Pretty Lies is the follow-up EP to the band's 2014 debut, and while it picks up pretty much where that first effort left off, it also moves the band forward, if slightly. Incorporating elements of modern hard rock, electronica, and some orchestral work, Veridia creates a style of hard rock that is both interesting and accessible, powerful and familiar.
The EP starts off with the hardest-hitting, most straight-forward rocker of the material here, in "Crazy In A Good Way". Strings combine with chugga-chugga guitars right from the start, laying a hard-rocking foundation for Jakoub to build her soaring voice upon. Smoldering during the verses, dynamic during the choruses, and powerfully emotive during the bridge section, Jakoub's voice is the focal point for finding how Veridia differs from so many other bands out there today, as she seemingly has the ability to do whatever she chooses to do within the constraints of the song. The programmed elements of the song are used to enhance, rather than dominate the track, and I would imagine this to be a great way to kick off a concert as Jakoub repeatedly intones that things are going to get "crazy in a good way" on the simple-yet-catchy chorus.
Speaking of simple choruses, the title track, "Pretty Lies", features a chorus that is about as simple as it gets, but it does so in a way that kind of worms into your head and sticks there! Matty Mullins from Memphis May Fire provides backing vocals here, and his voice blends almost perfectly with Jakoub's on this track, which leans far more heavily on electronic elements than the opener did. In fact, it is the guitars that are the supporting instrument here, and several of the drum/percussion sounds appear to be electronic as well. This song did well for the band at radio, so it is hard to argue with it, but I prefer when the band adds a bit more crunch to their sound. Jakoub sings about the differences between people and the images they often put forward, especially on social media, creating the "pretty lies" that we tell others about who we are.
"At The End Of The World" reminds me a lot of what Skillet has done on their last couple of albums, again mixing in programmed strings with edgy guitars and big drum beats on this mid-tempo rocker. Actually, I think it would be pretty cool to have had John Cooper from Skillet lend his voice to this track, punching it up just a bit. There is a pretty cool guitar solo right before the final run through the chorus, which teases the listener with its tastiness, but it is over all too quickly. Let the guy play!!! As it is, this is a solid, if unspectacular, song that will serve fans of the band well.
"Say A Prayer", the last new tune on the EP, is the ballad of the effort, and is a strong effort, especially lyrically. Jakoub sings about the need to pray for those who are hurting, no matter who they are or where they are, and reminding listeners that as bad as things may seem, there is always someone who has it worse and who needs our love and support. Big, sweeping orchestral elements really bolster the full sound of this track, which again sounds like it is sporting electronic drums and synths while pushing the guitars to the background. Jakoub's voice is, again, the focal point here, and she gives it her all, easily gliding across the electronic waves of the song. Her voice and talent are definitely gifts to be reckoned with, and I am anxious to hear what the band comes up with if it chooses to put forth a full-length effort in the near future.
The "Valot Remix" of the title track closes things out, using more electronic effects and less actual musical performance from the band. The tempo is greatly increased, most noticably on the chorus section, almost to the point that it sounds to me like what happened when, as a child, I would play 33 1/3 rpm records at 45 rpm. I honestly don't like this remix...at all...but my 10 year old thinks the electronics are pretty cool, so I guess there's a market for it out there. Matty Mullins is once again featured here, but honestly, he can't be heard at all with the electronic noise going on all over the place. I just skip this track, personally.
The packaging is ultra-simple, as the CD comes in a cardboard slipcase, with a band photo on the back, along with the track listing, band member names, and some credits.
A couple of years old now, Pretty Lies is still a decent little listen, and fans of Fireflight, Skillet, Icon For Hire, and possibly even Nine Lashes should find something to like here. Anyone who was already a fan will find nothing about this EP troublesome or off-putting, and the vocals of Jakoub will draw new fans, I'm sure.
Rating: Extremely short, but executed well, rock this to a 6.5, with a useless remix causing a dent in an EP that clocks in around 17:30 with it, and only 13 or so without.
