HM Magazine, Issue #108 (July/August 2004) by Heaven's Metal Magazine

THE HARD MUSIC MAGAZINE

JULY, AUGUST 2004 â&#x20AC;¢ ISSUE #108 $3.50 USA / 4.95 CDN

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ZAO: Returns Brother Danielson Boys Night Out Cool Hand Luke Comeback Kid Poster New faces (Bands to watch)

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7/29/2004 10:42:13 PM

“ The clearest mics we have ever used...for the best live sound possible, it’s AUDIX” —Ryan Shrout, Kutless

assion and Power…two words that define a Kutless performance. To best capture their sound, Kutless trusts AUDIX to deliver their inspired music night after night. This impressive group of talented musicians sold well over 100,000 copies of their rocking first debut CD and now has embarked on a headlining tour to promote the release of their second CD Sea of Faces on BEC records.

“The Audix D6 kick drum mic is hands-down the best I’ve ever come across. I love this mic!” —Kyle Mitchell/Kutless Drummer Audix microphones feature: • Incredible feedback rejection • Clear and accurate sound reproduction • Extremely high SPL power handling • Built for a lifetime of performance

Pick up a copy of Sea of Faces and make sure to catch Kutless in a city near you. Visit www.kutless.com for touring schedules. KUTLESS and AUDIX…a Passionate and Powerful Team!

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TA BLE OF CONT ENTS

Regular 10 LETTERS 12 HARD NEWS 18 LIVE REPORTS

From an editor WE DON’T JUST PUT TOGETHER A MAGAZINE. IT’S REALLY A SIXTY DAY PROCESS OF BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS. Many aspects of piecing this together require strict organization, prompt communication and other fun acts of logic. It’s safe to say the majority of projects you will take on in life will demand just as much – if not more – rational and calculated behavior. A systematic approach can act as a most firm foundation to build upon, but come on... how can we, as a collection of independent youth, find motivation within an established structure of order? In easier terms: how can we make sure to wake up every morning content with what we do: be it school, work, or whatever creative direction we choose. I don’t care if you’re the Secretary General or the guy who sells hotdogs on the corner of 5th and Main, doing the same thing over and over will get old. And doing so while maintaining some piece of individuality is even harder. In finishing up this issue, the answer to this line of curiousity was presented. Sure, it required a bit of thought and most certainly didn’t slap anyone in the face. But it was there. It showed up while I was talking with Scott Mellinger. Filled with a renewed excitement after the recording of Zao’s newest album, he spoke of lessons learned and a freedom within an established studio order. Instead of weeks, the album took months. I knew the answer was somewhere within his enthusiasm, then, days later, the intermission with Kemper Crabb brought things into focus... When we complain about the daily grind, we completely overlook the most important tool towards individuality: a development and understanding of the consistency within order. If we know what it is to be consistent, to have experience and to communicate effectively, then we’ll most certainly know how to spice it up with our own personalities, flavor, and ideas. So yes, we can continue to finish that album, lay that tile, write that paper and draw that muse; and we can do so realizing the most tedious parts of each task are as important as those that are fun. –David Allen

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Featurette 20 21 22 24 26 28

MORROW METAL REPORT HEAVEN’S METAL NEW FACES MORTIFICATION COOL HAND LUKE ANTESTOR

Feature 36 44 48 53

DEMON HUNTER ZAO BRO DANIELSON BOYS NIGHT OUT SAYS

Intermission 56 THE CHRISTIAN & ART 68 COLUMNS

Review 59 MUSIC 66 DVD, BOOK, & GEAR 70 PICK OF THE LITTER / INDIE

5/24/2004 10:02:58 PM

Letters to the Editor READ THE BACK PAGE

PEDRO

I’m a very avid reader of the HM Magazine. I love it very much. I think the one thing I like most is that it has so much cool and diverse artwork. I particularly like how there is always some sort of artwork on the back cover. Actually, I like it so much I was curious to know what kind of steps or what process it takes to get some of the art there? Do people send it? Is it the staff’s? Anyway I am curious to know partly because I had some art, but I would actually like to know what kind of art is looked for. Any info is great. Thanx! –Jason Heglund [thankfullyalive@yahoo.com]

I really appreciate your coverage of artists like Pedro the Lion, who consistently push the envelope when it comes to how faith is taken into the world. And though I’ve been a Pedro fan for many years, I have recently grown weary of Bazan’s need to complicate the faith by making it seem more “real” and “relevant” by littering his lyrics with profanities. It’s hard not to be judgmental of singer David Bazan, especially when one of his main gripes seems to be that people are too judgmental! As indicated by your article, he’s put himself beyond reproach for anyone to criticize him without falling into the generalized mold he makes for Christians. –Dave Jarrett [dave@eiayfc.com]

[Ed – Thanks for the encouragement – especially about that! We get regularly blessed and amazed with artists that come to us with stuff for this back page. Our Art Director and Managing Editor, David Allen, is a world-class artist, and he’s in charge of selecting art for that back page. He’s really picky, so we offer no guarantees that we’ll use anyone’s work, so if you’d like to send a preview copy (no originals, it won’t be returned), go ahead and contact him.]

[Ed – Good point about the logic trap. I guess it could best be handled like we should with any conflict: calm, rational communication, listening, sharing, and being able to “agree to disagree” on all issues that are not life-threatening or comprehensively foundational to our faith, even if we hold dearly to a certain position. This is best done in person and not on message boards, etc.]

DOUG IS A WIMP I’ve got to tell you, that interview with George Fisher of Cannibal Corpse was embarrassing. Doug, excuse my language, you were such a (bleep). I’m wondering if he convicted you to believe the Bible is a “fairy tale.” Grab some balls, man. –Steve P. [steve.ptasznik.iti1@statefarm.com] [Ed – LOL.]

RIYL Hi, I am a 32 year old Christian who has always liked my music hard, loud and fast, but I need some help finding Christian artists I like. Can you help me find Christian alternatives to (what’s out there) or direct me to someone who can? – Jerry M. [blueshockeyfan2004@yahoo.com] [Ed – Gosh, this can be sticky. The best way to find out is by sticking your head out there and looking around. Pick up a sampler by Solid State, Facedown Records, and now Flicker. Listen to samples of the dozens of bands on those.]

EDITOR/PUBLISHER MANAGING EDITOR OFFICE MANAGER ADVERTISING SALES ART DIRECTOR CONTR EDITORS

David Allen Judah Siegal, Greg Tucker Chris Wighaman

INTERN

Colin Hobbs, James Wetz

CONTRIBUTORS

BACK PAGE

What’s with the recent influx of bands whose source of originality has all but diminished? I mean, if I hear another band that sounds like Creed, I’ll rip my hair out. Not to understate how much I support the MINISTRY of these bands, but it seems to me that the WORLD might be more prone to listen to the music and message of something that’s original, than they would of a band or bands that sound like all the others. Is it a commercial thing? Or is it possible that the Christian music industry likes to prey off of things that they know will succeed because they saw it done so in the secular world? Like I said, I am so glad that they’re making art in the name of our Savior, I LOVE that, but it seems that all that’s original is breaking up right before our eyes because there is no market for it. So, it is possible that I am just venting, because I will always support those who promote the cause of Christ. –Shawn Spurrier [ghfshawn@yahoo.com] [Ed – Yes, you are venting, but . . . preach it, brother!]

Chuck Anderson, Zach Bard Chris Estey, Jason Dodd Chris Francz, Lee Haley Dan MacIntosh, Matt Morrow Jamie L. Rake, Bradley Spitzer Jorel Van Os, Gord Wilson Galo Canote (Make)

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SCRIPTURE

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head...It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows His blessing, even life forevermore.” (Psalm 133:1-3)

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HM Magazine (ISSN 1066-6923) is published bimonthly for $15 per year by HM, 6307 Cele Road #573, Pflugerville, TX 78660. Periodicals Postage Paid at Pflugerville, Texas and at additional mailing office. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: HM, PO Box 141007, Austin TX 78714-1007 All contents copyright © 2004. HM contents may not be reproduced in any manner, either whole or in part, without prior written permission. For retail distribution, please call Ingram Distributors (800) 627-6247 (ext. 33501)

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6/3/2004 2:43:05 PM

HARDNEWS Quick & concise

News bullets Stavesacre have been writing songs again and even playing the occasional live show. Now without Neil Samoy, the quartet showcased two new songs in Austin, Texas: “Bull Gets Rider,” featuring unique guitar sounds from Ryan Dennee; and “Head Full of Words.” The Lester Finn Experiment (“Pick of the Litter,” Issue #105) has inked a deal with Acclaim Entertainment to assure them a spot on the upcoming All Star Baseball 2005 game on X-Box and PS2. Listen for the song “The Lesser of Two” in the game. South African hardcore band Neshamah have been in the studio recording a full length release.

Longday Newly signed to the Music Dog Records family, Longday (formerly known as Lustre) gives the mainstream alt-radio bands a run for their money with their powerful, guitar-driven sound. After playing under the name Lustre for four years, the boys had to change their name to Longday in the face of legal issues. When asked how they came up with their new name, guitarist Wes Brown replied, “We were eating dinner on what was to be the final night of deliberation. We had three fortune cookies and had decided that we were going to decide on a name that night and that it would come from one of the cookies. I opened mine first and the fortune read ‘An evening with friends is the best tonic for a long day.’ Two things stuck out: ‘tonic’ and ‘longday.’ Since there is already a great band called ‘Tonic’, we knew ‘longday’ was it. Very providential.” God works in mysterious ways indeed. Despite the name change after so much work under another, Longday is turning heads with their solid rock that is straightforward enough for anyone to get into, and that is exactly what they want. Frontman Jesse Dold describes the bands goal as being: “summed up when we decided to sign a record deal with Music Dog Records. Their motto of ‘blowing minds and changing lives’ made so much sense to us. In a lot of cases, music is the only way to get through to people and make them think.” Not simply challenging worldy bands but being compared to them puts Longday in a very interesting position to accomplish their goal on a much larger scale. Being influenced by such bands as Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Third Eye Blind and U2, guitarist Wes Brown explains their sound: “Christian music really couldn’t offer anything comparable sonically. Having recognized that the ‘sound’ of secular music is more enticing to young people, it has inspired us to offer music that is equally enticing but with a better message.” This better message is what sets Longday apart from their secular peers in the hopes that they can influence a broad audience with their music. Releasing their first full length on Music Dog, An Explanation For My Behavior should turn heads in both Christian and general markets. “Musically, it is a collaboration of what has been bursting out of our hearts and souls for the past few years. It speaks of everything from love, rejection, freedom, loss, faith, and forgiveness. I know that’s not original, but what else are we supposed to write and play about? It’s life...and we know that everyone who listens will find a place for this album in their hearts.” An Explanation For My Behavior is in stores and online July 13. By Colin Hobbs

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MTV2 and Fuse have been airing Stretch Arm Strong’s latest video for the song “Black Clouds,” Hit up StretchArmStrong.net to view it right away, or email the folks at MTV and tell them you want to see it in primetime. Also of note, the “Welcome to the Family” tour featuring Stretch, Terror, Between the Buried and Me, Day of Contempt and Out to Win was welcomed with great crowds. Sponsored by Made Clothing and Peta2, a video diary with Chris McClane can be viewed at Peta2.com. Look for Bloodlined Calligraphy on the road this summer with Silence the Epilogue and Winter Solstice. From Indiana to Arkansas, tour dates are posted at FacedownRecords. com/tours.htm. Roadrunner Records has signed The Agony Scene after its debut, selftitled release on Solid State Records. The band is scheduled to enter the studio this Fall for an early 2005 release.

6/1/2004 4:51:54 PM

HARD NEWS

Texas metal band, Society’s Finest, has been on and off for the past few years, but the band now confirms a summer tour and talks with a label for signing. Also of interest, an album featuring 4 unreleased demos and 5 songs from Private Conflicts and Suicides will be released on the same label, Hand of Hope Records.

Brandtson A Bradley Spitzer Q&A with Brandtson’s Matt Traxler (guitarist) on this, their 7th release, Send Us A Signal – the Militia Group debut. AFTER FINISHING YOUR CONTRACT OBLIGATIONS WITH DEEP ELM RECORDS, DID IT FEEL LIKE THE FUTURE OF THE BAND WAS UP IN THE AIR? Not so much up in the air, more than anything it felt wide open. We had a new excitement about the band. We took some time off from touring to really work toward writing the best record that we possibly could, and we were very focused on that more than who was going to put the record out. AS I LISTEN TO SEND US A SIGNAL I’D ARGUE THAT THIS IS YOUR BEST RELEASE TO DATE. DID THE TRANSITION PERIOD [BETWEEN LABELS] SPUR YOUR CREATIVITY AT ALL? Absolutely. We felt like we had to step up to the plate, and not put out a record that sounded like all of our other records, and at the same time not straying too far from what our ‘sound’ was. In the past we would write songs that we were happy with and move on to writing HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE SEND US A SIGNAL TO YOUR PREVIOUS RELEASES? I do think that this is our best or most mature record to date. We actually had a decent amount of time to record it in for once. It almost felt like we ﬁnally got to make the record that we have been wanting to for a long time. We got to explore some different ideas, and instruments, that in the past our recording budget just didn’t allow time for. HOW DOES YOUR FAITH INFLUENCE BRANDTSON ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS? ...Our faith is more of a personal thing than a ‘band’ thing. There is some overlapping in the fact that I feel very thankful for all the opportunities that we have had, and that we haven’t had any major tragedies within the band, and also in the fact that the music that we write, lyrically is rather ‘personal.’ But, we have worked very hard to stay out of the ‘Christian’ music scene and have never done this band as any sort of ‘ministry.’ I think that how we personally live our lives should be an example of our faith, which quite frankly is often times a very poor example when lined up with what I claim to believe, but I do feel much better about myself and about what I believe knowing that I didn’t just give an empty speech or tell someone else how their life could be better just to look ‘good’ or to please someone who might expect that of me. I would personally much rather talk with someone about life or about how I think God works, than to say something corny from stage, and in all honesty there is just so much about ‘Christianity’ these days that I feel has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus...

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More about Hope: Eulogy Recordings founder John Wylie and the drummer from Evergreen Terrace, Christopher Brown, have created Hope Records as a new label. It’s first release happens to be the next Evergreen Terrace album. Dashboard Confessional has an cover of REM’s “Automatic for the People” available on iTunes. Also, look for its song, “Vindicated” on the SpiderMan 2 soundtrack In conjunction with a Christian web site, Kutless will be performing at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece. August welcomes Sinai Beach into Trax East studio (Hatebreed, Every Time I Die) to record its upcoming album, Immersed. Scheduled for a November 16 release date, the album artwork will be handled by Travis Smith of Soul Embraced, Iced Earth fame. After coming off of an incredible tour with Most Precious Blood and Throwdown, Filling in for Alex Albert, Sam Hoskins, of the Elevator Division, joined up with Project 86 while Alex is soon to be married. After acquiring a new lead singer, The James Dean Trio will be touring all over the U.S. this Summer.

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HARDNEWS Page fourteen News bullets

HMMAG.COM THE NEW HM MAGAZINE WEBSITE IS LIVE. And we’ve ﬁlled it with content. To celebrate the launch, we’re letting you have exclusive access to even more:

• Longer interviews • Illustration & design gallery • Downloads • Exclusive content • Burt Reynolds It doesn’t matter if you’re a subscriber or if you’ve jacked this copy from the dentist’s ofﬁce, with the login information below*, you have access to the exclusive area for however long this issue stays current.

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After finishing its CD release tour with 18 Visions, Underoath will be playing the SmartPunk stage on Warped Tour through August. The first single to be released, “Reinventing Your Exit,” is available online and will be backed with a recently finished video. The single can be downloaded from PureVolume.com/Underoath. Extol has announced a lineup change. Christer and Ole have decided to leave the band due to the inability to continue on with the level of commitment required. The band still plans to enter the studio later this summer and release a new album later in the year. In related news, Benea Reach has announced the loss of three members. Christer Espevoll – formerly of Extol – will be taking one of the empty spots as its new replacement guitarist.

Local clubs CLUB 3 DEGREES

Minneapolis, MN - CLUB3DEGREES.COM F.K.A. The New Union, Club 3 Degrees is in the heart of Minneapolis’ rich club district and rivals any of its neighbors. Multi-levels, small acoustic stage, dance ﬂoor, food and non-alcoholic drinks and a raised DJ booth give this club a world-class vibe. An outreach of the large Living Word fellowship, the club has a strong support base and enthusiastic staff. For the past 14 years the club has hosted the “New Band Tournament,” which has chosen such winners as PFR, and this year’s hard music winner – Passing Thru.

THE WHERE-HOUSE

Bartlesville, OK - WHEREHOUSECONCERTS.COM Started by P.O.D./Blindside Manager Tim Cook over 13 years ago, this stank, small warehouse contrasts the clean and grandeur Club 3 Degrees, but its role in the live music region is just as vital. Also hosting an annual New Band Tournament, the Where-House is a popular spot on many a hard music traveling tour. Within its hallowed walls are memories of some great shows from years past, including a legendary Cruciﬁed performance with Mark Salomon swinging out over the crowd on a rope at the debut concert in their current location.

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Hardcore stalwart Comeback Kid will be all over this summer. The primary tour features the band Champion, but many other artists will be making appearances throughout: Nodes of Ranvier, Some Kind of Hate, The Distance, Outbreak, Blacklisted, Sidewalk, Terror and With Honor. Allan Aguirre (Spy Glass Blue, Scaterd Few), who runs the Riley Agency (artist management, development, etc), has something to be very happy about these days: his three children have been performing as the band Drama Dust. Fun punk rock at Dramadust. com Beloved had Thursday guitarist Steve Pedulla direct the upcoming video for its song “Death To Traitors.” Find the band on the road through July with Between the Buried and Me and Glass Casket, The group will also be heading overseas in September to play a string of shows alongside The Hurt Process.

6/1/2004 4:56:42 PM

HARD NEWS

Much is going on with As I Lay Dying. Its previous tour with Scarlet, Black Dahlia Murder and Every Time I Die resulted in 25 sold out shows, Then the guys hit the road with Killswitch Engage and In Flames to much acclaim. Up next is a stint with Zao, Throwdown and Haste the Day. And somewhere in the middle of a hectic schedule, the band found time to film a video of the song “Forever” in San Diego. Derek Hess and Strhess Clothing are sponsoring the Strhess Tour featuring Shadows Fall, As I Lay Dying, Himsa and Remembering Never. The tour spans across the U.S. and Canada from July to August. Dates are posted at StrhessTour.com.

