modern rock crowd.  Rob Tahan incorporates some tasty solo work into the grungy track, layering atop a solid rhythm section of Kirk and Hively.  To say I was stoked after hearing this track would be an understatement.

"On Fire" was a bit harder for me to get into at first, especially with its programmed horn section, presumably courtesy of Mikey Howard of 7eventh Time Down, who also produced, edited, and recorded the album.  A bouncy rocker with a bit of a swing feel to it (courtesy of said horns), "On Fire" is a song about casting off past failures and moving forward.  Not my favorite track by any means, but not a skipper, either, and it has grown on me with repeated listens (my kids love it).

"All Of Me" is the first track to find the band dipping their musical toes in the more praise and worship styled sounds of the record, although there is still a solid rock element, even if it leans more middle of the road, tempo-wise.  A powerful song with a strong message, there is a lot more polish on this track than the previous two, and it reminds me a lot of the p&w material that Kutless has incorporated into their more recent efforts.  The same can be said of the next track, "Always Faithful", which is the first ballad on the album.  As with so many of the songs on the record, "Always Faithful" appears to be about issues of depression and addiction and the darkness associated with these things, and the band's belief that Jesus Christ is the one true way out of that darkness.  

The rock returns in full force with the hardest track on the record, "Six Feet Down".  Complete with some excellent, hard-edged guitars...including a really nice solo...and even some backing screams in places, this track is exactly what I was hoping for from Ashes Remain, and it is easily one of my four favorites on the record.

"Greater Things" treads musical territory that is not all that different from some of the things that 7eventh Time Down incorporated on their last album, #GodIsOnTheMove, also carrying that Kutless praise and worship style that I alluded to earlier.  Singing about how little things can make big differences in the world, Smith's vocals ring particularly clear on this track, all the raspiness and edge seemingly removed here.  Again, not a bad song, but I will admit that at this point I was starting to get a bit anxious to hear a bit more rock from the boys, as three of the last four tracks had fallen into CCM territory and away from the edgy modern rock I fell in love with on their last album.

"Captain" rectifies things with the catchiest song on the album and one that is so odd, so quirky, and so unlike anything else on the record, I fell in love with it instantly.  A song about addiction and alcoholism, Smith declares "I've seen the bottom/drowning in a bottle/I've been dead and hollow/Nowhere to fall, Nothing at all, Hard to swallow" in a way that leads the listener to believe he knows exactly what he is singing about.  Once again, the issues of addiction are addressed so directly and honestly here, it is truly a breath of fresh air, even when dealing with such dark topics.  Rhythm guitarist, Ryan Nalepa, actually provides some co-lead vocals in the form of a kind of free-form scat style that only serves to add to the offbeat nature of the track.

"Criminal" is another top-notch rocker filled with down-tuned guitars and a pulsating bass line, slipping into the top four tracks here alongside "Captain", "Rise", and "Six Feet Down".  Once again, this is the perfect song to help carry listeners over from the last album, delivering a grinding rocker that would also grab the attention of fans of bands like Decyfer Down , Relentless Flood, or Seventh Day Slumber, especially on their latest stuff.   Really good, edgy, buzzy hard rock with some solid rhythm guitar work and yet another nice solo from Tahan.  

The album closes with two more mellower tracks, in "Follow" and "All I Need".  "Follow" utilizes a string section (possibly a programmed one, I'm not an expert here), in a song about surrendering oneself in order to fully follow Christ, while "All I Need" is a piano-based ballad about romantic love, commitment, and a relationship that endures through a lifetime of marriage.

The packaging is pretty basic, but it covers all the bases, as well.  Lyrics are included for every song, along with the typical writing and production credits.  There is a single band photo included in the booklet, and a thank you section from the band and each individual member is located under the clear jewel case tray.

The production here is really strong, which I would imagine was quite the task when you take into consideration the two completely different styles of music included on this album.  Gritty and heavy in all the right places, yet also smooth and clean on the praise moments, Let The Light In is an album of varying tempos and textures, which I am sure led to some challenges for not only the production team, but for the band, as well.

In the end, I found myself really enjoying a bit half of the record, and appreciating and accepting the rest for what it is...basically a pretty good, rocking record with some praise and worship elements that deliver a strong message of faith and hope without beating anyone over the head with chapter and verse lyrics.  The problem for me, I think, is I had such high hopes for this record that I'm not sure it could deliver. The previous album benefits from having 12 tracks, which allows for a couple more hard-edged moments to liven things back up when the softer moments threaten to drag it down.  Perhaps including "Here For A Reason" would have proven a help to a degree, and would have given non-digital fans (like myself) a way to have that song in CD form.  However, even if another two or three really good rockers were included here, I don't think Let The Light In stood much of a chance of living up to What I've Become, which is just so, so good, in my opinion.  That being said, Let The Light In has enough really good moments to keep it from becoming just an average record for me.

Rating:  7/10

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12 STONES "Picture Perfect"

(c) 2017 Cleopatra Records

1. The Killer
2. Blessing
3. Voodoo Doll
4. Nothing To Say
5. Time
6. Picture Perfect
7. Save Yourself
8. Lerlene
9. Memphis
10. Hey Man
11. How Long
12. Hello Suicide
13. Anthem For The Underdog (Picture Perfect Sessions)
14. We Are One (Picture Perfect Sessions)

Paul McCoy--Vocals

Eric Weaver--Guitars, Bass

Sean Dunaway--Drums

I have to admit that this album kind of snuck up on me.  I had no idea that 12 Stones was still together, let alone releasing new music!  Released mid-summer, Picture Perfect is the first new 12 Stones record in almost five years, so I guess I won't be too hard on myself for not knowing it was out there.