Indiana quartet, The Protest, return with their third studio album, and first for RockFest Records, with Legacy. After achieving a degree of success with their previous album, Great Lengths, which featured several Christian rock radio hits, the guys upped their game noticably on Legacy, incorporating a more melodic approach on several of these tracks that was not present on the previous two albums. Yes, the music is still hard-hitting modern rock with crunchy guitars and punishing drums, yet there is a melodic quality to the music, and especially the majority of the vocals, which find Josh doing more singing and less screaming than on previous albums by The Protest.
Right from the start, it is obvious to me that The Protest has matured, not only as musicians, but as songwriters. Some excellent production work has helped bring out a fuller, heavier sound, especially on the bottom end of the drums and the rhythm guitars, as well as some awesome bass work, and the backing vocals are much stronger here than in the past. All of this is evident even in track one, as "Valor" is a more complete song than even the best material on the band's previous two releases...both of which I really enjoy. But the focus on cleaner singing from Josh is a huge maturation point for The Protest, and I think it will reap big rewards for this band.
The next track up, "What Else You Got" is an absolute gem of a melodic rocker. Huge, arena shaking drums intro the track, and support each of the pre-chorus sections, in a BOOM BOOM CRASH style that will have fans stomping and clapping along, without doubt! The interplay between the lead and backing vocals on the chorus is excellent, Sadler absolutely lays into a tasty, melodic solo, and the simple-yet-catchy chorus all combine to create what I am sure will become the band's signature anthem, and a absolutely screams WWE PPV theme song! Already impacting both mainstream active rock and Christian rock charts, this is a huge song that should propel the band through the summer on rock stations across the country. Call and request it; you won't regret it.
"Knockout" finds the band reverting a bit back to the style they used on their last album, incorporating a bit more speed and some harsher, more screamed vocals in places, but the songwriting is still more complete than on albums past, and the fullness of the sound can't be overstated here. Punchy, catchy, and chantable, "Knockout" is another one of the new songs that I am sure will cause quite a stir if given a shot in live settings.
"Straight From The Barrel" features some excellent, edgy guitar work from Sadler and Colwell, with the former dropping in a cool-if-short fret run of a solo, and Jarob Bramlett's drums are absolutely pounding here. Josh uses both his clean and screamed vocals here, sounding at times very much like the guy who belted "Rebel Static" on the last album, but also mixing in a more restrained, more singing style of vocals.
"Take My Heart" slows things down quite a bit, although it doesn't begin to approach ballad territory, and really showcases that melodic side I have referred to several times. This is the side of the band that I was always waiting for, to be honest, and is the type of song that I think could make an added impact at radio, as it shows the band is not just a one-trick pony...albeit, an angry, aggressive one-trick pony. Make no mistake, this song still rocks, but it just does so in a cleaner way than the band has presented in the past.
"Noise Revolution" picks up the pace a bit, but continues to find Josh exploring a more melodic singing style. Lyrically, parallels could be drawn to "Rebel Static", I suppose, but the songwriting, once again, is more complete here, with a catchy groove running throughout the track, Jarob's drum line keeping the track driving along, with layers of guitars and vocals adding a depth that wasn't often found on previous efforts. To me, this sounds a lot like the band's personal version of Skillet's "Sick Of It", in it's style and approach and groove. Excellent stuff, to be sure.
The title track, "Legacy", is pure, adrenaline-fueled metalcore at its finest, and I find myself literally skipping back to this track over and over and over again. The sheer aggression in this track is something that I have not gotten from a band in quite some time, and "Legacy" has to be a contender for song of the year at this point. I have listened to this track alone no fewer than thirty times in the short time I have had this album, and it has yet to fail to deliver for me. The combination of Josh's harshest screams, his brother's massive drum sound, the guest bass rumblings from Arcaini (who also produced the record), and the twin guitar attack of Sadler and Colwell absolutely crushes this song that instantly found its way into my workout mix. For fans of the band, think "Vicious Cycle" on steroids...including the 'roid rage! Wow...just absolute perfection if you are into this style of music!