Josiah Named after one of the last great kings of Israel, Josiah is known now as that king was in his time: a restorer of worship. As the Jewish community had turned their backs on God, Josiah sees the same pattern in the hardcore community and seeks to revitalize the Spirit-filled worship that once prevailed in the scene. Vocalist Josh Lee elaborates on the subject: “We all grew up listening to stuff like Strongarm and Focused, we really miss Spirit-filled hardcore and seeing Christ represented in the hardcore community. We would really like to see a lot more ‘Christian’ hardcore bands standing up for what they believe.” Most hardcore bands speak about issues that are important to them, be it politics, drugs or religion. Josiah reaches beyond all of these issues and focuses on the one that truly matters most: the love of Jesus Christ. Getting back to this central idea that Christ loves all and this love should flow out of each of us who know Him is what drives Josiah. “We all pretty much think that the scene has become more of a fashion contest than a family. Who wears the tightest jeans, or has the biggest hair kind of thing. And who really cares if you’re tougher than me, or hotter than me? That doesn’t give anyone the right to be a jerk. The scene should be about unity and respect, people really need to get back to that.” Earlier in the year, Josiah decided to sign with Indie Vision and are currently about to release their full length. “The central theme of the CD is love, and one of the greatest non-biblical stories of love is Romeo and Juliet. ‘Verona’ was the town in which the story took place. So we decided to use the town as our background. We’re pretty excited about it.” Verona comes out on May 11th on Indie Vision, so keep your eyes peeled. This CD is good solid hardcore with all the double bass and crowd chants, but there is also that flare of ingenuity in the music that makes it more than just hardcore. “We all listen to very different music, everything from Johnny Cash and Elvis, to Depeche Mode and The Cure, to Caliban and Comeback Kid. We’re really varied in what we listen to and I think that comes through in some of the more creative things we do.” With all of that said, Josiah would like to leave you with this closing note: “When you see us at a show come talk to us, we get really tired of talking to each other all the time and we like to meet new people. So yeah, come talk to us and bring beef jerky. Oh yeah, and check out our website, www.josiahrock.com.” Well said. By Colin Hobbs

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Beauty to Ashes have switched vocalists. Chris Lopez will be taking the place of Joel Von Steitz. Because of the transition, the band has decided to postpone a summer tour and the release of a new album, Robotic Conversations. Recently signed to Solid State Records, He is Legend will be recording I Am Hollywood to be released this Fall. Check out a sample of songs at HeIsLegend.com. Nodes of Ranvier will be touring this summer with Glass Casket, Crematorium and Reflux. Look for the new Further Seems Forever release, Hide Nothing, on August 24th. Through September, the band will headlining its first tour since the addition of Jon Bunch on vocals. Upon purchase of any FSF merch, the band will be giving away a 2-song sampler demo at this year’s Cornerstone Festival Illinois.

6/1/2004 4:56:58 PM

HARDNEWS Page sixteen Internet audio ITUNES apple.com/itunes TITLES: 500,000 PRICE: $.99 per track, $9.99 per album LICENSE: Up to 3 computers, CD Burn FORMAT: .aac CONTENT: Great indie/hard selection NOTES: Requires free iTunes software. Great with an iPod. Other players are not compatible. Easy check out.

WALMART.COM

Pony Express

musicdownloads.walmart.com TITLES: 300,000 PRICE: $.88 per track LICENSE: Up to 3 computers FORMAT: .wma CONTENT: Less indie music NOTES: Strictly web based, one can “go” in, buy a track (or album), and leave happy. No speciﬁc software is needed.

ROXIO NAPSTER

During the 1860’s, the Pony Express was the fastest way for the East and West to communicate in America. It required young men who were expert riders and willing to risk death daily to traverse the continent, bringing news of war, peace, love, hate, death, and life. Of course, this romantic method of communication has been replaced by our current technology, but Jeff Cloud revives this central ideal through his project, Pony Express. “I just always liked the idea that at the time of the real Pony Express, the only way for two loved ones to communicate across long distances was via the Pony Express. Kind of the idea that the Pony Express was a bridge between two lovers.” Combining the creative influences of Jason Martin, Frank Lenz, Josh Dooley and Richard Swift, Pony Express is an all-star collaboration of Velvet Blue Music artists who are communicating what they feel. For Cloud, having such freedom within this band has released him to do basically whatever he wants. “I’m not dependent on the band financially in any way, so the thoughts of better sales, or attracting more listeners is pretty much left out of the recording process. Of course I want people to like the songs, but if they don’t it’s really no sweat.” For most artists, this flexibility is a luxury, and Pony Express exploits the opportunity to create on their own terms. Writing music simply for the joy of writing is where true ingenuity and honesty originate, free from the shackles of popularity and outside opinion. Although Cloud does have freedom and flexibility within Pony Express, he is constantly called to focus his efforts on other projects such as Starflyer 59, Joy Electric and Velvet Blue Music. “There was really no special priority out of them, I just juggled them the best I could. Sometimes this worked out and sometimes it didn’t. You know how it goes; no one ever notices when you are doing a good job. They just notice when you slip.” Nevertheless, Pony Express receives all the attention it needs as they have recently released their new EP Fraud on Velvet Blue Music. The new material on Fraud “might have a slightly darker feel,” as their previous release, Becoming What You Hate, which was quite mellow and acoustic/keyboard driven in some places, and in others reminiscent of classic rock. Claiming to be influenced by The Smiths, Cursive, Twothirtyeight and The Pixies, Cloud lets these characteristics reveal themselves on the new EP. By Colin Hobbs

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napster.com TITLES: 500,000 PRICE: $.99 per track, $9.99 per album LICENSE: Up to 3 computers, CD Burn FORMAT: .wma CONTENT: Good indie/hard selection NOTES: Requires free software. Optional subscription service enables extra content. Needs separate application to rip to CD.

REAL RHAPSODY real.com/rhapsody TITLES: 500,000 PRICE: $9.95 monthly, $.79 per track LICENSE: Up to 3 computers, CD Burn FORMAT: Real .aac CONTENT: Streaming/radio, good indie NOTES: Subscription based. Many sources for discovering new talent. Best for streaming/radio, worst for audio players.

6/1/2004 4:57:15 PM

H A R D NE WS

FROM LADIES TO NOT SO GENTLEMEN, JUDAH LAYS THE WORDS AND ADVICE ON THICK. Email your questions to P.O.D.’s roadie extraordinaire: Judah Siegel via judah@hmmagazine.com

MUSICMATCH musicmatch.com TITLES: 500,000 PRICE: $.99 per track, $9.99 per album LICENSE: Up to 3 computers, CD Burn FORMAT: .wma CONTENT: Less indie music NOTES: Requires MusicMatch Jukebox.Higher quality audio ﬁles (160Kbps). Many personalization options.

AUDIO LUNCHBOX I’m trying to decide whether to go to college or sit out a year and find myself, what should I do? If you don’t know where you are you may need more time than a year. Seriously, there are probably positive aspects of both choices. If you did well in school up until now why stop? You might as well continue your education while you have some momentum. If you really don’t have any idea what you want to do with the rest of your life, you can take all your general courses while you see what there is to choose from. Or take some time before college to try and figure out what you might want to do. I know quite a few people that have degrees they don’t (or can’t) use. It seems to me that who you know can be more important than what. Whatever you do I think it is important to gain and maintain contact with people in a wide variety of fields and professions. Sometimes the most unlikely people can help you attain your goals. After all it’s about who they know, too.

How long does it take to set up for a show? It depends on a few things. Is it a headlining/radio/festival/television show? If it is, a headlining tour depends on the size of the venue, the amount of gear that is on tour and what all is being provided by the promoter. On the current tour we start setting up around 9-10am in order to be ready for the doors to be open at 6-7pm.

What would you do if you found out your girlfriend was cheating? I don’t have a girlfriend. But IF I did and I found out she was cheating the first thing I would do is express through very colorful words how displeased I was with the situation. After I was finished with my tantrum I hope I would examine my role in the situation and figure out where I came up short. I have noticed in situations of infidelity that there seems to be almost equal responsibility to be shared for the situation. If both people are getting all of their needs met by their partner, there is little chance of someone tempting either side with something that is missing from the equation. I believe if there is desire to continue in a relationship anything can be overcome and all offenses can be forgiven.

I’m curious about Blindside. Do they speak English well and what do they think of our American customs? Blindside speak English very well, better in fact than many Americans I know. I am not sure what they think of our customs, but they are finally catching on to the whole deodorant thing.

audiolunchbox.com TITLES: 40,000 PRICE: $.99 per track LICENSE: None FORMAT: .mp3, Ogg Vorbis CONTENT: Amazing indie selection NOTES: Strictly web based, Less songs, but intense focus on independent music.

BUYMUSIC buymusic.com TITLES: 450,000 PRICE: $.70 - $.99 per track LICENSE: Up to 3 computers, CD Burn FORMAT: .wma CONTENT: Less hard/indie, more pop NOTES: Strictly web based. Assurance of Buy.com behind it. Less independent bands.

Upcoming Peer to Peer (P2P) will be legitimized through protected services. What this means is a community based music service with the ability to download and share any song you’d like from random people or friends. But to actually play the audio ﬁ le on your system, you’ll be required to purchase a license. Th is eases the strain of downloading everything from speciﬁc servers and lets you pick from friends with good (or bad) taste.

End of Queﬆions

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6/1/2004 4:57:31 PM

Chad Van Meter - Homeless J, Neal Morse Todd Evans - The Golden Sounds

GMA Roundup Nashville, Tennessee

While this city takes its fair share of potshots from critics, for a few days (and one spectacular night) it displayed that rare magic of great performance and indeﬁnable - yet undeniable - soulful quality that keeps rock and roll alive. This came as quite a surprise, as “Gospel Music Week” is largely just a big convention that smells very corporate and “safe,” with lots of posturing, fake smiles, and schmoozing. Tuesday night, April 27 unknowingly delivered a musical buffet from Heaven. It all started with the second performance by a band that’s generated a quick buzz – Mute Math. Fronted by former Earth Suit vocalist Paul Meany, this eclectic troupe strolled onto a giant Renaissance Ballroom stage adorned by two giant video screens on left and right. Much had been said about this band, which had played one or two small sets previously during the week. What was delivered was even beyond the hype. They connected, and they did it with passion and realness. Their stage setup showed the ﬁrst hint of unconventionality – a guitarist that played isolated from the band at far stage right with little or no interaction with the rest of the band, only taking cues from a large computer monitor in between him and band; Meany plopping down at a large piano/organ at center stage; a drummer doing his thing in the back; and another member who stood at far stage left, facing the offstage curtain and toying with what looked like a remote control device, calling out hypnotic sounds of digital landscapes. Flashes of Radiohead’s SNL performance with that electrical circuit-board thing came to mind.

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Bottom line: this band just exuded conﬁdence and passion in an all-out display that soothed, mesmerized, and pulled the mind and body in. If Sting joined Coldplay and they all kept experimenting with organic sounds, it might sound like this. Those legendary Cornerstone appearances of old with the Charlie Peacock band at its peak come to mind. This was original. This had soul. It was true musical substance. And the night had just begun… Neal Morse played a solo set with friends at a small club a few blocks away called Blue Sky. With only about 25 minutes to convey his message and music, he picked just the right songs from his catalog (like “Wind At My Back” and “Sing It High”). This meant that those unfamiliar with prog rock wouldn’t have to wade through 22-minute solos to hear the melodic highlights. While this guy’s story of coming to Christ is special, the exuberant and unbridled joy in his face and music is absolutely infectious live. Visions of the late Rich Mullins were conjured – with much joy beaming from Neal’s face and escaping his mouth. The passage of Scripture about rivers of living water seems appropriate in talking about this guy and this performance. And speaking of Scripture, this veteran musician opened up his show with black leather Bible in hand, reading from the Psalms. Having seen spirituality or happy-face theology presented onstage before, seeing the real deal just outshines it all and is so refreshing. Unbeknownst to most of the audience, Neal’s band had two last-minute absences, which forced him to play lead guitar, sing, and man his keys. That enormous detail seemed like such a minor thing to this guy, as

he played sweet melodic leads and kept the show going seamlessly. Sharing a story about his daughter being a documented modern day miracle probably moistened the eyes of everyone in the house; and he started off “Sleeping Jesus” with the encouragement to join him in his habit of praying for an unbelieving loved one during the song. Very touching. Then Homeless J came out and proved why Dino Elefante has been talking about and working with this band for the last two years. Lead vocalist Chad Van Meter totally looked the rock star, with his mop-hair, blue jeans shirt and sunglasses. Visually, he could easily front either Kings of Leon or The Doors. His band mates throw down a progressive and tight sound that’s parts Mineral/Planes Mistaken For Stars and parts BRMC – a brilliant and very unique package. What came next was just amazing. A different crowd ﬂooded the room and it seemed polite to stick around for a song. The curiosity aroused by the mannequin/moon walking intro by Tonex in a hoodie turned into a mind-blowing set of unbridled joy. All intentions of heading over to see the great Staple perform at Rocketown went out the door. This guy has world class talent. His amazing vocal range can deliver the immediate ﬂavor of a newcomer like Maroon5, the soul of a Lenny Kravitz, and the sultry sexiness of a Prince. Tonex is one of the best things going in music right now. Unbelievable. It was hard to digest anything else after this experience, but Mending Point ended this blessed showcase with a melodic and energetic set that showed its talent as a capable rock band a la Mae, Slow Coming Day, or Anberlin. Earlier shows during the week had their highlights as well, including a 12 to 16-man hip-hop crew supporting LG Wise. Subseven and Spoken put in strong sets in the crowded NACRR rock night, and Tait ended with tightness and style (including a guest rap/scream by Pillar’s Rob Buckley). This town can rock. - By Doug Van Pelt

5/24/2004 10:30:56 PM

LI V E R EPORT

Christian Lindskog - Blindside

Festivals

Live Report

Warped 2 June 9 - August 10 : U.S. Warpedtour.com

P.O.D., Blindside, Lacuna Coil & Hazen Street

Lacuna Coil, Hazen Street (featuring former members of Madball), Blindside, and P.O.D. all wore their emotions on sleeves for their (#2 stop) Houston tour date at Verizon Wireless Theater. From 7pm until 11, the medium-sized venue reverberated with guitars and, thanks to the sound techs, some great drum sonics. Blindside marched out to much applause and launched into the emotional and melodic hit “Eye of the Storm,” alternating between crashing/screaming and massively bright melodies. Without letting up, they went into “Pitiful.” The audience was clearly in Blindside’s back pocket and they kept returning energy for energy, kicking out a no-microphones-needed chant of “I remember every word you said!” Even with a guarded barrier 5 feet from the stage, the audience demanded to be a part of the show, and the band was only too happy to oblige. After 2 back-to-back songs, it was apparent that this was a band that wanted to prove something. Even the mellower tunes, like “All of Us,” came pounding out with a volume-equals-intensity style that was compelling, infectious, and a downright joy-fest. The Celtic midi-strains of “Shekina…” Oh my gosh, it perfectly set the mood for this mid-set show stopper. Christian took time in their set to talk seriously about AIDS in Africa and their cooperation with the World Vision organization. While his speech could use a lil’ brushing up, it’s great to see a band embrace a cause that’s helping people out in tangible ways. When people sponsor kids with orgs like that, it really puts hands and feet to the Lord we follow.

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Visually, Christian, Simon, and Tomas were all over the stage. This band must be seen at this explosive season in their career, as they only seem to be improving on an already fabulous sound. P.O.D. enjoyed the same kind of roaring welcome and they kicked into “Boom,” and it was as if old friends had returned after being away for a year or two, but only seeming like yesterday as the familiar chorus pounded into every ribcage in the room. The sound was clearly better on the floor and up close, as opposed to the balcony level that sounded more distorted. Sonny has taken his disarming campaign to be one with his audience to new levels (if that were possible) by simply spending almost the majority of his time in or on the audience. At one point in “Alive” he simply dropped the mic into the crowd and let them figure out the chorus. This brave (or crazy?) act wasn’t even needed during the always haunting “Youth Of The Nation,” where the crowd’s singing sounded just like the album – in key and powerful. It wasn’t hard tunes like “Wildfire” and “Southtown” that reminded all present that the band was heavy – it was every song in the set. While Jason Truby’s guitar playing slightly alters the sound of familiar songs, it’s the overall oomph of the rhythm section that thunders home the P.O.D. trademark sound. While the last two albums have sported a more commercially-viable sound, this unit is still an incredibly heavy band. This adds credibility to the message. When Sonny says, “We celebrate love,” it’s spoken to an audience that is saturated with appreciation from being rocked solid for over an hour.

Cornerstone July 1 - 4 : Bushnell, IL Cornerstonefestival.com

Lifest 1 July 8 - 11 : Oshkosh, WI Lifest.com

Sonshine Festival 1 July 15 - 17 : Wilmar, MN Sonshinefestival.com

Creation West 1 July 21 - 24 : George, WA Gospelcom.net/creation

Hellfest 2 July 23 - 25 : Elizabeth, NJ Hellfest.com

Hoi Polloi Aug 5 - 8 : Denver, CO Hoipolloifest.com

Rock the Desert August 20 - 22 : Midland, TX Rockthedesert.com

Purple Door August 20 - 21 : Lewisberry, PA Purpledoor.com

More Contemporary leanings

Many Christian artists, not a speciﬁc Christian event

5/24/2004 10:32:28 PM

Morrow Metal Report Oratorio For those who feel Christian metal has become watered down and that few bands boldly proclaim the Gospel, there is still hope in Rivel Records’ newest band, Oratorio. ¶ Oratorio hail from Finland and was formed in early 1998. After recording two demos in 1999, the band progressed from hard rock to a faster, more melodic heavy metal style. In 2001, the band signed to Little Rose Productions. Unfortunately, the label folded before the band was able to enter the studio and record. To make a long story short, the band signed to Rivel Records in 2003 and has finally released its first full length, The Reality of Existence. The album brings to the table a sound reminiscent of bands such as Stratovarius, Sentenced, and Children of Bodom. Reviews from secular press have been great. The band recorded at Finnvox studios, which has hosted such bands as Sonata Arctica and Stratovarius. ¶ With such a strong sound (both musically and production-wise) you’d figure the band would be getting attention from many of the bigger secular record labels. However, after the Little Rose misfortune, Oratorio only pursued one label: Rivel. Guitarist, Thomas Mata Eriksson explains, “I sent our non-mastered album to Christian Rivel and after a few days he called me and wanted to sign us in to his label. After short negotiations we signed the deal and the album was released in Finland, and later in many countries around the world. Rivel Records is not a big label, but Christian Rivel is really into Christian music. He is a man with a clear vision of spreading the Gospel, and therefore our interests are equal. We figured out that this was the best solution for us because our lyrics are full of the message of God and we do not want to compromise with that.” Check out oratoriometal.com for more info on this promising new band.

Sympathy The last time Sympathy made an appearance in the pages of HM, the world had just been knocked on its backside in response to the album Invocation. Just when we’re getting back on our feet, this one-man band is set to kick us back down again...and harder. ¶ Derek From, the lone member of Sympathy, and his new release, Arcane Path, has been unleashed on Fear Dark Records. No amount of advance warning aids in preparation for the assault that follows. From explains, “Well, production-wise, Arcane Path is light-years ahead of Invocation. I really can’t think of any musical element that doesn’t sound better this time around...My goal, when I write Sympathy songs, is for them to sound like an onslaught of barely controlled chaos. I really like taking things in that musical direction, and I don’t have any plans to change that.” ¶ Another area From feels has improved is the drumming... although not how he planned. While Sympathy uses a drum machine, the use of a human drummer was close to From’s grasp. “Shannon Frye, from Avenger of Blood (ex-Vengeance Rising, ex-Tortured Conscience), was going to drum for Arcane Path, but things just never really worked out for that to

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happen. Too bad, I think that would have been great.” ¶ While the real drummer didn’t work out, the rest of the news for Sympathy is nothing but blue skies. First, the “band” was highly praised for Invocation by mainstream mags, BW&BK and Metal Maniacs. Secondly, their label Fear Dark has secured many distro and licensing deals for their products with many different companies since Sympathy’s last release. That gives From many more chances to get his album into the hands of metalheads everywhere. Finally, From was able to get Kris Verwimp to do the artwork for Arcane Path, and two members of Into Eternity played some guitar on the album. To ﬁnd out more about Sympathy check out realmofdisease.com or go to Fear Dark’s site at fear-dark.com.