For the uninitiated, 12 Stones has been together for the better part of two decades now, although  vocalist McCoy and guitarist Weaver are the only founding members who remain.  Now five albums deep in their career, McCoy and Weaver have definitely developed a "12 Stones" sound, with a combination of hard-edged, buzzsaw guitars, catchy-yet-edgy songs, and McCoy's raspy, half-sung-half-shouted vocals that are pretty much instantly identifiable and really serve to set the band apart from so many other post-grunge modern rock bands on the radio today.  At least for me, it is pretty obvious when I hear a 12 Stones song...and that's a good thing.

Picture Perfect continues in that trend and sounds, well, very much like the previous 12 Stones records.  There are several songs here that, had they been released 8-10 years ago, would probably be all over modern rock radio right now.  The album opens in blistering fashion, with the rapid fire, sub-3 minute scorcher, "The Killer", which is immediately reminiscent of where the band was when last they checked in with us on Beneath The Scars, feeling very much like that album's singles "Bulletproof" and "World's Collide".  Another top-notch rocker, "Time", could also fall into that category of familiar styles and sounds as well, relying heavily on a hard-charging riff and a chunky rhythm to set the tone, with a pretty cool bridge incorporated into the track as well.  This could well be my favorite track on the record, although "Blessing", which an absolutely scorching solo from Weaver and some big, thick riffage, is also a contender for that title.

The band does throw the listener a few curveballs along with the familiar, however, and it really gives Picture Perfect more of a diverse feeling.  For example, "Lerlene" sounds so much like The Wallflowers that...well...I seriously wondered if it was The Wallflowers the first couple of times I heard it.  Seriously, if you don't think McCoy and Weaver were sitting around listening to that band's Bringing Down The Horse album in the studio, you are nuts!  And the thing is...I love this track, largely because it is so different and so out of the band's wheelhouse.  "Voodoo Doll" has a funky vibe to it, which is pretty cool, and doesn't feel like anything I can recall 12 Stones doing in the past.  It feels more like a Black Stone Cherry type of song than a 12 Stones track, but I like the thick chords used here and the dynamic changes that McCoy uses on his vocals.  "How Long", which is one of my three faves here, is the most "radio friendly" of the tracks here, and it comes off a bit like a 3 Doors Down or maybe a Puddle Of Mudd styled track, but it is definitely a good one.  If I had my way, I would have made "How Long" the last of the new tracks here, and bumped up the acoustic ballad, "Hello Suicide" to track nine.  It would have blended into the two re-recordings better and also left fans on a high-energy note regarding the new material.

Speaking of "Hello Suicide", this is a particularly dark, yet hauntingly beautiful, song that finds McCoy singing about struggling with depression and pain.  Nothing like anything I have heard from the band before, this track really emphasizes McCoy's singing ability, which is not always utilized on the harder, faster songs.  While he has a somewhat limited range, the emotion he pours into this song is almost tangible as he repeatedly sings about having "nothing left to lose" as he implores suicide to "please don't take your time stealing this cold life from me".  Execution aside, I have a bit of an issue with this track, because 12 Stones has always been such a positive, uplifting group, and a mainstay within the Christian/positive rock world, and there really isn't anything positive about this song.  This is a song of depression and desperation, and while Christians certainly struggle with these issues just like anyone else, there is no real positive note or inspiring spin put into place on this track, just leaving the song's protagonist in a bleak, seemingly hopeless state, waiting for death to rescue him.  Definitely a song to encourage discussion if you have tweens or teens who listen along with you. 

The album closes with a couple of re-recordings of two of the band's biggest songs, "Anthem For The Underdog" and "We Are One".  Both come off as more raw and somewhat more aggressive than the originals, and "We Are One", especially, feels like a live, in-studio effort.  There are a couple of minor off-key moments vocally, but rather than detract from the song, these "real" spots actually add something for me.  I'm wondering if the band lost some of the rights to their back catalog and re-recorded these songs to establish ownership of these versions, which sometimes happens.

The packaging here is relatively simple, which is common with Cleopatra releases.  There are no lyrics included, but McCoy is pretty easy to understand, so this isn't an issue.  A single band photo (featuring four people, even though only three are listed as "band members" now) is found on the inside of the cover, along with writing credits and extremely minor production notes.  Speaking of production, the mixing and engineering here is very good, with no muddiness or sound quality issues to take note of, and there is a really good bottom end throughout the mix, giving the songs a heavy, chunky feel.

Is this my favorite 12 Stones record?  Tough to say, but it is in the conversation, especially with the diversity.  Is it album of the year?  No, not by any stretch, but it is definitely enjoyable and one I have gone back to a couple of times since first writing this review.  My kids really like it, and with 12 Stones positive lyrical stance ("Hello Suicide" being the glaring exception), I don't have any concerns with them listening to it, either.    Definitely a solid return for the veteran rockers.  Hopefully we don't have to wait five years between albums again.

Rating:  7/10

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