"Stitched" hits almost as hard as "Legacy", but not with as much speed and cleaner vocals, for the most part. Josh dials the angst down a notch here, returning to more of a singing voice, but the intensity of the band continues. The down-tuned guitars swirl and churn, and Jarob's drums are so lively and punchy that you can actually feel the pedal hit every time he kicks. A core-ish breakdown blasts the listener through into the final chorus, and with back-to-back heavy-hitters, the listener is left nearly breathless. That's unfortunate, as "To The Death" ramps things up even further, with Josh returning to a screamed vocal style for the verses, while sing-shouting his way through the chorus sections and the bridge. Again, a punishing breakdown section will have a mosh pit stirring up instantly before an almost sweet-sounding vocal leads the band into the final chorus which blisters its way through to a dead-end stop.
The album's closer is another excellent rocker, combining the band's newer, more melodic approach, with the style and sound of their last album. Again, Jarob threatens to steal the show with his huge drum sounds, while his brother keeps things largely on the clean side, vocally, ith the only exception being some distorted, almost spoken-word sections leading immediately into the choruses. The song is rather unique, really coming across as two different songs combined into one, with the "Bad Self" section being a modern hard rocker, while the "Ascension" section is a beautiful, yet still heavy, instrumental section that really showcases the musicians' skills, especially on guitar. I think this is a key point for the band, as many listeners, especially those who sample the album and hear only the crushing breakdown sections, may be of the opinion that Sadler is incapable of a big soaring guitar solo. The "Ascension" section of this track should lay those misguided beliefs to rest.
Never a band that openly beats the listener over the head with chapter and verse Scripture, The Protest still manages to make their faith very well known throughout the record, with Josh screaming to the listener about the "King of Kings" in the title track, and with a sense of positivity laced throughout each of these songs. I am anxious to get my hands on a copy of the lyrics for these songs so I can dive even further into the meanings of everything here.
While I thought Great Lengths was a solid album with several really good songs, Legacy pretty much blows its doors off in ever possible way. If this album doesn't break huge for The Protest, there is simply no justice in the music world now, as this is one excellent record from start to finish. Granted, this style of modern rock is not for everyone, but for those who like it hard, heavy, fast, loud, aggressive, and with a semblance of melody mixed in, Legacy may be exactly what you are looking for!
Rating: Incredibly crankable! Twist this all the way up to 9 and LEAVE IT THERE!!!
Four years has passed since Relentless Flood's last album, The Time Is Now, which proved to be something of a breakout effort for the melodic modern rockers. Since that time, the band launched an Indigogo campaign to fund a new album, resulting in this latest effort, Escape The Fall. A few things have changed with the band since The Time Is Now, with the chief difference being that the Huffman father/son combination has been reduced to just the son portion, as dad, Dale, has taken on a supporting role, co-writing most of the songs on the album, and Bret Rodgers has stepped up to assist on guitars, as well as bass. Marshal has stepped out from behind the drum kit and has also picked up a guitar, adding that to his frontman repertoire, and Dylan McLain has been brought in to pound the skins. Add in the fact that Jake Jones of As We Ascend appears through his programming of the electronic elements here, as well as serving as the mixer, engineer, and co-producer on the album, and it would seem possible that the sound of the band might change, as well. Yet, despite all this, Relentless Flood remains very much the same band that they have been for nearly a decade.
Musically, Relentless Flood continues to combine agressive, hard rock riffing and solid rhythm guitar lines, with modern programming and production elements, and Huffman's clean, melodic, lower-register tenor vocals, all supported by big drums and solid bass lines. A perfect example of this is the lead single, "Away From Me", which has managed to climb into the Top 10 of several Christian rock charts after numerous weeks of airplay. Not dissimilar from the band's previous big chart hit, "Come Home", "Away From Me" employs a strong sense of melody despite the gritty, churning guitars interpsersed with some electronic programming and some excellend drumming from newcomer, McLain. A powerful song about spiritual warfare, "Away From Me" continues to showcase the band's lyrical and thematic approach of good vs. evil, God vs. Satan, as Huffman exhorts the devil to "get away from me, cause now I see you're no good for me, Stay away from me, hopeless enemy, you're going down today...". Check out the lyrics video below...