Frosthardr To use the words of a wise man: “Put us on the cover, or you’ll never see your mother…again!” ¶ If you’ve seen pictures of the guys in Frosthardr with their long hair, spikes, tattoos, and multiple piercings, you’d think a comment like that might scare HM’s bossman into putting this band on the cover of the mag. But the boss is much too experienced to be scared by a little-known extreme metal band from Norway, especially when you ﬁnd out that the band is actually a bunch of very friendly guys with a great sense of humor. ¶ Regardless of their reputation or popularity, Frosthardr is starting to make huge waves within the Christian metal scene with their new EP release, Maktesløs. The album is a hybrid of old school and melodic black metal with inﬂuences of death, thrash, rock, and even some industrial. And despite its short twentysix minute length, it will leave you gasping for breath upon its completion. ¶ The band began in 1997 and in 2002 they recorded a two-song demo called Necrodisaster 2002. In 2003, they signed with Momentum Scandinavia and in early 2004 they released their EP, Maktesløs. The album was recorded little by little on the weekends in the studio of the band Arvinger. Peter Dalbakk (vocalist of Schaliach and Vardøger) did the mixing and Samuel Durling of Endtime Productions did the fabulous artwork. Morton of Antestor/Vaakevandring also assisted them on synths. ¶ The band has also recently played Nordic Fest 2003 and the Elements of Rock festival in Switzerland, sharing the stage with bands like Veni Domine, Extol, Crimson Moonlight, Immortal Souls, Slechtvalk, and others. ¶ With a killer new EP, a great record label, and a rapidly spreading popularity, the future looks very bright for this band of talented Norwegians. Maybe next time around they’ll see a cover appearance on HM. After all, I think I’ll start missing my mom by then. Check out frosthardr.com or momentumscandinavia.com for more info on the band. You can also purchase their EP at blastbeats.com or nordicmission.net.

5/24/2004 10:33:57 PM

META L 21

RE-ISSUES

LIBERTY N’ JUSTICE With a line-up that reads like a Who’s Who of early 90’s Christian metal guest vocalists, Liberty N’ Justice have put the ﬁnishing touches on its Welcome To The Revolution album. 18 tracks showcase throats like Michael Sweet, Scott Wenzel, John Schlitt, Lou Gramm (Foreigner), Dale Thompson, Jamie Rowe, and more. While none of the cuts could be construed as the best any of these stars have recorded, some had songs handed to them that ﬁt their vocal styles well (like Jamie Rowe and Ken Tamplin). The only drawback to any of the tunes include a few rap vocal sections that hearken back to the days of 1991 when a few metal bands were (unfortunately) trying their hand at rap. Ah well, it only happens a handful of times.

VENGEANCE

The folks at Roxx Productions (who pulled off last year’s Extreme Metal Mardis Gras in SoCal) have done it again. This time it’s a Vengeance reunion (with an as-yet-unnamed vocalist). We caught up with guitarist Larry Farkas recently and got the lowdown: Is the band getting back together for more than a show? “If God wills it, I’m ready right now. Me and Doug have talked about it and we’re going to work on some riffs. It all depends on whether it’s supposed to happen. Bill has a compilation he wants to put out. I would like to do that. We’re starting to write some ideas.”

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What kind of sound might we expect? “We worked on some songs that would have been on Destruction Comes. Doug wanted to do something like System of a Down. Glen wants to do what we would be doing now if we were still together. I would imagine it’d be similar to Once Dead. I’d still like to write some stuff in some low tunings and some stuff with some speed behind it. But everyone’s getting pretty old and might not be able to play it anymore!” Will Roger Martinez be singing? “I would love for Roger to come up there and do the songs with us, I really would. I’d love for Roger to be the guy up there to do that. He said he’d get up there, but he can’t be responsible for what he would say. That’s what he told George. So we wouldn’t even get into playing any songs, he’d just start right away, you know what I mean? I don’t think he’ll be playing with us. I just hope the best for him. I’d like to see him. I’ve never thought that Roger was a lost cause, bro. I hope not.”

Retroactive Records has been busy with plenty of re-issues. To ﬁll out the Daniel Band catalog, they’ve pressed Rise Up and Running Out Of Time on a single disc. Valor, a Bay Area metal group that came from the ashes of Golgotha, have been pressed onto one disc as well, featuring Valor’s Fight For Your Life and Golgotha’s Prisoner albums. While not extensive, the liner notes offer some historical perspective. Another gem the label packaged up nicely is the experimental (at the time) bubble gum metal of Electrik. The Shine Candy Shine and LoveBuzzHarmony demoes are all digitized here, along with two bonus tracks recorded last year (!). This SoCal outﬁt married overthe-top image with melodic metal in an age where style mattered way too much. Resurrection Band’s Colours album was an early Christian hard rocker that showed the band tilting just between hard rock and metal (predating Stryper by 4 years). Two of the earliest Christian metal albums also see the digital light of day – Feel The Fire and Little Foxes by Barnabas (on one disc). If you’re behind in your history, catch up now before these limited edition re-issues are gone.

5/24/2004 10:35:42 PM

New Faces

Ashton Nyte

ASHTON NYTE IS THE CREATIVE MASTERMIND OF THE AWAKENING. He calls his music, “Art-rock for intellectuals and deviants…paranormal serenity…” and “…a new drug for the fanatically sober.” If you like the sultry sounds of H-I-M or Marilyn Manson and the low-end doomy vocals of Type O Negative, you will fall in love with this gothic import from South Africa. “I attempt to make honest music which somehow reflects where I am when creating it,” explains Nyte. “Hopefully music people can relate to and immerse themselves in.” Quite the prolific artist, Ashton has released 9 albums and EP’s since 1997, including his newest solo album, Sinister Swing. Ashton writes and performs all the music of The Awakening, and he’s seen the need to release solo albums simply because of the solid identity he’s created for his band. With this much art under his belt, he certainly isn’t a new face to those that have been following him for the past 7 or 8 years. But it’s about time more people discovered this artist. For starters, look no further than last year’s Sacrificial Etchings, which collects selected works from his discography, including the haunting cov-

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er of “The Sounds of Silence.” (He also does quite a menacing cover of “The Safety Dance” on Request) For those fortunate in South Africa to be familiar with his live shows (a solo tour of the US is in the works), he is a strong believer in the visual as well as musical arts. “A live performance should be a larger than life place of escapism for both artist and art lover. Being a bit of both myself means that I try to put as much as possible – budget and fire department allowing – into a live show to make it an event.” Official Discography of The Awakening: Risen (1997); Request (1998); Ethereal Menace (1999); The March EP (1999); Sentimental Runaways EP (1999); The Fourth Seal of Zeen (2000); The Fountain EP (2001); Roadside Heretics (2002); Sacrificial Etchings (2003); Darker Than Silence (June 2004). Ashton Nyte solography: The Slender Nudes (2000); Dirt Sense (2002); Sinister Swing (2003). Awakening.co.za | Ashtonnyte.com To read a full interview with Ashton Nyte, visit HMmag.com

5/25/2004 3:39:36 AM

NE W FACE S

The Golden Sounds

Bella Futuro

University

Formed in 2003, the Nashville band’s We Are The Golden Sounds EP is a reminder of how good self-produced albums can be. The Golden Sounds show glimpses of Death Cab for Cutie and The Polyphonic Spree (minus the choir effect), but deﬁnitely has its own identity forged into every song. Slow, trippy, and poetic help describe the vibe, but the band’s website bio probably says it best: its music is for “robots, lovers, and people longing for something more than what they are force-fed everyday.”

Bella Futuro is a hip-hop/indie rock project created by Ray Taddeo (MewithoutYou) Combine Saddle Creek synth bandThe Faint with some gritty, white boy rap. Ray molds his stories into a dark hip-hop confection. Part catchy, part beat breakdown, it’s a message thrown vicious. The idea is to call out lies and direct those who see the truth back towards God. And it works perfectly. He conveys a depraved and ugly society with blunt and forward realism. No word on a sophomore effort, but we’re quite sure a masterpiece is in the works. Bellafuturo.com - DA

University has caught us off guard. And it’s hard to believe its brand of rock won’t do the same for you. This young Chicago group have been stirring up a determined and addicting brand of rock all over the Northwest and are poised for a good signing. Backing Jay Rutherford’s conﬁdent and pretty vocals, is a unique mix of early Radiohead, Weezer, and even a touch of the Beach Boys you won’t want to miss. There’s no wonder why University was easily chosen to play this year’s New Band Stage at Cornerstone Illinois. Universitymusic.net - DA

Thegoldensounds.com - JW

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5/26/2004 10:48:07 AM

Mortiﬁcation

PUTTING 20 YEARS INTO ANYTHING SHOULD ALLOW A GUY A FEW OF BREAKS. MORTIFACATION BASSIST/SONGWRITER/LEAD GROWLER STEVE ROWE COULD USE SOME ABOUT NOW. The band’s twelfth studio outing, Brain Cleaner, offers with what Rowe calls “a cross-section of what Mortification has done. We have some grind and death metal. We also have some power and thrash metal.” It makes for a solid 40-odd minutes for most any fan of extreme metal. But that cover! No, Rowe wasn’t out to co-opt that quidditch-playing English kid. “People say it looks like Harry Potter,” but Rowe explains, “That was honestly, completely accidental. I sent Troy Dumire, who does our artwork, a photograph of my son looking into a big Bible with an astonished look on his face. I referenced Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade.” Beyond that, however, Rowe asserts, “People have to judge the album on the lyrics and the music, not just the cover.” Graphics might be such a grave issue if it weren’t a clique of petty anti-fans. Not only do they give Rowe grief about artwork, but for however much they may want Morty to return to the death/grind brutality of their early ‘90s opus Scrolls Of The Megilloth, they shouldn’t hold their breath. “I find it Just as really sad that a small minority of Christian metal fans has to slag me off, but guaranteed, if I had done another ten Scrolls, they would have been bored by now.” Just as he will stand by the extreme nature of his band’s Jesus metal, Rowe will readily relate the extremity of his financial woes...and that fellow Christians are responsible for most of them. “I’ve been ripped off since the beginning,” Rowe says of his late ‘80s band, Lightforce, being swindled out of $8,000 promised in their contract. Without having been paid for U.S. Christian market sales for Moty’s last four albums, “sitting here right now, I’m broke. If I get paid everything I’m owed by Christians, I’d be doing very well.” Having experience with general market labels who have issued Mortification albums, Rowe has points of comparison for how both they and his brethren in faith do business. “The statements I’ve gotten from Nuclear Blast and Metal Blade (were) very friendly to people who don’t understand legal jargon. (Christian distributor) Diamante sent out statements as well, but they always

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ended up in the minus for some reason. It just always seemed really dodgy to me,” Rowe ponders aloud as the tip of an iceberg of fiscal and emotional blame over which he may soon file litigation. As it stands, Rowe has to sell its house where his Hammer Of God recording studio resides. “The American Christian labels that have released alternative music have a lot to answer to,” says Rowe in a half-exasperuated, half prophetic. All is not lost for Rowe, however. A new general market label deal could happen soon, partially due to renewed interest in explictly Christian art thanks to The Passion Of The Christ. And as a blessing from the leukemia he suffered in the ‘90s, Rowe’s athletic future looks bright. “I’m really, really interested in getting involved in sport again.” Rowe says about his track & field involvement in the Paralympic competitions for disabled athletes (the cancer left him needing a cane to walk). Those breaks look to be happening right on time. By Jamie Lee Rake

6/1/2004 5:01:48 PM

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5/24/2004 12:43:13 PM

Cool Hand Luke By Chris Estey

“We take our music and our faith very seriously,” Nicks says, “and we want the music that we create to be powerful and thought-provoking. Any time we write music, we want it to be intense rather than just nice and entertaining. I think, however, because all of the songs were written during a small frame of time, the record is a bit more focused thematically. We got off the road, and I knew where I was and what I was going to draw from to write lyrics. At the same time, nothing was too deliberate as far as songwriting goes. We just prayed a lot and sat down to see what God would do.”

“I wouldn’t say that we are taking off in a completely new direction, but I think our sound has grown a bit,” Cool Hand Luke vocalist/drummer/pianist Mark Nicks humbly offers. But one listen to the gorgeous tension-fi lled sound setting of “Skydive,” the startling opening track to their new album The Fires of Life, somewhat contradicts this. And dramatic tracks like “I’m Not Running” and “The Zombie Song” confirm the band’s developing maturity – and deepening love.

One thing that has recurred for the sophomore Fires is the use of Steve Hindalong as producer again, bringing back the same ﬂuidly creative and texture-tender skills the multi-talented Choir drummer used on their national debut and the award-winning City On A Hill praise-concept album. “We absolutely love working with him, so he was our ﬁrst choice for this record,” Nicks says. “Steve collaborates with Marc Byrd (Common Children) on a lot of different projects, and he thought Marc would be good to have on board for the new record, so we all agreed. Steve and Marc are both great to work with. They really get what we’re going for and help us achieve our vision. It was also really nice to be able to work with engineer Skye McCaskey, who engineered Wake Up as well. He has a really great ear and gets great sounds.”

From Murfeesboro, Tennessee, Cool Hand Luke started life as a punk band in 1998, but has changed greatly over the years – and has also recently taken a devotedly romantic route with its music. A lot of this has to do with the spiritual themes in the content of their work – from lyrics based on human heartbreak and spiritual struggle written, crafted and achingly delivered by CHL.

It’s easy to see the mutual attraction between these artful elder studio craftsmen and Cool Hand Luke - while not sounding like Jeff Buckley, Nicks is able to channel the same stream of restrained or intense passion that the ill-fated 90s singer-songwriter had, and it’s this kind of deeper performance that Hindalong has excelled in cultivating in his own career as musician and producer.

The distinction is that it is all about divine love.

“We were able to judge a lot of things by their ﬁrst impressions,” Nicks continues. “They got stoked about songs we didn’t think they would. As soon as they heard our songs they were immediately having ideas, and we all just had a lot of discussion. There was a little more tension this time around than on the last record just because most of the songs we were recording were brand new and some of the parts weren’t set in stone. We all had different ideas for what direction certain parts were supposed to take, but they all ended up just as they were supposed to. We never felt like Steve and Marc were stepping on our toes or telling us what to do or anything of that nature. One of the main reasons you have a producer in the ﬁrst place is to have an outside opinion of someone who can listen objectively and offer advice. If they just agreed with everything the whole time there would be no point in them being there – and our record would be six times as long.”

Over a year ago Cool Hand Luke released Wake Up, O Sleeper and Nicks admits that it was more straight “praise-oriented” than their new Floodgate album, The Fires of Life. “The (new) songs are a bit darker musically than before,” Nicks asserts. “We are a different band and we are in a different chapter in our personal lives and our life as a band, and I think that is reﬂected in the lyrics and music.” Love for Christ and wishing to live the Christian life is ubiquitous in any commentary about or from Nicks and the other two primary musicians who make up Cool Hand Luke – recent addition on guitar but longtime friend Chris Susi and founding member Brandon Morgan on bass – as the band gets ready to drop the album just before summer and hit the road through fall.

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If there is one band that seems to have controversy follow them wherever they go, then Norway’s Antestor would probably receive the prize. The band was conceived about 15 years ago and they have become one of the most loved groups in the Christian extreme metal scene, but also one of the most hated in both secular – and Christian – circles. Having released a demo in 1991 titled The Defeat of Satan and a demo in 1993 titled Despair, the band received staunch opposition from the satanic black metal movement. Playing their own brand of, as they called it – sorrow metal, the band brought the light of Christ into some of the darkest places and hearts in that time in history. They then proceeded to release their next album, The Return of the Black Death, on Cacophonous Records, who boasted evil bands like Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir on their roster. After the release of Martyrium (actually recorded in 1994) in 2000 on Endtime Productions, the band was quiet for a while. Now in 2004, Antestor has stormed back with a vengeance! The band has just released a new EP called Det Tapte Liv and they’ve already recorded a full length that will be unleashed later in the year. The only remaining members are Vemod (guitar) and Gard (bass). The other members include Sigmund on synths and Vrede (ex-Vaakevandring) on vocals. And to round things out, they have Jan Alex Blomberg aka Hellhammer on drums. Right now you might be saying, “Isn’t this the guy that’s played with bands like Mayhem, Kovenant, Immortal, and Arcturus?” Well, the answer is yes. And this decision has some on both sides of the fence in an uproar. Vrede explains the de-

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cision to use Hellhammer: “Actually we started to list down the best drummers in Norway and planned to call them one by one to see who could help us out. Number one on the list was Hellhammer. He is a professional drummer, and he didn’t care if we had a Christian profile. He has known about Antestor from the start and has always known what we stood for. But I guess that Hellhammer fans up through the years are pretty much in shock over who he has played with this time.” As if using Mayhem’s drummer wasn’t enough, the band recorded their two new albums where Mayhem recorded in the past: Børge Finstad (Top Room Studios). The controversy doesn’t stop there, though. One of the reasons the band has been looked down upon among Christians is their use of corpse paint in photos and during live shows. Vrede clarifies, “We are discussing this issue right now. At Bobfest in Sweden we played with corpse paint, although I don’t think that we were supposed to. The corpse paint makes us the most hated band in the Christian scene sometimes. So it’s kind of fun. But to come back to your question, it’s not settled yet.” The band is now officially on Endtime Productions and plans on staying there. The

question is, now that they are on a respectable label and have recorded two new releases, what do they sound like after all these years and lineup changes? Vrede explains, “Our fans should not expect a reprise of The Return of the Black Death. Antestor has moved on in some ways, and has become much more professional in sound, music, and wholeness. It will be like nothing you’ve heard before, but it will still have that Antestor feeling.” With all the ups and downs and controversy, I asked Vrede what one thing he would change about Antestor. “Our reputation. If we didn’t have the Christian sticker attached to us as hard as we have, we would have reached more people who need God more than Christians do. The purpose of Antestor is to guide people closer to the question: ‘Is Jesus my true Savior?’ It’s also to make music strongly connected with the Spirit, but with as much originality as possible.” When we look back at 2004, many metal fans will say they remember it as the year Antestor reclaimed the throne as Christian metal’s kings. One they never really gave up. –Matt Morrow

5/24/2004 10:43:22 PM

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It’s not often that a band can marry a visual concept with its music and create an entity that’s bigger than both. The minimalist aesthetic of Sigur-Ros comes to mind, as does the cold and futuristic packaging of all things Nine Inch Nails. Add Demon Hunter to that short list.

he brass-hinged book style packaging of their debut was good, and the intimidating vibe of Summer of Darkness is brilliant. Clad in 1940s garb and set in the deep backwoods, these five gentlemen stand around their hearse looking as if they really are out hunting demons. If another remake of The Blair Witch Project were undertaken, the members of this outfit look much better prepared to capture the supernatural villain than do a bunch of film school students. In the image-conscious world of entertainment, much less all things metal, Demon Hunter has skillfully pulled off the nearly impossible task of being considered cool in such a short amount of time. If the death of commercial hair metal taught the music world anything, however, it was that image is one thing; but substance is another. The thing that helped Demon Hunter, but drove the critics crazy, was the pre-release hype that surrounded this band with secret identities and a rumored roster that picked from TFU, Zao, and Living Sacrifice. By the time the self-titled debut came out on Solid State Records, everyone inside and many of those outside of the Christian hard music scene had heard the name Demon Hunter. With a surprising mixture of melody and chaos, those first ten songs quickly put to rest questions of style over substance. When they hit the road last summer with Extol and The Agony Scene, they drove a nail in the coffin of doubt, so to speak. Frontman Ryan Clark often sported a shirt with bold typeface that read “G-I-M-M-I-C-K” across the front, a tongue-in-cheek response to critics who dismissed the band as so much contrived nonsense. Not to be one who takes himself too seriously, he discloses, “It’s kind of being ironic, I guess. Wearing that is kind of saying, ‘Even though that’s not what we are, I’m not afraid of those kind of speculations.’ It was kind of after people had realized that we were pretty serious, so it was kind of just like saying, ‘Remember what you used to think of us?’ “I think the imagery behind the band is really strong and I think that has a lot to do with the fact that a lot of us are designers. But I’d hope that with the imagery taken out of the picture that the band could stand on its own, musically. I’d like to think that it’s not just a band that revolves around the imagery or anything like that. I think a lot of people thought it was a joke from the get-go and I don’t even think we knew what to expect when we first conceived the whole idea of a band. But, as time went on, things started clarifying, falling into place. Now that we’re at this stage, it’s just more of a legit band for us. And we’re kind of doing our best to extinguish any ideas that it might just be that kind of band.”

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COV ER STORY

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A close look at the band reveals that they’re anything but simple; and more than just an angry metal band. They’re almost a study in contrasts. For example, Ryan Clark is not your typical heavy metal dude. Yes, his voice sounds tough as nails. Yes, he can snarl and intimidate with his stare. But impress you with tales of debauchery, abandonment, and a life of crime on the streets (all before Christ, of course)? Not this guy. Raised in a Christian home by good parents, this pastor’s kid doesn’t have the ghosts of his past driving him. Now look at his drummer, Jesse Sprinkle. Judging by his thunderous sound, you’d think he was a brute-force killer; but a gentler musician would be hard to find. So how do these meek souls wreak havoc on the hard music community? Call it a passionate love for music. Or, as Ryan would admit, call it musical fanaticism. These guys have been around music for years, took some time off, and were ready to pounce when they formed a band together. “We wanted to get back into making music, cause it had just been too long since we had done that. We were kind of itching to do something. When we were hanging out and joking around and talking about band names, this one came up. We just kind of felt to ourselves that this name had it. It makes people laugh or smile. There’s definitely mixed reactions about it – especially in telling people that aren’t in the scene the name of your band, people at church or extended family, or when you’re crossing the border at Canada and they ask the name of your band. You get all kinds of looks. We knew it was unique enough to maybe do something with. Once we thought of that name, we were like, ‘Man, let’s just finally do the band that we wanted to do, and that will be the name, and if nothing else it’s a name that sticks in your head.’” Critics hypothesized that the band was started as simply a Slipknot knockoff, but the band’s goals (and resultant sound) were much different. “Our goal when we started was we wanted to create the music we felt was missing in this scene. We always loved bands that mixed the heavy and melodic – in less of a modern, screamo way and more of early-to-mid-90s . . . kinda like what a lot of the Roadrunner bands were doing – Sepultura and Machine Head, Prong, (and) Pantera. We’d always been huge fans of those bands. As far as Solid State bands and bands that we were friends with, there weren’t a lot of bands doing that. It was either just straight-on metal or a hardcore approach or the extreme opposite, which would be just total pop – a pop rock band. We wanted to do something kinda… it had pop sensibilities but was still really heavy. Kind of what we always wanted to do, essentially, even in Training (the band, Training for Utopia)… We were always kind of dissatisfied with what we were doing and there wasn’t a real feeling of fulfillment a lot of the times. The feelings are totally different with this newer stuff.” Summer of Darkness does show development in the band’s sound, but definitely the same direction of wedding melody and chaos. Put it this way: the first album was written in a month’s time with band members gathering to write songs “maybe a couple hours a week,” so it was an experiment that worked. “We didn’t write it with a drummer or with singing or anything. We pretty

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much wrote the guitar part and then I wrote (lyrics) and pretty much everything fell into place in the studio. And that was a time when everything was real up in the air as far as what direction the band was going to be taking and things like that. It was pretty much in the studio for that first record when the clarity of what we were going to be doing started to take form. With this newer record, it was definitely more of a planned thing…we kind of had set out to do something specific; (and) we tried to nail it.” Nailing it live is an important consideration for the band as well. And here they keep it raw when choosing between energy and studio replication. Like their classical music cousins, the various parts of Demon Hunter often act in simple but symphonic ways, like calculated rests between riffs, parts, and instruments. A kid in his bedroom, for instance, could learn the parts from these songs, but it won’t amount to much until it fits in with the other parts of the band and taking its full shape. Dialing in just the right sounds certainly helps, to which the band quickly credits producer Aaron Sprinkle. “Since we’ve been practicing for this upcoming tour and everything, the songs in and of themselves aren’t extremely technical or difficult cause we like to keep a simplicity to it that just keeps it raw, but we’ve always liked hearing those little breakdowns and intros and incorporating electronics and effects and things like that – the little ear candy. Aaron’s got a great ear for that kind of thing. Sometimes we just sit back and let him go at it and other times we will have a specific idea of what we want to go on at certain parts…but we’re just a sucker for that kind of thing, like those little bits and pieces, the little details of things that you just hear in headphones.” Between this album and last the band has brought in new guitarist Kris McKadden, original lead vocalist for Embodyment who like the Clark brothers also took time off from music to pursue his successful career in graphic design. They’ve also hired Jon Dunn as the live bassist (Ryan played most of the bass on the album). Three guest vocalists were brought in just for the album, giving Summer of Darkness a “special event” feel without taking away from the overall sound they’ve crafted. “They all found a place really easily,” explains Clark. “Brock (Lindow) from 36 Crazyfists . . . he actually just lives in Portland which is really close to us. In nonDemon Hunter related work, with what we do as a day job, we deal with a lot of band guys and a lot of record labels, and we caught word that he was a fan, and we really liked the first 36 Crazyfists record, so he came up on a train and just hung out for the weekend, and did his vocals one of the nights (for the tune “Beauty Through the Eyes of a Predator”), and was really smooth. Then, actually that same weekend, Howard (Jones) was in town with Killswitch. They were on the Headbangers Ball tour, I believe, and he was also a fan. We kind of knew him from some work for Blood Has Been Shed, his other band. He just came by and threw down the vocals (for “Our Faces Fall Apart”) and we had okayed it all with Roadrunner. And then Mike (Williams)

CONT I NU ED ON PAGE

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COV ER STORY CON T I N U ED FROM PAGE

from the Agony Scene . . . after touring with them and everything we really wanted him on the record; so we just gave him a call and saw if he wanted to do that and we flew him out (for “Beheaded”). And then lastly, we are just good friends with the guys in Thousand Foot Krutch, and Trevor (McNevan) is a good friend of ours and we just talked to him early on about doing the collaboration thing. He was in and out of town working on records and things like that, so the last time that he was here he just threw that part down (“Coffin Builder”). We weren’t there when he actually did it. We kind of gave him some time to write a little part for that and everything, and he just came up with that part.”

“If you just say what you mean and not try to hide from any of it... people will respect what you have to say.”

Besides guest vocalists, Clark cites preparation as the key difference between this and the last record. “I think we had a better feel for what our options were as far as the sound of the record. For the first record, everything was really a mystery as to what it was going to end up like. A lot of the melodies I would make up in the studio . . . actually most of the melodies I made up in the studio as far as the singing goes – so everything really took shape in the studio. But then, since we had an idea of how it went making the first record, we had a better handle on the writing process. And we intentionally did more of the faster stuff; and the vocals are intentionally a little deeper as far as the screaming goes. “As far as lyrics go, again, (for) the first record, I was kind of working with a few, real vague themes, and this time around I kind of had a more solid idea of, ‘I want to talk about this, I want to tackle this, and be just a little bit more specific, a little less vague lyrically.’ After playing live and playing with a drummer, which we didn’t have a chance to do before we entered the studio for the first record, we kind of knew the capabilities of all that, and we actually, in writing the second record, we practiced as a whole band writing the stuff, so it was a different – definitely a different dynamic then just sitting in a room with a couple of guitars and writing that way.” For the monster drum sounds, Jesse Sprinkle played a custom Mlasko drum kit, made by a friend of the band, Aaron Mlasko. “He makes really epic drum kits.” The band would often use different snares for different songs. “The floor was just covered with all these different snares in the drum room that we toggled between.” As per guitars, they use Washburns, including some new and unique baritone guitars that allowed them to play in lower keys “without the strings flopping around like crazy.” For reproducing the sound live,

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Demon Hunter makes sure to bring along the right guitar cabinets and heads (Marshall’s and Mesa’s), as well as only dropping out the special effects they could lose without sounding too different from the record. “If we would have tried to incorporate everything that was on the record, it would have got really messy, and it would have lost a lot of its intensity, because I think people would just basically be standing there, whether it was the guitar player doing backups, or if we had to play every song to the click (track) in order to have all the samples running and everything like that. I think it would have caused a pretty tense show for us and we wanted to be a little more energetic than I think that would have allowed us to be.” Anyone who saw that tour last summer can weigh in with a heavy “amen” to that choice. The shows came off as very high energy and intense, which could’ve been lost if tension or performance anxiety would’ve ruled the day over attitude and raw power. When the band rolls across the USA this Summer (with labelmates Haste The Day and Dead Poetic) audiences will be treated to a headlining show with seasoned veterans, a tighter band, a clearer focus, and a band unafraid of being labeled Christian. “It’s real easy to get jaded about (the Christian hard music scene) and to get tired of a lot of the people and things involved with it. But after years of trying to run from it, and run from what all was involved with the scene, you just see a lot of your friends and your peers and fans getting real tweaked-out by the scene, and by things that go on in the scene. There’s definitely a lot of things about the Christian music scene that are so far off from just the music scene in general. It’s not a perfect scene by any means. But I’ve just found that after kind of trying to hide from being a ‘Christian band’ that there’s just no use in it, because there’s always going to be the fans that . . . the Christian fans that think you’re not Christian enough because you say you aren’t a Christian band, that you’re just Christian guys in band, so you’re getting attacked by those fans. And then there’s the fans that are not Christian who know . . . who aren’t dumb enough to think that you’re not Christians cause they know that you’re on a primarily Christian label, and they can read between the lines of the lyrics and things like that. When you put yourself in the middle like that and you kind of sit on the fence between the two, you’re really just setting yourself up to have more and more fans and potential fans kind of against you. And I’ve just figured out after doing it for a while that if you just say what you mean and not trying to hide from any of it, that you’ll actually . . . people that are non-Christians will respect what you have to say and the Christian kids don’t have anything to say as far as your stance, they’re satisfied. And it’s not about making everyone happy, but it actually works out that the people can understand you if you’re a little less vague and little more straightforward. And for us we’re just tired of saying we’re just Christian guys in a band or whatever. Like, if you want to call us a Christian band, fine. Like, we’re Christians, my lyrics are based on my Christian viewpoints and things like that, so if there has to be a label for it, you know, I’d rather it be Christianity than anything else.”

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Z AO

THE NEW ZAO AS AN ARTIST STRIVES TO EXPRESS HIMSELF – OR SIMPLY WANTS TO BE HEARD, HIS ATTEMPT IS MET WITH STRUGGLE. By David Allen with an illustration by Chuck Anderson

As an artist strives to express himself – or simply wants to be heard, his attempt is met with a struggle: discovering how to shape an idea into his version of reality. Creativity exists within that struggle. It is given life when new ideas and approaches are produced to solve problems. But, to make sure the solution retains a sense of individuality, he has to travel the path of passion and inject a slant only he may see. It’s a delicate process ﬁlled with ups and downs.

“You don’t understand how awesome it feels to have no tension, no weirdness. Everybody loves each other and there’s never ever a problem. I mean, you have enough tension being on the road and being in a band. You don’t need personal tension to inflict on that. When you’ve got five guys trying to work at something together, if you’ve got anybody outside of the circle it’s just going to mess things up. This is the first time that circle is completely strong.”

So how does one (or more) who has completed the process many times, achieve a higher level of satisfaction… how does one fully investigate his own passions – discovering a direction that compels him – and, at the same time, create a body of work that communicates and does so eﬀectively?

So the good side of past dramatics is that you appreciate it not existing now?

“More effort,” Scott responds, “bigger and better effort.” This, Zao’s seventh full length, has been crafted with a varied and experienced mindset. “Not that we didn’t care before, but this time there were certain expectations we held ourselves to while making this record. We definitely tried harder than ever… a pure Zao record from start to finish. I think all of the past records were almost thrown together. Some of it wasn’t worked on as much as it should have been. But this time, we took the songs and worked on them with all we have. This time, we basically slaved to make sure there weren’t any odd mess-ups.” It wasn’t the Zao of old showing up to the studio. Where past sessions had been completed in a matter of weeks, this album took months. “Striving for such a high standard made the studio time more stressful in one sense, but it was a lot more fun because… well, there just wasn’t the tension that existed before.” Welcome to the new Zao. Be it occurring in increments or all at once, the outcome of creativity remains highly dependant on both the internal and external circumstances surrounding it. When clouds of confusion and distraction surrounded the Zao camp of old, the negative environmental influences resulted in a dramatic display of on again/ off again instability. But everything has changed. With its new drummer and bassist, past chaos seems to have disappeared completely.

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“Exactly.” “I think with this lineup we are finally stabilized – we don’t want it to change. And we want to record and be on the road. I definitely think we have a good four or five more records in this band. We’ve done more than that so far and we’re not slowing down yet. Finally, we have the personnel that we can do that with. We’d love to go as far as we can go with it.” To add to the new formed stability, Zao has encircled itself with a powerfully supportive record label. “For Zao, Solid State did the best they could with what they had. Now, being on Ferret, there’s an overall understanding that this record is as important to them as it is for us. We’ve seen ads for it everywhere and on the business end of it, all the decisions we are making reflect a chosen direction. We’re both working together very hard and it’s awesome to see a label do that and be so family oriented.” So what about the new album… the final product? It has to be a step farther when so much hard work and positive influence has been put into it. “Definitely. We were all doing this for the same goal. And this time we tried hard to be open about recording and go for something different. You know, not try to sound like everything else we’ve done. It’s a concept album. The concept didn’t come until after a couple of songs were written - we’ll make sure to get into more detail later – but I can say that by focusing on the mood…things just fell into place.” What, with all the hard work, group communication, studio time, relationship building and manpower put into its new creation… it’s no wonder “things just fell into place.”

6/1/2004 5:03:27 PM

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5/24/2004 1:07:13 PM

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6/1/2004 5:07:24 PM

BRO DA NIE L SON

“Humble brother is more what I’ll accept,” Daniel Smith says with a dismissive laugh when I suggest that he has become like a “godfather” to a burgeoning and highly respected creative community that stretches from American coast to coast. by Jason Dodd

Half-Handed Cloud, Jai Agnish, Soul-Junk, Woven Hand – pretty much all of the acclaimed Asthmatic Kitty Records and Sounds Are Active rosters share a spiritual and working connection to Smith, his renowned band the Danielson Famile, his home studio in New Jersey, and his Secretly Canadianbacked Sounds Familyre record label. Not to mention the recently crowned much-ado-about-something indie rock darling Sufjan Stevens, who we have been trying to tell you about for years, and whose recent Smith produced records, Michigan (Asthmatic Kitty/Sounds Familyre) and Seven Swans (Sounds Familyre), are currently being slobbered over relatively en masse worldwide. And while the 32-year-old Smith is usually humbly confident and forthright when discussing his own music, he nervously eschews credit for inspiring and fostering the aforementioned artists. “Really, I’m just honored to know these people … and honored to be playing with them and connected,” Smith continues. “And pretty much my idea was that I would just use whatever opportunities I’ve been given and granted through Danielson … to help these friends. I feel like anything that’s coming out of them is stuff that’s in them. I mean, I see myself as being equally inspired by John (Ringhoffer), or Sufjan, or Glenn (Galaxy), or David Edwards – their songwriting, or them as people. I don’t know, I just don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the leadership aspect of it.” And, sure, Smith is right – the artistic cadre in question is very much a spiritual and intellectual commonwealth that developed organically, but one has to wonder if it would exist today without Smith hovering at its center. Like Smith, his fellows are misfits, after all, idealists, dreamers, and innocents formerly drifting in unconnected obscurity. And it makes sense that Smith became a magnet to pull them together, much like he did in creating the Danielson Famile out of brothers, sisters, and a childhood friend. It all started with a goth band. “I think I was probably fifteen,” Smith recalls. “You know, some high school

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band where we would practice in a garage or something. I think we were called Sarcophagus Relief.” Smith laughs knowingly at the old moniker and adds, “That’s pretty good, right?” I ask what happened between Sarcophagus Relief and Danielson. “I started listening to a lot more music I think,” Smith says with a chuckle. “I got out of Bauhaus and started listening to Half Japanese or something, Sonic Youth probably.” He also went off to art school after high school, where he recorded his first album as Danielson for his senior thesis, A Prayer For Every Hour. Then it was on to the Jesus People USA commune in Chicago (the folks who put on Cornerstone Festival) for some soul-searching. “I went for a period of about five months,” Smith remembers. “I had finished up art school … and I was living in my parents’ basement. And then I was just really sick of … myself, number one. I was sick of the whole ego trip that art school celebrates, and had that last year gone through a pretty exciting spiritual realization, and through that came this artwork and this Prayer For Every Hour album. So, basically I was really frustrated about Christian culture and the lack of what I considered artistic integrity at the time. “I hadn’t really listened to Christian music at all since I was.… I think when I was twelve I listened to Christian music for one year, because my dad made me. And then at the end of the year he told me I didn’t have to listen to Christian music anymore, because it was awful. Although, I have to say that one year I did see Larry Norman live, and he was amazing. But everything else I didn’t like. “So, I hadn’t really grown up on Christian music at all, so I went to JPUSA with all my various favorite records, but didn’t really care very much. Because, like I said, I was kind of sick of a lot of things. I just wanted to go and help

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5/24/2004 6:22:15 PM

BRO DA NIE L SON

people. I wanted to start living this thing that I had gotten excited about again. And I was satisfied that my record was done, and I just didn’t know what was going to happen with it. So, I just went out to JPUSA and put my album in a drawer and didn’t touch it for a couple months, and just cleaned toilets and fed the homeless and did dishes and all that stuff. And it was just really great. “And then there was this day I just felt like the Lord said, ‘Alright, send these cassettes out to your favorite labels.’ So, I sent them out to a bunch of labels – Homestead and Caroline and Drag City, and all these labels that I liked. And then I sent one to Tooth & Nail, who I had just heard about when I was at JPUSA.” Smith didn’t receive any responses, until, as legend goes, Seattle folk rocker Damien Jurado brought the tape to Tooth & Nail owner Brandon Ebel’s attention. “And then Brandon called me up, and he said, ‘Who are you?’” Smith recalls with a laugh. “And it was pretty funny, because there were a bunch of people on the line, like, ‘Who is this crazy guy?’ So, I was excited, obviously.” Smith’s primary concern was that T&N was a Christian label. He didn’t mind being distributed in Christian bookstores, but he wanted to make sure his records would be in “local indie rock shops.” Luckily, T&N had secured Caroline distribution for just such reasons, so in 1995 A Prayer For Every Hour was released, “and made a lot of people in the Christian music industry mad,” Smith laughs. Despite a decidedly obtuse and cold welcoming from the Christian music realm, Danielson quickly began reaping accolades from CMJ and indie rock sectors for his peculiar, innovative, and well crafted art pop gospel songs and childlike falsetto and spirit. Smith moved home to Jersey and cemented his family’s participation in the band, renaming it the Danielson Famile. He proceeded to record his second album for T&N, 1997’s Tell Another Joke At The Ol’ Choppin’ Block, a record of biting, joyful, creepy songs (the oddly comforting “Smooth Death” being its standout single). “I’m very proud of that album,” Smith reflects. “I feel like it’s something that was very much the beginning of Chris (Palladino, childhood friend) being involved, and my family being involved in a bigger way. [It’s] much more of a concise album, and combined with recording with Kramer, who for me was just a hero … it was pretty magical.” Chopping Block was a smashing critical success, and the Famile’s exuberant, colorful live show, complete with costumes and spontaneous audience revelry, attracted a devoted following. But Smith wasn’t satisfied, and he set out to expand his vision even further with the experimental Tri-Danielson series, which consisted of two full-lengths, 1998’s Alpha and 1999’s Omega. “To me, that’s one giant album,” Smith comments, “and released separately because there was a lot to digest. But [Tri-Danielson] was very much a reaction, because I refused to make another Chopping Block, which a lot of people wanted me to do. And I very much wanted to kind of explode things, so to speak, and have a lot of different things happening in the same body of work.”