"Breaking Out", is another song that will feel reminiscent of "Come Home", perhaps even more than "Away From Me". The rhythm guitars scale themselves back to a large degree on the verse sections before coming alive on the chorus parts of the song, and the guitar solo, while not overly flashy, has enough style and flair to hook the listener's attention. The rhythm section is especially strong here, with some machine-gun like work from McLain that really complements the guitars. Huffman sounds strong, working well within his range, and his voice has matured nicely over the years, gaining strength and depth on each release. A great example of this vocal grown would be on the next track, a third straight hard rocker, "'Til The End", where Huffman adds a gritty edge to his vocals that was not nearly as powerful or believable on previous efforts,
"Take It All" is the first time the band even hints at slowing down, and while the verse portions of the song are much more stark in nature, with Huffman's vocals being far more out front than on other songs, there is a musical buildup that ramps up to the chorus sections, keeping the energy level high, even if the speed isn't necessarily there. Huffman goes into a brief spoken vocal approach (perhaps snarled is more accurate) before the lead break, and the backing vocals feel especially strong here.
"Standing Tall" adds some extra thump as it steps up the tempo a notch or two from "Take It All". As is often the case with Relentless Flood's songs, the band really scales back during the verse portions before springing to life in the bridge and chorus sections, with the rhythm guitars pretty much disappearing at points and some electronic atmospheric elements used to support the verses here. Once again, McLain proves himself to be a valuable addition to the fold, as his tempos and patterns add so much depth to these songs. The lead guitars here again adhere to the "less is more" school of modern rock soloing, which I don't always agree with, and I do find myself wondering what Dale (dad) would have done differently were he still slinging the axe on this record.
"Used To Be" is the closest thing to a true ballad on the record, and it's pretty good. Some piano is added to the mix here (assuming these are some programmed elements from Jones, as no pianist/keyboardist is credited that I can find) on a poignant song about how the power or Christ's love and forgiveness rescued the song's protagonist from aspects of his past and brought about positive change in his life. A lyrically powerful song, "Used To Be" really showcases Huffman's vocal maturity, as he handles the track with both power and emotion, again, adding a believablity factor to his vocals that perhaps wasn't always there in the past.
"Wake Me" begins the build back from ballad territory, heading back in a more mid-tempo rock direction, with some solid chug-chug-chugga-chug rhythm work from Rogers, whom I also assume continues to play bass here, as he did on the last album, as no new bass player is credited. Huffman stretches his range just a tad bit here, reaching the upper edges of his rather smooth tenor, and he handles it well.
The title of "Bullets" had me hopeful that we would be treated to the band ripping things up with a burst of speed, but instead it falls back into what I consider to be Relentless Flood's default setting of aggressive mid-tempo hard rock. Jones incorporates some more electronic elements here, and the guitar solo is smooth, short, and relatively tame.
The title track falls into much the same tempo as the majority of the tracks here, although the lead guitar work has a bit of flash to it, particularly atop the rhythm guitars and drums on the intro, and springs a bit more to life during the solo break than anywhere else on the record...although, we still aren't talking about anything overly glitzy or flamboyant. Again, McLain is the hero of the day on this track, just crushing his way through things here, changing tempos with no apparent effort and modifying patters to keep things interesting. A modern rock version of a breakdown is used to nice effect heading into the final chorus.
"Set Me Free" closes things out, once again slotting comfortably into that mid-tempo range Relentless Flood tends to live in, but with some of the most interesting rhythm guitar patterns on the disc, and a couple of mini bursts of speed that really lead me to wonder what would happen if this band just cut loose every now and then. A rapid fire machine gun burst from McLain pulls the band out the short lead break and into the bridge leading to the last big chorus, making "Set Me Free" the most complete-feeling song on the album for me and one that I think sets the stage well for the band to move forward in its approach, if it chooses to.