“At first [the band] was called just Danielson, and that was mostly just myself,” Smith explains. “And then with Chopping Block, that’s where Chris joined on. And still I was writing all the songs and having pretty clear direction on things, but at the same time it was becoming a band slowly. And after that album I realized that there were wonderful things happening now as the Famile, but at the same time I needed to establish this idea that there’s other sides of Danielson.” Having accepted that the Danielson Famile segment of Danielson was to be a band collaboration from then on, and having completed his contract with T&N, Smith began co-writing songs with Palladino and the Famile for 2001’s Fetch the Compass Kids on new label home Secretly Canadian. Recorded with Steve Albini, it turned out to be the band’s most dynamic, cohesive record yet. “I see Prayer For Every Hour as an explosion, and then I see Chopping Block as a refining,” Smith theorizes. “Tri-Danielson is a giant explosion, and Fetch The Compass Kids is taking some of those bits and refining things in a direction. And then the new Brother Danielson album is taking other bits from the explosion of Tri-Danielson and refining things.” Brother Danielson is another segment of Danielson conceived with TriDanielson. It is not so much a solo project as songs over which Smith maintains complete control. The first full-length release (Smith put out a twosong 7” as Brother Danielson last winter) from Brother Danielson is called Brother is to Son, and came out on Secretly Canadian in June of this year. Interestingly enough, it is with this, Smith’s most privately conceived project since Prayer For Every Hour, that we see the full blossom of the community that grew around him since the day almost ten years ago when he set out alone for Chicago to find himself. The overwhelmingly talented and loving extended family he was blessed with, and all the records he produced and put out on Sounds Familyre, or in conjunction with Asthmatic Kitty – Ringhoffer, Galaxy, Stevens, Palladino, his father Lenny, his brothers and sisters, his wife Elin, his daughters – they are all on this record in aural presence or spirit. “Yeah, everybody’s playing on the record, and then some, probably more than even on the Famile records,” Smith confirms. “But again, compared to the recent Famile album and the albums to come, there’s a single voice, so to speak, on this album, and it’s a single identity. So, conceptually and practically that’s why I felt like this album had to be … you know, it’s the sixth Danielson record, but it’s the debut of the Brother Danielson. But it’s not really even a debut, because every record has contained the spirit and the song writing process, there’s just something new that’s going on.” I press Smith one more time to acknowledge some of the artistic leadership and influence he has been granted. “I don’t know, you tell me,” he says demurely. “That’s the kind of question that puts me in a position of looking around and wondering what I’ve done. I don’t really know how to do that.” I am willing to let him off the hook, and then he adds with a wry grin, “I mean, I can say, ‘Oh, look, the Polyphonic Spree’s now wearing white robes.’ “But what’s the point in saying that?”

Tri-Danielson was also the beginning of a segmentation for Danielson.

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5/26/2004 2:40:40 PM

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5/24/2004 1:12:57 PM

What Boys Night Out Says Hailing from Canada, Boys Night Out burst onto the scene with its debut album Make Yourself Sick. Extensive touring has introduced the band to the U.S where they have been received with increasing acclaim. An overwhelmingly energetic live act, its brand of catchy-yet-dark punk has been pulling in crowds and attracting a large fan base. Alternative Press took notice and made sure to include Boys Night Out in its list of “Top 100 bands for 2004.” Our editor, Doug Van Pelt jumped on the opportunity to interview guitarist Jeff Davis. Below is the transcript: Doug: Hey Jeff. How’s it going? Jeff: Pretty good. How are you?

D: Well man, I love the album, dude. J: Cool. Thank you very much.

D: You’re welcome. I think you guys did a really good job. J: Thank you. That’s cool.

D: My ear tells me that you guys are probably successful at pullin’ in both a female and a male audience. J: Uh, deﬁnitely yeah. It’s uh…never just one gender or the other, it’s pretty much like, you know, like a crowd of young girls or some dudes. Stuff like that.

D: Cool. That’s gotta be a fun place to be. J: It is man. It’s really cool. We deﬁnitely prefer playing shows like that – where we can get a younger crowd. Sometimes we’ll play, like, a hardcore show where, you know, we’re not playing heavy, all the kids can’t mosh, and they hate us. It’s cool, you know. With younger crowds it’s an actual concert.

D: Cool. So if you had to choose between the boys rockin’ out and moshing; or the girls, uh…boppin’ their heads and singin’ along, what would you choose?

D: All right. Um…I understand you’ve got a book of poetry happening? J: Oh, I…yeah. I wrote that when we were in California. I got this delivery at the door, and I got a box of these books and I didn’t know what the hell it was for and I opened it up and I was like, ‘Oh my God I have a book!’ I had no idea. It’s called Revolution on Canvas. It’s super cool. Lots of like...good poetry.

D: Awesome. So what moves you about poetry and when did you start working with words? J: Umm…good question. I started to get into it at the beginning of high school. I just started to read a lot and uh…getting into all kinds of different literature and I actually dropped out of school; but you know, I just kept reading a lot. I’d rather be at home reading than be at school wasting my time. So, I think that’s why I started writing, and I wrote stuff like that. Boys Night Out was a good creative outlet for that. So I just contribute what I can lyrically sometimes. It’s cool to be able to use it for stuff like that book.

J: Uh…seriously, I’d much rather have the girls. They’re more of a crowd, having fun, totally moving around and dancing, bob your head, you know? Just sometimes I’ve seen times where kids get hurt up front and we’re playing and like, you know . . . everyone wants to have fun, but the dudes that are moshing, you know… It happened at one show and then we stopped and told them to stop moshing ‘cause they were hurting girls and he jumped over the monitor and tried to ﬁght us. I deﬁnitely would say I’m more of a less violent person. But don’t think I don’t appreciate kids going nuts, it’s so typical…

D: Very cool. What are some authors or poets that really turn you on?

D: For sure. So take us through a day in the life of Jeff Davis.

J: No. I haven’t seen it yet.

J: On tour or at home?

D: Oh. What are your thoughts on Who Jesus is?

D: Uh…let’s go with both. Let’s start with on tour. J: Ok, I guess…I usually wake up around ten at a hotel and then I shower, (bleep) and then leave and usually drive about three hours to get to the show, and then get there, load in, do a sound check if we

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have to, and probably hang out for about four hours doing nothing, play the show then hang out doing nothing, and hop in a van, probably drive about two or three hours and then get a hotel and do it again the next day. And then uh…at home, umm…my life consists of getting’ stoned and lying in bed. (laughs)

J: Umm…authors? What’s that dude’s name . . . that dude that wrote Fight Club and Survivors? I can’t remember his name. Chuck Palahniuk. Besides poets, I don’t really know. I never actually read that much poetry, I just you know, recite the lyrics from music and I know some Shakespeare…

D: Cool. Have you seen the movie The Passion of the Christ?”

J: Oh my God, that’s a serious question, man! Uh…wow. I don’t know. I think uh…Jesus was a dude…and uh…you know…he uh…I have no idea. I could never…I’ve sort of really thought about it. I don’t really know much about it. I never got into it. About Jesus? I don’t know Him.

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D: Have you ever heard uh…if you’ve heard of this following claim uh...please respond…the claim of Christ to be, “the Way the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me?” J: What?

D: According to the Bible, Christ claimed to be the Way, the Truth and the Life and “no one comes to the Father but by Me.” What are your thoughts on that claim? J: What do I think about that?

D: Yeah. J: Uh…nothing. I don’t know dude. It isn’t really my thing.

D: What would you say were the top ﬁve to ten CDs of all time? J: Um…Guns ‘n Roses Appetite for Destruction, uh…NOFX Punk in Drublic, Pink Floyd The Wall, and…what else…uh…Shape of Punk to Come by Refused.

D: Nice answers. When the band uh…if you guys ever uh…horse around with covers, what are some of the favorite covers you guys like to launch into? J: Um…the only one we’ve ever done is “Any Way You Want It” by Journey. That’s the only cover we’ve ever done. We don’t uh…I don’t know why, we just never got into playing covers.

D: Where did you…did you record that? J: No. We never did. We just played it when the band ﬁrst started out; we played it at our ﬁrst show.

D: I would love to hear that. J: It was pretty cool.

D: Right on. The lyrics…a lot of the lyrics in this album um…not directly, but uh… in a lot of ways people could say there’s a ﬁxation on death. What’s up with that? What’s going on there? J: Um…I’d say it’s uh…it’s something we chose to start at the beginning of the band. You know, we didn’t wanna write cookie cutter like, you know, emo lyrics or writing about relationships. I just take a different look at it. Not like we’re the ﬁrst people to write about death in songs or death in relationships like Alkaline Trio (bleep). Thousands of bands have done it for sure, and we just wanted to go with it and it’s also lyrics that were violent or lyrically pretty. It’s not always literal. With me and Connor (Lovat), we use the lyrics as a catharsis, to uh…get our demons out on paper, I suppose.

D: How does it feel when you reach that point of resolution? Like after writing a song . . . and does it reoccur onstage when you’re singing the lyrics? J: Um…say that again. What’s the question?

D: Well you mentioned that it’s kinda cathartic to you guys to write some of these things out and… J: Okay, I see...it’s more just actual writing for me to, you know, make me feel better or feel good about it. Probably live it’s a whole different side. It’s deﬁnitely still cool, but it’s actually getting down and writing it and kind of recording it.

D: Uh-huh. What’s kinda the brief history of Boys Night Out? J: Um…we started in 1998 and uh...played like one show. We were all super young and uh…broke up and then I still kept writing songs and then me and Connor, um…got together, like, in 2001 and um…did a demo of two songs and then uh, made it a four-song demo. We got a new drummer, then we went and recorded an EP. Then started playin’ some shows.

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D: What’s the general consensus in the band…how’s it feel personally for you to uh…have some momentum going on with the band? J: It feels great. It feels really good. Every time we go back to the States and more kids are singin’ along and more kids coming to shows and the record’s doing pretty good, it’s just…it deﬁnitely feels really good to be able to…you know, be doing this thing that we love the most, you know – playing shows and writing music and actually, you know, me being recognized for it you know, and it’s really cool.

D: How much of a hassle is it – or is it not – to come over and play shows and to bring merch and that whole thing? J: Oh…it’s a hassle, dude. 90% of the time we’re just crossing our ﬁngers that we’re not gonna get screwed, but we have an expensive and long process and we have our merchandise where we hope they don’t ask about it most of the time. We’ve been lucky: we’ve crossed the border lots of times and never had a real problem, but uh…it takes some looking into to get it done properly.

D: So uh, what’s the scene like where you’re from and what are some of the scenes that you really dig in the States? J: Uh… the scene where we’re from is totally awesome. Deﬁnitely a top choice would be to play around New Jersey or Long Island – the area of New York. Deﬁnitely that kinda place. The shows are always awesome and like uh…there are a few places that are really good, like Detroit. We always get this awesome response. We love going back there, and…then there’s Florida, which is really cool. Then LA is awesome, too.

D: Cool. I bet Detroit’s not too far away from you guys, huh? J: Uh…Detroit’s like four hours, but it’s not that far.

D: Ok. Cool. Going back to the death fixation thing, uh…if you were somehow, God forbid, to die tonight, what would you want to do with the rest of your day today and why? J: Uh…I’d definitely spend the time in my room listening to some albums and um…I’d play guitar... I’d record something, I’d record a song that day. That’s definitely what I’d do. And then uh…I’d have a big dinner with lotsa friends and then uh, I’d get home and uh... maybe smoke a joint.

D: What album do you think you’d listen to? J: Oh, wow. Uh...I would deﬁnitely listen to Clarity by Jimmy Eat World. Uh…I don’t know anything else…Control by Pedro the Lion.

D: Ok. Cool. How would you like to be remembered? J: Um…I don’t know. As uh... a good friend and uh…that’s about it, really. If I could be remembered as a good friend then I’d be happy.

D: Cool. Have you played with any bands that have kind of a religious theme to them or Christian bands like Juliana Theory or MXPX? J: Oh. Yeah, we deﬁnitely have. Uh… Underoath. You know, there’s deﬁnitely been a lot of Christian bands we’ve played with.

D: Cool. And do you think there’s a reason for their popularity or… J: Um… there’s two things. One, you know, they’re as good as us, and a lot of Christian bands that tour are decent bands and good musicians. They’re tight and they write catchy songs, so that deﬁnitely contributes to it without even getting into them being Christians. And also, there is, like, deﬁnitely in every different scene there is these kids, Christian kids, who only listen to, like, religious punk rock and go to those shows. I’ve played a buncha times with Christian bands and it’s a whole ‘nother group of kids. But there’s that – they have that inside market.

5/24/2004 10:59:34 PM

D: Is it true that Canada has certain laws restricting religious speech, like uh… Like, in the US, there’s tons of Christian radio stations, talk shows and music, but in Canada apparently there’s not.

SO A ND SO SAYS

J: No, there isn’t at all. I think late at night there’s uh…on the local tv show there’s this Christian tv show that runs all night. When we’re driving in the States we’ll see signs that say ‘Jesus’ or other religious propaganda; and you’ll deﬁnitely never see that in Canada.

D: Why do you think that is? Why do you think they enacted those laws? J: Oh, dude. I have no idea. Maybe it’s our form of government, I mean it’s uh… somewhat different. But I don’t know. It’s more of a liberal government. It’s not something that…I don’t know, its weird.

D: That’s interesting. Do you have any predictions for the Stanley Cup this year? J: Oh man. I watched like three games of hockey in my whole life.

D: (laughs) J: No. I have no predictions for the Stanley Cup.

D: Do you have any advice for the band that’s heading out on their first tour? J: Definitely. Um… Don’t take (bleep) from anybody, ‘cause it’s gonna happen a lot on the road. People, you know, they try to screw you around. Stick to your guns and keep reminding yourself this is what you want to do with your life and this is how you want to spend your life. You know, if you really want it bad enough, then uh… keep working at it. It’ll be hard at first, but uh… it’ll get better every tour.

D: Cool. Is there any connection that you know of with your name, Jeff Davis, you know Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy? J: No, there’s no connection. There is no kind of reference there or…you know, my parents or anything.

D: That’s what I ﬁgured but I thought I’d just ask. J: Yeah.

D: Do you ever get asked about that? J: No. Never. In Canada, US history isn’t taught to us.

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5/24/2004 10:59:55 PM

For years HM ran an insightful column entitled “The Christian and Art.” Two years later, we are prepared and excited to begin it again. David Allen sat down and recorded this conversation about the direction of the new feature. It will be nice to hear what your previous goal was and what your goal will be with the new column. I was basically trying to give Christian artists a way to think about what they did with their art. Because, generally speaking, there are not a lot of theologians or teachers that address the subject of how to create art or how to think about making art that fits into Christianity or life… or whatever else. There tends to be, now more and more, people who are doing just that. But even so, there aren’t many people that are currently addressing the issue. Comparatively speaking, with all the ministers and theologians and teachers around, there aren’t a whole lot of people addressing the two together. Because most artists don’t address bringing the teaching side to the table; the more didactic side. It’s because they are normally involved in some type of symbolic approach to things. You see, symbolism doesn’t necessarily have to be broken down into some system of thought. Analyzing every movement shouldn’t have to take place, but you can experience it all along without ever being able to talk about or explain what you’re doing. Fitting that in with a completely different mindset can be difficult. As an artist, what is helpful in my own life is being able to think about this issue in a systematic way. Even if for nothing else than to just explain, as a Christian, why it’s important and why it is that God might actually call somebody to do/be an artist… why I should even approach doing art, whether it’s through music or whatever. My goal was and is to provide a beginning place for people to start thinking about art and music in the way that the Bible wants you to. I had a double major in college for awhile. I sought to fulfill my Religion major in the Religious Studies Building and my Fine Arts major in the Fine Arts Center. The problem I saw then and now see clearer is that I learned about God in the religion building and I learned about art in the art building. The two were never brought up together. Well, that’s generally true, because you’ve got two mindsets going on. There’s this theologian named David Tracy - who’s really kind of a flake - except that he understood one thing right: he said that some people think analogically, and some people think didactically. One follows a straight line thought process (A is connected to B because of this…), the other is a prepositional type thinking; (A follows B then C follows B…). The problem is that those two schools of thought see the other school

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of thought as something completely different. When you really get close to it, the truth reveals that they are not. The artist, generally speaking, and a lot of times it’s because they have been excluded from the conversation in the evangelical church, but artists don’t think about that, or if they do it comes out in some kind of primal way. They try as hard as they can but often it’s not well thought out and the depths of songs are too simplistic or just downright wrong. And it’s not that they aren’t trying to do the right thing. They just don’t understand how to think about it biblically or theologically. Then, on the other hand, you get the theologians, and they can tell you how A is connected to B. But they don’t ever think about art, and so, consequently, they don’t render truth in such a way that – especially in a society that pretty much worships art and beauty – feels or seems like a very attractive proposition. It’s inaccessible. Yeah, Christianity seems ugly. Makes sense. And I see it… I agree completely. Okay, so here’s how I can relate to this. Part of my job is designing this magazine. When I first came here, I was having fun being creative. All of the information I learned in school was good to know, but I didn’t understand how to utilize it. But eventually, having a foundation in design theory and information analysis proved to be incredibly useful. You see, I don’t sit and think all the time why I specifically place a visual here or there. But, because I have been trained from both a logical perspective and creative perspective, I know that B comes after A and I know how they are connected. And understanding both sides has enabled me to design and create naturally, securely. That’s when I grow. That’s when I progress in leaps… because of my background and the ability to add individuality upon it. Well sure. And what you’re talking about, knowing the basis of something… you realize it’s very hard to break the rule if you don’t know what the rule is. And if breaking the rule is your purpose, you don’t know exactly how to break the rule in a way that’s got any punch or power to it unless you understand the rule in the first place. That’s all about apprenticeship and learning from others - like what you were talking about. In order to be cutting edge, you’ve got to know everything about that edge to be able to go farther. Knowing where it came from. You won’t even know if you’re on the edge or not. Blind.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 68

5/24/2004 11:01:36 PM

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5/24/2004 1:14:32 PM

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5/24/2004 10:48:44 PM

A LBU M R E V IE WS 59

BRANDTSON SEND US A SIGNAL NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: The following review has been submitted in the form of a High School Standardized Test answer, we apologize for our writer’s excessive creativity.