This brings me to my one true complaint about this album: it feels like we have heard this before. To fans of the band, the songs on Escape The Fall will likely feel very familiar, very comfortable...very much like the last album, The Time Is Now. Now comfort and familiarity can be good things, for sure, but when a band grows too familiar, too comfortable, there tends to be a lack of growth. There is nothing here that stretches the boundaries of what the band has done previously. That is not to say that these songs aren't good, because they are. They just never slap me in the earhole and scream, "check this out!", with the possible exception of "Set Me Free" at the end of the album. I'm not saying the band should reinvent itself, or bring in a rapper, or become all electronic and totally change their style and sound (ahem, Nine Lashes), but when the vast majority of the songs here...and on the previous two albums, really...all run about the same length and vary little in tempo or structure, there is a sameness that can be misread as stagnance.
The good thing about all of this familiarity? Well, what this album does better than the previous two is that while done in a familiar style, this album does what Relentless Flood has always done, but does it better. For example, this album surpasses the previous two efforts from the band in the production area, no question. Jones does an excellent job of beefing up the sound in places where it likely would have come across somewhat thinner in the past. The separation of instruments is, overall, very good, and Huffman's vocals are not required to do anything seemingly out of his range or capabilities. There are a few studio production tricks thrown into the mix, which is to be expected on a modern rock album such as this, but nothing that takes away from the performances of the individuals involved. And, no disrespect to Marshal Huffman, but the drumming of Dylan McLain really steps things up a couple of notches.
The packaging here is extremely basic, with a simple digipack serving to house the disc. There are no lyrics or band photos included, although there is a thank-you section as well as the requisite performanc, writing, and production credits. The artwork is a pretty cool touch, however, with the front and back being one continuous wrap-around photo.
In the interest of full disclosure, I was a supporter of the Indiegogo campaign for this album, and as you can see in the photo above, my copy of the CD is autographed by the band. As part of my pledge, I also received a digital copy of the album a couple of weeks early, so I have had the chance to live with this album for a bit, so I feel comfortable with my opinions about Escape The Fall. To that end, I find myself enjoying Escape The Fall quite a bit, but I do hope that the band stretches themselves more on their next effort, trying some new things, alternating speeds and tempos a bit more, and experimenting with their sound, while still remaining heavy and aggressive in their overall approach. I also hope that it doesn't take four years for that next effort to surface, as Relentless Flood has a lot of talent and promise and deserves to be heard.
Rating: Escape The Fall just edges into crankable territory, largely on the strength of the playing and the passion of the lyrical approach. Crank this to 7.
The undisputed kings (and queens) of Christian modern rock...and one of the most successful modern rock bands in America, period...Skillet have once again repackaged their most recent effort with new material and offered it up to fans, most likely to tide them over until the next album. Originally released nearly two years ago, Unleashed has seen multiple songs hit radio as singles, from the huge, arena anthems "Feel Invincible" and "Back From The Dead", to a couple of slower, more ballad-esque moments with "Lions" and "Stars", and the original album closer, the crunchy, modern metallic screamer, "The Resistance". Sandwiched in between are several other solid songs, whether it be the more symphonic "I Want To Live", the poppy "Saviors Of The World", the crunchy "Undefeated", or the breakneck-speed rocker "Out Of Hell". Not everything on the album worked overly well for me, as I am not a fan of "Watching For Comets", per se, nor did "Burn It Down" really grab me, though neither is a bad song, necessarily. The same could be said of "Famous", which is a little too electro-pop/dance rock for me, what with its looped drums, syths, and electronic noises, but again, it's not brutal or anything. But, if I had wanted to cut the album down to the ten best tracks, "Comets" and "Burn It Down" would have been the two to go.
But rather than trim the album to ten tracks, Skillet went the other way and tacked eight bonus tracks, including five new songs, onto the deluxe edition of the album, giving us Unleashed Beyond. A lot of people love this kind of thing, but I really, REALLY wish I wasn't forced to buy a new CD just to get the new tracks (sure, I could download them, but I'm a physical product guy). There is enough material here between the five new songs and the multiple remixes that an EP could have been easily released and I wouldn't now have two versions of the same CD on my hands. I know...First World problems... Anyway...released near the end of 2017, the expanded album has already seen one song starting to climb the Christian rock charts, with the modern rock screamfest of "Breaking Free" charting seeing growing airplay in March of 2018. Much like the album proper, the new songs are mostly really good-to-great, with only one minor miss, and then there are three remixes thrown in for good measure.