Christopher Rose The Militia Group http://www. blindsiderock.com

Prompt: Compare and contrast the new Brandtson album with that of other quality music recordings commonly found today. Is the album excellent, average or sub-par? Cite examples to support your reasoning. Please use a #2 pencil only and keep your eyes on your own paper. Answer: The new Brandtson album, Send Us a Signal, is a refreshing blend of edgy melodic rock and roll combined with catchy and undeniably sing-songy vocal hooks. The guys in Brandtson, going seven years strong, have delivered an album that—while nothing innovative musically for the band—is another in a large catalogue of strong releases. Now, there are several things that make this album a pleasure to listen to. For example, Send Us a Signal practically overflows with energy. Songs like “Drawing a Line in the Sand” and “Escapist” are set up in such a perfect balance of raw fury and soft and sweet whispery breaks that predicting the route they will take becomes practically impossible. And, vocalists Jared Jolley and Myk Porter compliment each other so well that their voices almost blend into one (Oh, no. I just started a sentence with “and.” You can’t do that, definite points deducted). In addition, one has to wonder why these guys aren’t on the radio. Everything contained within these 12 songs could be the next Bleed American. This is super-catchy anthem emo-rock. All it makes you want to do is cock your head back and shout out the lyrics at the top of your lungs. (Man, messed up again. I just switched tenses from third to second person. I hope the graders don’t notice.) Finally, the new album is more of what Brandtson fans love. This could be construed as a positive aspect as well as a negative one. The guys in the band aren’t really taking any risks here—any one of these songs could have easily fit into any of their other albums, but they are still solid tracks. In conclusion, Brandtson’s got a good record on their hands. It’s fun, loud and captivating; and I’ve only got two minutes left on this test.

Album reviews: Rating System

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05. Classic 04. Fabulous 03. Solid 02. Suspect 01. Amiss

5/24/2004 7:54:30 PM

DEMON HUNTER SUMMER OF DARKNESS Beginning 2002, there was much speculation. Last summer’s tour revealed it, but not until this album has it been publicly acknowledged. Let it be known that Ryan Clark (vocals), Don Clark (guitar), Jesse Sprinkle (drums), Kris McCaddon (guitar), and Jon Dunn (bass) are collectively known as Demon Hunter. There’s a rumor that the band began as a joke on the Slipknot/ pseudonym nu-metal craze. Serendipitously, Ryan (formerly of Focal Point and Training For Utopia) and Don Clark (formerly of Training For Utopia) wrote some good songs for the project. When the thing took off and money started rolling, they shed the mystique and silly names. Suddenly, Demon Hunter is a serious band situation. Summer of Darkness displays a maturity over their debut album, delving further into melody while retaining an expected brutal heaviness. First single “Not Ready to Die” has a memorable chorus with its smooth hook, while the main riff of “Annihilate the Corrupt” will leave your head aching. As on their debut, there are two ballads (“My Heartstrings Come Undone” and “I Play Dead”), and melodies don’t come much sweeter than these in the world of extreme metal. There are four (count ‘em!) guest vocalists on four different tracks. Mike Williams of The Agony Scene shows up on “Beheaded,” which would fit well amongst his full-time outfit’s catalog. Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage lends his pipes to “Our Faces Fall Apart,” arguably the standout track. “Beauty Through the Eyes of a Predator” showcases 36 Crazyfists’ Brock Lindow, and Trevor McNevan of Thousand Foot Krutch displays his wares on “Coffin Builder.” Again utilizing the talents of producer Aaron Sprinkle and mixer J.R. McNeely, this is one of the most crisp albums you’re likely to hear in this genre. And the band is amazing. Jesse Sprinkle’s (Poor Old Lu, The World Inside, etc.) excellent drumming here is a fascinating departure considering the styles he usually plays, but considering he’s a closet metalhead, it makes perfect sense. Ryan’s voice quickly moves from growls to harmonies, and Don and Kris’ (ex-Embodyment and Society’s Finest) guitars are crunchy and big. Dunn’s (Tooth & Nail Records’ A&R/Licensing and Publishing Manager) bass provides a solid rhythm. This is a strong sophomore showing. Now that ZAO and Living Sacrifice are no longer on Solid State, Demon Hunter is a top priority on the label’s roster. It’ll be interesting to see where they go from here. [SOLID STATE] CHAD OLSON

SQUAD FIVE-O LATE NEWS BREAKING It’s always nice to see the little guy make it to the big show, and Squad Five-O is the next batter on deck. Their new album, and major-label debut, continues a long line of evolution for the band. Listening through their catalog is like watching children grow up and mature, yet still maintain their youthful charm. The once non-stop, fast-paced punk style has made way for straight up, working man’s rock

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(think Buckcherry’s only real hit, “Lit Up” meets Bruce Springsteen). Perhaps this is what Capitol Records saw when they took a chance on the band. Or maybe they were trying to rock the boat with a little controversy. Late News Breaking has catchy moments, but when the music isn’t making your head bop, the lyrics of songs such as the anti-war “No Heroes” and “Secret Society” are surefire causes for reflection on social issues and the current state of our world. Squad Five-O even go so far as to ask, “Why should God bless America?” in “Bye American.” By the end of the CD, there is a good chance you’ll know how the band feels about a lot of things. Some tracks seem drawn-out at times, and some quirky lyrics leave you wondering what they were thinking (“…a huggle and a kissle?”), but beyond that, the only real complaint is that songs begin to blend together. The leadoff track, “Always Talkin’, Never On The Run,” is the only one that I couldn’t seem to forget if I wanted to. Regardless, this is a quality release from an emerging, quality band who will finally see a little more of the spotlight within the national music scene. [CAPITOL] JAMES WETZ

PILLAR WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE Pillar as a band has showed a lot of progress. Anyone who saw the jump from Above to Fireproof can attest to this. But now the band has successfully transcended the dying rap-rock genre. Much like their older brothers in the faith (P.O.D.), Pillar has reached out for the ever-elusive hit rock song. They get real close on songs like the title track, with huge drums and rhythm guitar tracks supplanting a solid foundation for Rob Beckley (+ a wall of BGVs) to gracefully add melody and the sticky substance we call “hook.” Other big and breathe-y fundamental elements, like those heard all over the Satellite production, are found here as well: large guitar tones are dynamically spliced into songs with wellplaced strumming and, actually, quite beautiful guitar sounds (“Let It Out” and “Simply,” for example). The rocker “Holding On” seems to let go, striking out a frenetic pace that’s as punk rock as the band’s ever been. “Frontline” could very well have been on Fireproof, with a fast-paced delivery and tough-guy reverb/repeat riffs that set up an anthemic chorus. Songs like that, along with “Underneath it All,” will surely be concert favorites that will keep the energy flowing live. “Dirty Little Secret” ought to have a good life at radio, too, with its subtle attitude and memorable chorus lines in between the bridge here and jamming there. That sassy vocal attitude takes full stride in the sexy “Staring Back,” which could place its verses onto a Prince track without much resistance. It’d be interesting to hear Beckley explore that side to his voice more often. After touching this spot in the verse, though, the chorus quickly reverts back to one of a dozen sung by the band. It’s nice to hear the vigor of the album stay persistent throughout each of the 12 songs, even saving a punchy instrumental attack for the closer, “Aftershock,” which wails away for a good while as a hidden intro before kicking into a full-blown “Set It

Off” type rocker. Overall, Pillar has recorded a very solid record here that should expand their already wide fanbase. The title now acts as a good question for the future, as this one is easily their best effort to date. [FLICKER] DOUG VAN PELT

STAPLE S/T Though we’re told not to make judgments based on first impressions, we inevitably do. After hearing samples of the first few tracks from Staple’s self-titled debut, the “good, not great” label was immediately slapped on them. I knew what they were trying to do. Scream some here, sing some there…follow the modern road recently taken by so many bands. But after 11 tracks, something strange happened. That first impression started softening. Now it was “good…and watch out.” The vocals that I thought would grow old on me didn’t (and I bet singer Darin Keim could do some pretty good Korn cover songs). A catchy guitar riff here, a background harmony there, and soon I became aware of the fact that these guys might have chosen a similar style as others, but they were standing out from them. The song that impressed me the most was “Red Brush Strokes Wave Goodbye,” buried next to last in the lineup. The rest of the CD made it fairly obvious that Staple knows hard music. They had shown signs of good melodic capabilities, but I was curious as to what they were capable of in terms of diversity. The wash of echoing electric guitars that starts “Red Strokes” began displaying exactly how strong they could be, and demonstrated why first impressions are often misguided. So while my stubbornness refuses to let me move Staple past “good,” the smarter side of me keeps them in my memory bank under the heading of “potentially great.” [FLICKER] JAMES WETZ

Editors’ Ratings DV | DA *1/2

03* 02

Brandtson Send Us A Signal

Hunter 03* Demon Summer of Darkness

Five-O 03* Squad Late News Breaking

Pillar

03* 03

Staple

Where Do We Go From Here

S/T

5/25/2004 4:27:12 AM

A LBU M R E V IE WS

MORTIFICATION BRAIN CLEANER If you count live albums, EP’s, and compilations, I believe this is Mortification’s 18th release. Quite an impressive feat, especially since frontman Steve Rowe almost didn’t make it to the 12th album. On this 18th release, Brain Cleaner, Mortification makes that long-awaited return to their roots that many fans have long been waiting for. This is not just a death/grind album by any means. The band still has plenty of thrash and power metal influences so as not to alienate all the new fans that have come on board the last decade. But this disc is definitely the heaviest the band has released in the last ten years. Brain Cleaner didn’t grab me as quickly as Relentless did, but after probably twenty listens over the last four days before deadline, it has really grown on me to the point that this is probably my favorite Mort album since Steve’s return from his battle with leukemia. The sound here is brutal and powerful, with the very talented Mick Jelinic and newcomer Mike Forsberg (ex-Cybergrind) providing Steve Rowe with his best supporting crew since Mick Carlisle and Phil Gibson on the Bloodworld album. On Brain Cleaner, Mort seems to take many influences from their past albums. One can hear similarities from Post Momentary Affliction, Bloodworld, Hammer of God, and others. The overall feel is also much more raw than their last effort Relentless. Steve still mixes it up between his yelled vocal style, death vocals, and a combination of the two in a yelled/growled style. “Too Much Pain” is one of the standout cuts with its heavy death/grind influence. Images of Post Momentary Affliction really stand out here. Other standouts include “I’m Not Your Commodity” and “Livin’ Like a Zombie,” which is probably my favorite cut on this disc. It starts out fast and frantic with Steve in yelled/growl mode

Editors’ Ratings *1/2 DV | DA

Mortification 03 Brain Cleaner

02*

Pony Express 02* 03 Fraud Stryper 7 Weeks: Live In America, 2003 03 Silver 03

White Diary

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02* 03

before switching to full-on death vocals. Mick Jelinic just “goes off” around the 2-minute mark with a crazy solo before the band grinds to a doomy halt ala “Distarnsh Priest” before picking up the pace again. Later the band rips into a faster part reminiscent of the beginning of the song “Humbled” on Crimson Thorn’s newest before switching back to “Distarnsh…” mode. Great tune! The only songs that I didn’t care for as much were the title track, due to the somewhat weak vocal performance, and the very short closer “E.D.” Production-wise, the band does another solid job. All instruments are plainly heard and cranking the sound only makes the listening experience better. Lyrically, Steve explores many different ideas in his usual way of making it simple for anyone to understand what he’s trying to convey. The main focus of the title track of the album and how it ties into the artwork is that the Word of the Lord is a “Brain Cleaner.” The lyrics state: “Bring up the young in the way of the Lord/When they are old they will not depart/From the Word that cleans their brain/Learning young to avoid the pain.” Simple message, but profoundly true. The rest of the lyrics are very straightforward and bold for Christ, with even one song (“Purist Intent”) taking a little bit of a stab at some critics regarding Mortification’s direction as a band. The artwork of the album is something I’m not too crazy about. It’s well done and applies to the lyrics, but doesn’t really fit the musical style. I’m glad to see the use of the old Mortification logo again though! Overall, Mortification has recorded a fine album that will definitely take more than one or two listens to set in. It’s fairly straightforward and nothing overly technical. But even if it were mega-technical, they’d probably get criticized for that, too (just ask Extol). After 18 releases, which included a bit of a lull for a few albums, Mortification seems to be heading in the right direction on the last two. This album is a fun listen and should translate very well in a live setting. If you are a Mort fan that has stuck around through all the changes, you should be pleased. [ROWE PRODUCTIONS] MATT MORROW

PONY EXPRESS

picked, rather than utilized to create fat feedback, and the song’s outro has a distinctively psychedelic feel. The album closes with a cover of Pedro The Lion’s “Options.” Pony Express, Jeff Cloud’s alter ego outfit, is certainly no fraud – as this EP’s title might suggest. Instead, it is the real (similar) thing. [VELVET BLUE MUSIC] DAN MACINTOSH

STRYPER 7 WEEKS: LIVE IN AMERICA, 2003 Back in their heyday, Stryper’s record label was uber smart. They released limited edition product all the time. A 12” single of “Reach Out,” for instance, would have a bonus live track on it. Now, for the first time, Stryper is captured live on a full-length release. 14 songs of tight and clean sonics are collected from various shows on last year’s tour. On any live recording, two of the most notable (and scrutinized) things are the vocals and drums. Guitars always seem to cut through the mix well. The snare drum is a tricky thing to mix just right (best if sensed but not heard) and if the lead or background vocals aren’t there, well, the recording is almost un-listenable (except for the die-hard fan, aka bootleg collectors). While the snare sounds are super audible here, they don’t completely overshadow the tom, kick and cymbals. Overall the mix is punchy (guitars right in your face), slightly raw (as if you were in a small club with the band), and well balanced (all the vocals are nailed and right there). Play it loud and it only gets better. For the thousands that were present on this unbelievable tour, this acts as a perfect keepsake for some great memories. For those that missed it, this disc proves that Stryper was indeed “on” during this tour, kicking tail on many of their 80’s peers by not sounding tired or bored with 20-year-old material. Besides writing great songs, perhaps a new appreciation can be had by hearing the tight double guitar harmonies and the amazing harmony vocals (check out “Free,” “Reach Out” and “Winter Wonderland”). The prayer at the end is a nice and defining mark to end the album with, too. Here’s hoping the DVD that’s soon to follow will capture that missing visual piece that a simple live audio recording can’t convey. [53:5] DOUG VAN PELT

FRAUD Pony Express is what Jeff Cloud does when he’s not keeping Velvet Blue Music afloat, or touring and recording with Starflyer 59. But this lower profile musical incarnation isn’t drastically different from what Jason Martin does when he’s leading Starflyer 59; only the singer’s name has changed. It’s striking similarity to Cloud’s day job may well be attributed to the fact that he’s surrounded himself with a few fellow Starflyer cronies here. Keyboardist Richard Swift was on hand during its creation, and the seemingly omnipresent drummer Frank Lenz recorded and produced it. And just as with most Starflyer 59 concerts, at just five songs long, it’s short and sweet. The rhythms throughout are Pony Express slow, so to speak, and colored by New Order-ish synth on “Endings” and a little heavier guitar on “Half Hearted.” On “Long Drives,” electric guitar is

SILVER WHITE DIARY This is rock with a punk edge. A late 60’s garage feel is met with a touch of the New York Dolls. Actually, many great influences come to mind. Silver seems to respect the past and actually use it to lace each track with classic authority. While the air of past day flows on an undercurrent, these men might have successfully accomplished what so many (present day) garage bands are vying for: individuality. Sure, the lead vocals are cock sure. Yes, more than one of the band members probably purses their lips too much. And it’s a matter of fact these guys walk with a swagger. (It wouldn’t be right if they didn’t) But, what’ll make you smile, is that Silver pull off the look and feel without letting any of the kitsch slip too far into the music. [BAD AFRO] DAVID ALLEN

5/25/2004 1:36:13 AM

STILL REMAINS IF LOVE WAS MEANT TO DIE Full-on metal, modern hardcore, death metal, soaring melodies, triumphant goth-sounding keyboards, piano…Still Remains cover a whole lot of ground but don’t come across as aimless wanderers. While the band utilizes a lot of standard tricks of the trade, there are shades of experimentation and creativity here that clearly foreshadow some truly incredible things to come (or at least I hope so). Don’t get me wrong, this will appeal to hardcore/metal purists, but it may also possibly appeal to someone who enjoys something like, say, Dream Theater. This band is on the verge of something, but I cannot put my finger on exactly what it is – perhaps it will be clearer if on their next record they really crack open some of their songs and explore and expand on the various depths and levels that they are obviously extremely apt at creating but here remain in seed form. These songs just scream for lives of more than five minutes. [BENCHMARK RECORDS] CHRIS FRANCZ

quite the positive reaction on television, too. It was all a coy experiment to see if the strength of a song with the image of a younger band would succeed where an older face and band name could not. A video of the song is on this disc as an enhanced bonus. There’s lots of good rock and roll to be found here, including “The Drunk And The Disorderly,” which conjures a little of The Who’s mod energy; and “The Unexplained” tips the hat to John Lennon. Tunes like “Trafficking” burst forth with such unabashed energy and attitude that none would dare pronounce that rock is dead. Not when there’s this much soul, maturity, and depth in these lyrics and the way they’re sung. Mike Peters and company go a long way in making sure we believe what they’re singing. As always with Peters, there’s gut-level honesty and a yearning for Truth that’s deeply embedded in his words. While not an album that’s likely to live on past a decade, this one will surely get played a lot by this reviewer well into next year. [SNAPPER] DOUG VAN PELT

APRIL SIXTH

SUFJAN STEVENS

MARIPOSA AVE.

SEVEN SWANS

You’ve heard them before. You just didn’t know it. April Sixth sounds so familiar that it’s hard to imagine Mariposa Ave. as being their debut. The altpunk-rock quintet is fronted by singer Christopher Wade, who sounds like the hybrid of Paul McCoy (12 Stones) and Danny Grady (Injected). When he strains, you’d swear you were listening to Daniel Johns (Silverchair). But it’s not just the vocals bringing recollections of others. Their sound is very radio, somewhere in the likes of Thrice or Hoobastank. And lyrically…let’s just say that the line “you may have your reasons, and you may have your lies” from “Somewhere Waiting” is basically cut and pasted from Tonic’s “If You Could Only See.” Does familiarity breed contempt in April Sixth’s situation? If following a tried and true recipe for making songs is a crime, these guys have consecutive life sentences. Luckily for them, laws are in their favor, and despite its routine formula, Mariposa Ave. is a well-produced, catchy showing for the newcomers. [ELEKTRA] JAMES WETZ

THE ALARM IN THE POPPY FIELDS “It’s been a long time coming, but it’s good to be back.” So ends the lead-off track, “Coming Home,” on The Alarm MMIV (2004) In The Poppy Fields studio album. This perfectly describes the musical temperature of this brand new studio album. It’s a throwback to the definitive Alarm sound, but fresh and alive. In a crafty move, the band proved its vitality in today’s music scene by releasing the single from the album, “45 R.P.M.,” to British radio. It charted high (#28) and sold quite a few units in the UK (4,000+) as well. For those who hadn’t heard, the crafty part was that this was all done under the guise of a “new band” called “The Poppyfields.” A video with quite younger and unknown faces (a band called the Wayriders) got

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A helpful reference point for Seven Swans by Sufjan Stevens is Victoria Williams and her quirky brand of fractured folk music. This is because Stevens places his oftentimes Biblically inspired lyrics over a diverse instrumental bed – which includes banjo and multiple acoustic guitars -- and fills out many of these tracks with long and unhurried instrumental passages. And best of all, his lyrics are spiritual, yet never preachy. A song like “To Be Alone With You,” for instance, applies Neil Young-ish strummed acoustic guitar to words that speak gently about Christ’s sacrificial love, whereas “Abraham” meditates upon that pivotal Old Testament icon’s life. Of course, not everything here is derived directly from scriptural sources, as “The Dress Looks Nice On You” places its complimentarily romantic lyrics within an English folk/orchestral pop setting. And to avoid predictability, Stevens sometimes throws in a few unexpected musical touches. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is notable for its jazzy rhythmic feel, whereas “We Won’t Need Legs To Stand” incorporates traditional Spanish guitar playing in a few places. Sufjan Stevens, much like Victoria Williams, is clearly an acquired taste and not meant for everyone. But if you’re itching for something sincere, yet sincerely outside the mainstream, Seven Swans will leave you with a satisfied smile. [SOUNDS FAMILYRE] DAN MACINTOSH

HASTE THE DAY BURNING BRIDGES

BRO DANIELSON BROTHER IS TO SON There is, and always has been, a part of me that cannot possibly wrap my head – let alone my spastic music tastes – around the body of work produced by Daniel Smith. Let’s face it, over ten years have passed since his first release on Tooth & Nail and still…feelings continue to mix. It’s easy to see why a firm decision (to like/dislike) remains so distant. On one hand we have an incredibly unique and imaginative display of talent. On the other rests his light-hearted twitter (of a voice) cast over such sing-song complexities. That hand feels confused. How can it dig deeper and fully grasp Mr. Smith’s most powerful package of hope when the carrier of that message can’t seem to take the delivery of it seriously? Go ahead... skim that last sentence over again; it actually makes sense. Okay, now let me attest. Let a brother testify. After listening through Brother is to Son, I can joyfully and declaratively confirm that the debate between my head and hands has been concluded. Mr. Smith has won me over. This time I heard more. Part of it has to do with a more accesible vocal lining. Plastered around his squeaky falsetto is an honest voice; sharp with succint pronunciations and a beautifully piercing tone. The difference, for me, is how well he connects each song and voice with familiar emotions, situations and troubles. Life is depicted personally and with fault. We connect with his flaws, even more so than I first realized. It was shocking to hear myself whispering a Pentecostal “amen” after he exclaims, “I tried it my way and I did it my way. I don’t get it! I really don’t get it...” A

Editors’ Ratings DV | DA *1/2

Still Remains

April Sixth

Alarm 02* The In The Poppy Fields

Stevens 04* Sufjan Seven Swans

Haste The Day

Bro Danielson

If Love Was Meant To Die Mariposa Ave.

Burning Bridges

Brother is to Son

You’ve got to hand it to Haste The Day for doing what makes them happy. When singing on this album, they have voices to rival the best mainstream rock radio bands out there. But rather than earning pocketfuls of cash by Hoobastanking it up, they death-scream their way through their Solid State debut, Burning Bridges.

6/1/2004 5:10:55 PM

A LBU M R E V IE WS

most miserable cry we can all identify with. Then a tender, gentle steadiness begins to build up with hope... seemingly unrelated. But the ending caught me in my own trap of concern, “Give it up and crawl on through! I changed trees and change is here to stay. And I’m outright anti-miserable. To tell you all the truth, the Son can only do what He sees His Pappa do.” And in this finale I realize Danielson was never concerned about delivering a product. He’s simply making an unbelievable effort to share a solution. [SECRETLY CANADIAN] DAVID ALLEN

IN PRAISE OF FOLLY THE PRESENT AGE If you’re a Copeland fan but, somehow, find their music too hard and feel that they enunciate words too well, then In Praise of Folly might be for you. Melodic beyond description, The Present Age combines spacey soft vocals with equally spacey instrumentation set on a slow paced backdrop. The result is a sound that would fit nicely as the background music of a feature film. It’s late afternoon and the setting sun is blasting its gold through the branches of the greenest trees in Vermont…this is the imagery of the album. Vocals from both Benjamin and Peter Verdoes are so smooth (and incomprehensible) that they blend into the music, making this a near instrumental album. I sometimes forgot if I was listening to an 11-song collection or just one really long track. With every minute of the CD passed, stress is simply melted away. Listening to it is like relaxation in disc format. Personal preference will dictate if this makes for a good album, but it’s hard to deny that the members of In Praise of Folly have talent at what they do.

This does not mean they choose to be original, unfortunately. Instead of sounding like every other radio-friendly band in mainstream rock, they sound like a slightly better than average metal band that has little shot at earning a spot on the radio, thus giving them a permanent underground spot, a.k.a. “We can’t pay our bills” syndrome. Over-the-top, fairly cliché dark lyrics abound throughout the 11 tracks, and instrumentally, nothing groundbreaking is in the works. The saving grace of this band comes when they incorporate a blend of singing in with their monotone screaming. Surprisingly good harmony vocals can be heard on some of the tracks, but only for brief moments. Look for Haste (don’t call us “Saves”) The Day to utilize this strength on upcoming albums. Until then, they are what they are: a decent band that won’t really stand out, but won’t get horribly embarrassed by others in their genre. [SOLID STATE] JAMES WETZ

FEARFUL SYMMETRY A LOSS OF BALANCE Jimmy Brown has deftly been able to transform his sound, both subtly and drastically, many times throughout his long career. The sound of Fearful Symmetry, with its decidedly electronic and gothic vibe, is as drastic as the jump from the thrash/speed metal of Weapons of our Warfare to the Bowie-influenced Stay of Execution. Their cover of The Psychedelic Furs’ “Love My Way” is a true tribute to that band’s 80s keyboard sound. Brown’s vocals feel fantastic and at home here. Lyrically there seems to be honest portrayals of failure, temptation, and the tension of living here on earth as a believer. The subtle artwork on the inside here has opened up some controversy, which shouldn’t have come as a surprise to this veteran. Whilst not as reckless as Celldweller, still an album for an older crowd. [S MEDIA] DOUG VAN PELT

[LUJO] JAMES WETZ

ORATORIO Editors’ Ratings *1/2 DV | DA

In Praise Of Folly 03 The Present Age

02*

Fearful Symmetry 03 A Loss Of Balance

02*

Oratorio 03* 01

The Reality Of Existence

Cool Hand Luke 04 The Fires Of Life Last Tuesday 03

Distractions And Convictions

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03 02*

THE REALITY OF EXISTENCE The year of 2003 saw Rivel Records really put themselves on the map with fantastic releases from bands like Crimson Moonlight and Pantokrator. Now in 2004, the label introduces to us Oratorio as they release their first full length, The Reality of Existence. This album falls in the melodic power metal category somewhat, but it doesn’t seem to fit the mold perfectly. Now, this is not some super original sounding band. They have their influences, but they just sound somewhat fresh and different to these ears. Musically the band has a very nice crunch and mixes it up between mid-tempo and faster, hard-hitting songs. Take a mix of Stratovarius, very recent Immortal Souls, and maybe Iron Maiden and you get an idea of their musical direction. The band is very tight and can really suck you into their musical world on any of these 10 songs. Vocally, Joel Hekkala has a deeper voice than most power metal vocalists and sounds similar in style to Ville Laihiala of Sentenced. Oratorio succeeds on all counts in my opinion. The music seems to get better on multiple listens. The band uses melody

and aggression to their advantage at all the right times. The vocals might be tough for some to get into, but I think that Hekkala has a very powerful voice that fits the music perfectly. His vocals are also very emotional, and mixed with the Christ-centered lyrics it really leads to an almost worshipful experience. Check them out at oratoriometal.com. [RIVEL RECORDS] STEWART STEVENSON

COOL HAND LUKE THE FIRES OF LIFE A big hand (no pun intended) goes out to Floodgate Records. After two self-produced works, they found the potential in the once-screamo Cool Hand Luke, and brought it out in CHL’s first national album, Wake Up, O Sleeper. This time around, the production quality is as high if not higher than before, and the continued melodic brilliance is undoubted. But as the first track begins, something seems slightly different. The Fires of Life starts out with a slow and dark ballad called “Skydive,” which is simply haunting. Vocalist Mark Nicks, with his frequent visits to Falsetto-land, only adds to this effect. Piano (the instrument in which the album was written around) becomes a great addition to many songs, but it’s the strength that appears most defining from previous releases. Every song is of a softer nature, and the resultant emotional aspects are sky high. Wake Up began the sound that CHL now possesses, and Fires simply expands on it. Simplistic intros and opening verses shift into full band sounds (especially “Friendly Jas” and “Rest for the Weary”). “I’m Not Running” is a great song, with no elaboration needed. One of the truly respectable qualities of Cool Hand Luke is their ability to draw direct quotes from the Bible and incorporate them into lyrics rather inconspicuously. The result is a collection of spiritually meaningful songs that can reach and appeal to a broad number of people. If the criteria for buying a CD is based on such meaning, there’s little doubt that The Fires of Life can be added to your shopping list. If your interest is purely set in the purchasing of beautiful music, perhaps your pen should be jotting down the name “Cool Hand Luke” as well. [FLOODGATE] JAMES WETZ

LAST TUESDAY DISTRACTIONS AND CONVICTIONS Kind of pop punk with some rock thrown in. Think MxPx, maybe Blink 182, but with longer drawn out phrases. Oh, and the melodies are stretched out, too. At first these songs seem to fit well into the garden variety, commercial punk bin, but after about 10 minutes… well, I will admit this leaves a raw taste in my mouth. Which is a good thing. The lack of polish keeps this a bit harsher – just a bit. But not harsh enough to keep it from sticking in my head. The dueling vocals keep the flavor lasting, but not quite long enough to finish the CD. Overall? (and please pardon the analogy) This is fun like riding a go-kart, not fun like driving a Mini Cooper. [DUG] DAVID ALLEN

5/26/2004 2:38:38 PM

THE RIVER BENDS ...AND FLOWS INTO THE SEA “I feel better; I feel worse.” How prophetic of Denison Witmer to describe the listening experience of his new album within the lyrics of one of its songs. The River Bends is a full-band incarnation of Witmer, an experienced singer/songwriter in the vein of Duncan Sheik and the late Elliott Smith. And just like the reflective and introspective ways of the aforementioned two, Witmer’s new 11-song collection leaves a variety of bittersweet emotions. Vocally and instrumentally simplistic throughout the tracks, Witmer allows the lyrics of his songs to take center stage. While this makes the album more vulnerable to initial overlooking, it yields more rewarding to those who give it a deeper listen (preferably with liner notes in hand). Standout tracks include “Are You Lonely,” which comes off with a James Taylor vibe, and “I Love You April,” with a surprising instrumental uprising a few minutes into the song. A word of caution for fans of hard music: this isn’t it. Despite finding a home at Tooth & Nail Records, this release is the feather in a T&N catalog of heavy-hitters. Don’t be fooled, but in the same breath, don’t be afraid to give this well-written album a thoughtful listen. [TOOTH & NAIL] JAMES WETZ

second incarnation of that great classic pre-prog rock band that broke later with their third lineup). Re-releasing some old demos for his fans rekindled a relationship with the old bandmates, so here he re-recorded four songs written back in 1973 and composed five new ones. Thus, the title Before Became After describes this collection of artful musicians. They accomplish the most necessary condition for good progressive rock – they perform it with excellence. There’s lots of epic movements, tasteful jamming (including some smart and soulful jazz saxophone by John Bolton), and picturesque musical landscapes. Lynn Meredith’s vocals are smooth, clean, and strong, but there’s not a pop hit to be found here. Like the tongue-twisting chorus of “Greenburg, Glickstein, Charles, David, Smith and Jones,” this band is effectively writing for themselves and not the commercial success that will (surely) elude it. But the fan of early Genesis, Yes, Spock’s Beard, Transatlantic, and Jethro Tull have another gem to taste under the headphones. For this crowd, Before Became After will be truly satisfying. For the general public, a time piece misunderstood. [INSIDEOUT / SPV] DOUG VAN PELT

VARIOUS ARTISTS DYLAN COUNTRY

THE O.C. SUPERTONES REVENGE OF THE O.C. SUPERTONES For much of its career, The O.C. Supertones have acted as the ska-inspired soundtrack to the purpose driven Christian life. Older songs, such as “Resolution” for instance, focused primarily on the personal spirituality of the believer. And while Revenge Of The O.C. Supertones includes God-toman relational songs like “Where I Find You” and “Transmission,” it also carries with it an overtly apocalyptic message as well. So in addition to learning how to apply Christian principles to daily life, The O.C. Supertones’ members sound as if they’ve also been boning up on their end times theology. The plight of a fatherless girl causes vocalist Matt Morginsky to plead, “I hope the Prince Of Peace is coming soon” during “Prince Of Peace.” This is followed by the slow reggae lament of “Shepherd Is The Lamb,” where Morginsky’s Elvis Costellolow vocal is at its world-weariest, offering a stark contrast to his usually exhilarated tone. Through this particular song, which fades out with a lovely churchy acoustic piano part, the listener can just feel the weight of the dying world being carried by Morginsky’s voice. On “The Kingdom,” Christ’s eminent return is jubilantly celebrated, instead, with the words, “I tell you the truth when I say that the kingdom is on its way.” With Revenge Of The O.C. Supertones, the end is obviously near (and dear) to this band’s hearts. [BEC] DAN MACINTOSH

PROTO~KAW BEFORE BECAME AFTER After a long break, Kerry Livgren has met up with his old bandmates (yes, that’d be Kansas, but these members were in the

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The good news is that every song on this album is a Bob Dylan song. The bad news for Dylan fans is Bob Dylan doesn’t sing them. But fear not, for his music on this relatively lengthy tribute album is performed by some of the biggest names in country music’s history. Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and a host of others do their best to pay homage to one of the greatest songwriters in the last century. The highlight for me is Tim O’Brien’s acappella version (save for acoustic relief in between verses and knee-slap percussion of some sort) of “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” If you specifically set out to find country music covers of Bob Dylan, you’ve probably heard this song, along with the remaining tracks, before. All 16 songs have been released prior to this compilation. Dylan Country simply brings together the collection onto one disc, which is the main selling point.

and otherwise) and Lord without a hint of irony nor self-pity. Some of the genius of his last few albums was in the tension between some of the lyrics and the singer tackling them. Hymn Book works in good portion because Cash’s voice and stark musical backdrop offer the tension of a man so earthy yearning for heaven. As with so much of his best material, Cash rocked on this, too…only in a different way. [AMERICAN/LOST HIGHWAY] JAMIE LEE RAKE

WINTER SOLSTICE THE PULSE IS OVERRATED This is quick, well thought out and tight. The speed is there, the drop outs, licks (yep, metal “licks”), and even some big hardcore breakdowns. And the vocals are good, but, for some reason, the regular pitch of his scream mixed with a ton of slurred consonants becomes hard to distinguish. Yes, this is metal/hardcore/screaming loud music, and one should certainly never expect to understand a single word, but I’m referring to something bigger. An audio aesthetic maybe? Maybe, or possibly that’s too far of a stretch, but the point is the vocals eventually become a grey area plastered over some incredible black and white. Just as the second song begins to fade into some sort of background noise, track three throws some altered dynamics within the screaming exchange… and it works. Actually, it works better than any song on the EP. This is evidence of something more than good, it’s quite possible – if tweaked and put into a timeframe of preparation – that its next creation will take these guys to some bigger places. So feel free to pick this up, but do so anticipating an even better release to come. [HARVEST EARTH] DAVID ALLEN

Editors’ Ratings DV | DA *1/2

[SHOUT FACTORY] JAMES WETZ

River Bends 03* The ...And Flows Into The Sea

JOHNNY CASH

The O.C. Supertones

Proto~Kaw

Various Artists

03* 03

Winter Solstice

MY MOTHER’S HYMNBOOK Not many people can record an album of old church song recitations accompanied by his own guitar strumming and get it reviewed in this mag. Johnny Cash is one of those few, and if you never grabbed his Unearthed box set from last year, here’s The Man In Black’s all-gospel folk album from that deluxe package. Cash sanctified emotional wholeness into the work of everyone from Danzig and Nine Inch Nails to The Beatles and Depeche Mode on his oft-astounding American Recordings projects. Similarly, his seasoned bassy baritone, singing not far from death’s door when he recorded these 15 classics, imparts a wide spectrum of human condition as he addresses his fellow sinners (saved

Revenge Of The O.C. Supertones

Before Became After

Dylan Country

The Pulse Is Overrated

6/1/2004 5:12:03 PM

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5/24/2004 1:16:12 PM

Entertainment reviews DVDS 02 THE COMMITMENTS

FOX VIDEO

One of the best R&R movies of all time... Set in Ireland, seems there’s at least one profanity every 10 words (and look out when the characters ﬁght). This soul band’s journey from gestation to maturity is a gas to watch and there’s an entire disc of insightful extras.

03 CSI : SEASON 3

PARAMOUNT

This great show keeps its edge with 24 more episodes, most all sporting keen story writing. Be warned, however, as almost each one trips our “Gore Meter,” with its medical close-ups. Hence the wit acts as brevity from the subject matter. More extras here than the previous 2 seasons.