The first of the new songs is the previously mentioned "Breaking Free". I called it a screamfest above, and there is really no other term I could think to apply as this is exactly what the song is. Big pounding drums and hard, churning guitars abound on this catchy song, which is to be expected from the majority of Skillet's hardest-edged output over the past five albums. But "Breaking Free" takes things to a new extreme when John's powerful roars and shouts are matched by scream queen, Lacey Sturm, the former lead singer of Flyleaf. Mix in Jen Ledger's tame...dare I say "sweet" sounding by comparison?...backing vocals, and you have quite a track on your hands. This would be my favorite of the new tracks were it not for the hyper-catchy "Set It Off", which feels to me like it could have/should have been included on the original version of Unleashed. Heck, I prefer this track to more than half the songs on the original album, trailing only "The Resistance" and "Feel Invincible", and possibly "Lions" and "Undefeated". A guitar-driven rocker with a chant-along chorus, "Set It Off" should definitely be released as a single and may be one of the few bonus tracks that I can think of that have the potential to actually top a chart. Seriously, it is that dang good, and I hope it finds its way into the band's live set for the next tour.
Also really good, but a slight step below these two is the more straight-forward rocker, "You Get Me High", which features a more classic rock-styled guitar riff but retains the huge, arena-filling drum sound the band has really become known for. I also really like more mainstream-sounding, "Brave", which reminds me a LOT of "Lions", but with a bigger, more anthemic chorus, and fuller, bigger-sounding drums. Ledger sounds really good here, and I don't think she gets enough credit for what she brings to the band vocally, as well as on the kit. Again, this could have/should have replaced "Watching For Comets" on the original album, in my opinion, and could very well be another chart-topping bonus track for Skillet, again coming out of the bonus tracks of a re-issued album. An impressive feat, to be sure.
I'm not completely sure how I feel about the acoustic-based ballad of "Stay Til The Daylight", which has a definite "Stars" feel to it, but there's something that just seems off to me. John is in full singing mode here, and the band incorporates some nice strings into the mix, but it isn't until the final run through the bridge/chorus section that the drums find their way into the track, which left me kind of hanging, to be honest. More time may help me better figure out what it is that I don't like about this song...or give me more of an appreciation for what it is.
The band also incorporates three remixes here, with two of them being total wastes of disc space. Seriously, the remixes of "Feel Invincible", and especially "The Resistance" are just abysmal. Totally, unquestionably, 100% pure skip material for this guy. Just...wow...just bad stuff. As to the "film version" of "Stars", which was remixed for the movie The Shack, if memory serves, it's okay, but kind of redundant. It features an incredibly long intro (my oldest son thought they made it into an instrumental), one of the choruses is removed, with two verses pretty much running into each other, and the whole affair feels fairly sappy and rather boring. I like the original version, especially in the live setting, but I don't see any time when I am going to pull out this album just to hear this reworked version of the song. Sorry Skillet, but I may actually rip and re-burn this CD without the closing three tracks, as I can't stand two of them and don't find any reason for the third.
The repackaged album also features an expanded insert which folds out into a poster of the sludge-covered band. Full lyrics for all of the new songs are included (along with all the original songs' lyrics, also), along with updated credits and thank-yous. The artwork is basically identical, with the updated and relocated title being the only change to the front cover, and the updated tracklisting being the lone change to the back.
At WinterJam 2018 a few weeks ago, John Cooper hinted that the band had some big news coming up, so perhaps a new album is in the offing. Perhaps he was simply referring to "Breaking Free" being dropped to radio as a single, or maybe their WinterJam performances were being recorded for a live EP. I'm not sure, so stay tuned to www.skillet.com and the band's social media outlets to stay up to date. And if you haven't already done so, I would strongly encourage you to pick up Unleashed Beyond for the five new tracks, as most fans will find at least four of them strong additions to the band's catalog, and I have no doubts there will be fans of "Stay Til The Daylight", also.
Rating: When you have a crankable album and add new, crankable material to it, you get more crankability, right? The two BRUTAL remixes (and one pointless one) can't even really do much to drop the rating here, which I top out at 8.