01 FREAKS AND GEEKS SHOUT! FACTORY

04 HANGMAN’S CURSE

This is the best television series DVD set of all time. I’m a little older, which helps in reviewing this DVD boxset, since I can spot the factual errors, like, ‘That Rush album (Exit Stage Left) wasn’t out then!’ or ‘Come on, The Wall wasn’t yet a movie for another couple years!’ But minor infractions like that cannot demote this incredible boxset from its new title as “Tops in its class” – bar none. It’s not often that a show can bring the kind of ear-to-ear grins and loud guffaws that this one did. The writers and producers really succeeded in capturing a generation with Freaks and Geeks. All the hurdles of high school circa turn of that decade are represented, from: bullies, and peer pressure (sex, drugs, and R ‘n’ R); to ﬁtting in and the heroic efforts of the main character (Linda Cardellini) to look past the divisional lines of jock, freak, geek, and social outcast. Hilarious anecdotes include a guidance counselor who tries too hard to ﬁt in with the kids; and a father who threatens every behavioral taboo with, “So & so did that, and they died!” Beyond the shows, this set is loaded up with episodes that never aired and (unheard of) at least one commentary (and deleted scenes) per episode! Fourstars. Supreme! DOUG VAN PELT

FOX VIDEO

The answer of “Why hasn’t This Present Darkness been made into a movie?” question is given in a featurette/interview with Frank Peretti here. He even makes a Stephen King-like cameo in the ﬁlm. This teenage novel translates well here, into an average thriller with a faith underbelly.

05 CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN

FOX VIDEO

Remaking Parenthood and Father of the Bride (I & II) and telling a new story all at the same time... Good, clean fun. Funny dialogue: “Do you have to wear black? Black works, Mom. Jesus, like, had his funeral on Christmas. He died on Easter, Barbie! Whatever! He resurrected on Easter, moron!”

06 THE PINK PANTHER

MGM

Blake Edwards’ creation of Inspector Clouseau was the inspiration for a lot of the cinematic comedy we take for granted these days. All the classics are here, from A Shot in the Dark to Trail of the Pink Panther, along with a generous bonus disc of new and old documentaries.

07 BIG FISH

COLUMBIA TRISTAR

Fantastic ﬂick that touches that special “movie spot” deep in the heart. Such a good and enigmatic story that it begged for the Director’s Commentary to shed more light on the many details; and it’s a “must re-visit” to enjoy all the sight gags and memorable scenes. Bravo!

08 BRIARS IN THE COTTON PATCH

VISION VIDEO

A riveting documentary about a revolutionary place – Koinonia Farm – a community that housed and worked blacks alongside whites in the racist South circa the forties to the sixties. An amazing dichotomy between love and hate. Praise God for their courage and this DVD that highlights these heroes.

01 SPIRITUAL RELEVANCY % OBSCENITIES

50 75 25 225

25 29 27 5

15 9

75 100 4

GORE NUDITY / SEXUALITY

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5/24/2004 11:05:52 PM

ENTERTAINMENT

BOOKS&GEAR JESUS & THE HIP-HOP PROPHETS ALEX GEE & JOHN TETER “The haters don’t see that hip-hop leaders are being raised up for spiritual purposes as a chosen generation.” Comparing the three wise men, or astrologers, to the seemingly unspiritual hip-hoppers of today, Alex Gee and John Teter make the point that it doesn’t matter what the spiritual people of the day think or say, but how open you are to hearing God speak. God used three astrologers who were looked down upon by the spiritual people in their day to witness the birth of Christ, and God is using the hip-hop community (or some of them, at least) to speak through and use for His purposes. “What we need is a new perspective to understand just how phenomenal this story is. We are all tired of gibberish we can’t understand.” This is suggesting that this “new perspective” or comprehensible language is hip-hop, and that through the lyrics of ones such as Lauryn Hill and 2pac we can hear the voice of God speaking. AG and JT relate the lyrics of these two artists to biblical truths and dissect the meaning of it all by comparing the two texts. Also, they both use personal stories that lead into their points and relate somewhat to the songs. An interesting perspective on modern biblical examples, but overall Jesus and the Hip-Hop Prophets lacks the depth that an exploration of God’s Word deserves. Colin Hobbs • InterVarsity Press

ROCK STARS ON GOD 20 ARTISTS SPEAK THEIR MINDS ABOUT FAITH DOUG VAN PELT In the ‘80s when everyone knew God was dead, one band for some reason didn’t: Stryper. One fan didn’t know it either: Doug Van Pelt. He started a magazine in his basement called Heaven’s Metal and put Stryper on the cover. Twenty years and hundreds of bands later, Heaven’s Metal goes by HM, which stands for ‘Hard Music,” with thousands of subscribers to that shared amnesia. HM always retained three things: an independent, underground feel; a rabidly loyal fanbase; and the metal. While other music magazines were trotting out their latest fashionable models, HM was always the musical muscle car. It was a place for metalheads and motorheads on the fringes of culture, mistﬁts from the mainstream and deviants who never minded the bollocks and said the heck with changing trends. And Doug was never happier than lying under that car with a wrench in his hand. Thanks to the damnableness of niche marketing, that all changed. It may be good for search engines, but it also means that those who most defy labels – like Bono of U2 and Doug of HM – are the ﬁrst ones forced to wear them. Guitar World called HM “The Bible of Christian Rock.” Really? That’s a good thing? But who’s going to buy “The Muscle Car of Metal Music Magazines?” While it’s an open question which circle of hell niche marketers will occupy, I pray that HM never “makes it” and Doug never stops tinkering with his car.

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Stryper sang their beliefs loud and clear, and so does Doug. His editorials could have been written by Billy Graham. But HM has always been more about questions than answers. What do you think is going on? What are you going to do about it? Critics, when not patronizing, dismissed HM as stupid or irrelevant, the groupthink of like-minded fanatics. After all, Doug was singing to the choir. But there was one place in the magazine that charge wouldn’t hold. For his “What So and So Says” column, Doug interviewed famous rockers in a style that would now be called “in your face,” but which punk singers probably found informal and relaxing. Rock Stars on God collects twenty of the best interviews with rockers from Gens X, Y and Z, including Green Day, Rage Against the Machine, Bad Religion, Static X, and Social Distortion, along with Boomers Henry Rollins (Black Flag), Kiss, and Alice Cooper. The questions are not obvious, the answers by no means canned. Godsmack respects Doug’s style as an interviewer; and there are places where it seems like Henry Rollins might clock him (like he did my friend Mike-Mike’s claim to fame). Different folks, different strokes. “We are the ﬁrst generation raised without God,” writes Doug Coupeland in Life After God. If Rock Stars on God is any indication, it’s also a generation out to ﬁnd Him. Gord Wilson • Relevant Books

5/24/2004 11:06:45 PM

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 56 So, behind the idea of musicianship or artistry, there’s more to it than just knowing your craft. If I’m going to be a man of God, and be an artist…if I’m going to continue that path, I’ve got to have a handle on that also. Sure, because the first calling of every Christian is to know God. Those of us who are artists, the experience of Him flows through what we do as art. That’s one of the primary ways to experience. But we’re also all taught to be as well rounded as we can be and are all taught to understand the Bible as well as we can. That’s one of the main ways God has revealed Himself: through Scripture. It’s the way that you understand every other symbol is by His Word. If you don’t understand that, you’re not going to get your symbolism right and that’s going to jack up your life really bad. It’ll leave you guessing, or unsatisfied, or just wrong. And we’ve all seen artists who do exactly what you’re saying. If the Word of God is so important to all we do, something needs to change. How can we start, as artists living in an ADD generation, to take a book we often see as static – the Bible – and let it live again? A lot of the problem has to do with the way were are taught to read the Bible. Very little of the Bible is straight up, informative teaching. Many of it is stories and poetry. I’ve said this often through teaching about how to read the Bible…that God, Who created us, has employed a great deal of poetry in writing the Scripture. It’s easier to see it in visual languages, but it’s all over the place in English. The stories themselves teach us how to do things, how to transmit information and how to express information about God. Look at the Song of Solomon. It’s basically like love relationship between a man and a woman. With so much of it about sex, it gets increasingly graphic but without being… graphic. Such intense symbolism. Once you get your head around what’s happening there, the whole thing becomes a lot more interesting. All of a sudden you’re reading it on a bunch of different levels and that interest pulls you into it even more. Because you’re not just reading it to see what you can learn and how to be a good boy. You can look at it and realize what an unbelievable writing it truly is. As a matter of fact. I’m not sure if you’ve ever read The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. It was a pretty good movie, but the book was wonderful. In that book, Umberto spent about 14 or 15 pages talking about this woman and this guy engaging in a sexual act, but he never used one word that we would deem to be explicit. He did it like Song of Solomon and it was fascinating. We just don’t tend to look at the Bible as art. We’re taught that the only thing you read this book for is to get these types of static ideas from it. Like a textbook.

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Yeah, like a textbook. We’re supposed to be getting all these organic images from it but that’s just not the case. The heart of everything the Bible teaches, and the heart of how God presents Himself to men, is all about symbols. And there can be an obvious static 1+1=2 understanding, but most of it goes into a multilayered, moving connectedness. It connects outside of itself to so many different things. We need to pick up the Bible and read it from a different perspective. Think about it. Many of us have heard the stories and lessons and used them to align the way or open the door or whatever. “Yeah, I’ve heard it a zillion times.” But once you stop and think about how it fits into situations and life, it’ll suddenly get interesting again. You’ll see that it’s not just for your head, but for your emotions. It’s for your senses. In many ways, we need to approach Scripture as if we were approaching a novel, but a true novel. Or as work of poetry, true poetry. If we can get that in our heads, if we can look at it as a place where God intersects… not just to tell us, “Do this and don’t do that,” but in order to say, “this is Who I am, look at Me here, look at how Who I am connects with what you are and what you do,” it will literally revitalize us. And, for the ADD generation, we can look at it as a series of images – because that’s what we do, switch from image to image. The problem is that the Bible has been built up as a textbook and little of it is setup to be like that at all.

How does one get this message across? Hopefully enough groundwork can be placed to show how all these things connect and help to give everyone a starting point. A spark to ignite thought about it. I’ve found that for an artist, you don’t have to say a whole lot most of the time. They intuitively understand most of this stuff anyway. It’s a matter of putting a mind structure they can hang all those ideas on and help connect them. I don’t think I’ve ever spoken about this subject anywhere that I haven’t seen tons of people…you can almost see the light switch above their heads. And usually artists weep because nobody has taken the time to tell them this before. It lets you know what a sad shape the artist and the church are in when they’re so relieved to hear something like that they’re reduced to tears. I think a lot about it myself – as a pastor of a church. Not only was I, as an artist, pondering about life, but part of my job was to figure out how to teach this congregation of people how to think about doing what they were doing. That was very helpful because I had to devote a great amount of time. Theological training has also helped. Plus, being an artist long before anything else has helped give me an impulse as to what foundations are missing. So what we can do is keep laying a groundwork so we can all begin to look at this and the Bible and draw principles from it that will effect our writing, our paintings and our music.

I find that through life and through time, reading the Bible becomes the first to fall by the wayside. Yeah, and a lot of it can be difficult. We have it drowned in our heads that the Bible is a textbook… but we’re going to have to resurface and learn the truth.

Can I safely say this involves using both sides of our brain? From my logic side – We have the ability to add a touch of order to our creations. When I was younger, I would have most definitely kicked myself for appreciation of logic, but now a deeper comprehension only makes sense. It does well to have some connectedness. As the artist, you’re always torn between two poles. It’s a pull between an expression of what you wish to express, against communicating with an audience. If you try to communicate with too broad of an audience you usually have to deny more and more. We have to learn how to balance between the two. And, once again, this goes back to the Holy Scripture, the Holy Trinity. Is it about my own personal expression or is it the many people I’m trying to reach? And of course, the Holy Trinity is both one and many, perfectly balanced. From that you simply learn that we need to find balance between the two. I’ve got to communicate as solid of a vision that I’ve been given as I can, and at the same time maximize it so I can reach as many people as possible.

It certainly is such a strong foundation. Being able to understand where we should be coming from spiritually. I always tell people that the Bible is like corrective lenses given to us by God. If we’re not looking through that corrective lens, then we’re not going to see the world - or ourselves - the way it really is. We’re going to be distorted, filled with lewdness and we’re not going to understand. See, when looking through the glasses, you’re not looking for something that’s written on the inside of the lenses. Nah, you’re looking through those lenses to what’s on the other side of them. We have to learn that we can’t see ourselves correctly. We can’t see the world. We can’t even know how to speak in a way that’s going to please God or let alone fulfill ourselves towards our calling. How can we expect to make any kind of change or a difference in the world for ourselves or anybody if we can’t fully see what it is we’re trying to change. Through the lens God has given us in the Bible.

And doing so doesn’t necessarily mean we have to give up the entirety of our expressions. No, if you do that you basically deny the uniqueness of your calling and what it is that you have to deliver that makes a difference.

5/24/2004 8:53:08 PM

COLU M NS

The way I see it Chris Wighaman

Devotions with Greg Tucker

“Research shows that ninety percent of adults struggle to open child-proof packaging on medicines. Experts said this meant adults put pills and tablets into other containers which are accessible to children.”

You may have noticed that a growing number of Americans keep online journals for others to enjoy. They’re called blogs, a word derived from blurring the phrase web log, and they are trendy, easy, and practically free. I confess that I update my own blog every few days.

CHOOSE YOUR OPENING LINE: 1. How FUNNY is that? 2. How SAD is that? 3. You mean those things actually OPEN!

Blogging is a great way to keep others up on your life, but you should understand that sharing your thoughts on the Internet can also be hazardous. Your entertainment can become your downfall. Take Myrle, for example, a friend of mine who oversees hiring for a large corporation. While interviewing prospective employees he casually asks if the candidate maintains a blog. The question seems innocent enough, but in fact Myrle is doing serious research on the person’s character. Most folks remember to look and sound sharp during an interview, but if their personal writings are trash, so is their chance of getting hired by his company. Sean and Marta have a different story. Their teenaged sons were angelic choirboys around the house, giving every impression they walked the straight and narrow. But Marta heard about a classmate’s blog that carelessly named names and gave details. As it turns out, choirboys they were not. There are millions of these stories, because millions of people don’t consider the implication of carelessly sharing their thoughts. In the world of online journaling you should accept the following as absolutes:

Honestly, I saw this on the news and couldn’t believe the difficulties these people were having, but found the faces they were making while struggling to open the bottles hilarious. The worst part was not that they couldn’t open the medicine bottles, but once opened, they then placed the once secure pills into the equivalent of a Cool Whip Tupperware (I’m not sure which is funnier, that I just mentioned Tupperware, or that everyone in the world seems to have about 500 Cool Whip containers lurking around the house). So, not only were they incredibly inept at opening a bottle, but they also put any kid in the house in danger of getting ahold of some pretty serious stuff. The crazy thing is this is exactly what we do with Christ. It can be truly hard to open up and gain access to this guy named Jesus; who lived so long ago, in another country, spoke a different language, and didn’t even own an iPod. We’re supposed to understand and relate to this guy? Opening the bottle of pills sounds pretty easy now. The funny thing is once we do manage to get a handle on Jesus and begin to understand what He was all about and what a difference He can make in our lives, it is easy to get real careless with Him. Jesus gets thrown in the proverbial Cool Whip Tupperware and the relationship with Him isn’t treated as the potentially dangerous thing it is. Christ didn’t come into this world as a tame kitten, but as a wild lion. In CS Lewis’s book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the children ask Mr. Beaver if Aslan the Lion (the Christ figure) is safe. Mr. Beaver says, “Oh my no, children. Aslan is not safe. But he’s good.” Christ in all His goodness is not safe, and should not be treated lightly, instead we should approach our Savior with a certain awe and excitement about what He can do with a life when it is committed to Him. Philippians 2:12-13 says, “... continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” If God is working in you, it is something to be feared and at the same time excited about because you just never know what He will do. While you don’t want to keep Jesus bottled up in a world proof container, you must realize what an awsome and powerful God we have, and be ready for Him to work in some amazing ways.

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1. Eventually your parent, pastor, child, in-law, boss, or (fill in the blank), is going to read that mean, dirty, or just-plain-dumb thing you are typing right now. Call it Murphy’s Law. Save yourself some serious heartache and write with great discernment. 2. Unwise remarks will come back to haunt you 20 years down the road. Ask any celebrity or person running for office. Once you post an entry, even if you delete it the next day, it’s out there forever. 3. Every line will shape how some people perceive you from that point forward. Use poor grammar and they’ll see you as a back woods hick. Racial jokes will show you as a bigot. Coarse language means you are vulgar and unwise. Negative comments reveal you as immature or insecure. Proverbs 3:19 says, “he who holds his tongue is wise,” and in his classic book The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis reinforces the notion. He writes that using words loosely is like opening a feather pillow in the wind – no matter how hard you try, you will never get all the feathers back again. Enjoying your spiritual journey requires understanding that every believer is still “under construction” in his or her quest to be like Christ. But until that day of glorious perfection, the trick is not to broadcast how far you still have to go.

5/24/2004 9:03:13 PM

PICK OF THE LITTER Lampshade

The Desert Fathers

This lo-fi ambient band creates beautiful melodic landscapes that Rebekkamaria’s whispery vocals fit perfectly on top of. If there’s any justice in the music world, this Danish band is sure to follow, say The Billions, in ushering their art into your ears for repeat listens. Because Trees Can Fly is reminiscent of both Viva Voce and Fleming & John, but by juxtaposing some trumpet and noise guitars, they unify a group of sounds that’s uniquely theirs. [lampshade.dk] // DV

This bunch of crazy artists is all over the place, with ambient noise, chant, quality packaging, artwork, and lyrical depth. Not for everyone but the eclectic at heart. With The Spirituality, this outﬁt’s debut album, they’ve raised the bar high. A live show would prove to be interesting, for sure. [threespheres.com] // DV

The Last Broadcast Having strong pop-emo sensibilities and melodic rock knowhow, The Last Broadcast (featuring former Anah Aveia vocalist Danny Gleason) reminds me of two other bands that nobody’s heard of: Days Away (daysawaymusic.com) and Number One Fan (numberonefanonline.com). Ok, how about Jimmy Eat World’s older albums? If any of these ring a bell, or even if you’re simply a fan of gripping lyrics and twinkling guitars, The Last Broadcast might be up your alley. [thelastbroadcast.net] // JW

The Kick As long as there are nouns and verbs left in our language that haven’t had the word “The” placed in front of them, there will continue to be boring band names. Luckily, The Kick have a good enough sound to back it up. If Tom Petty and Jet combined, and played while standing on hot coals, it might sound like The Kick. Energetic and entertaining, this unknown could make it big with the recent success of Jet paving the way. [thekick.us] //JW

Null Factor Featured on the HM Hard Music Sampler CD that shipped out with the May/June issue of HM (still available as a back issue), this electro-industrial band dials in all the blips, beats, and heavy keyboards that one would expect in this genre. Melody, hypnotic sounds, and an infectious beat can be found in all 11 tracks of their Purity album, all the while offering diversity between tracks. [http://members.rogers.com/ballistictest] // DV

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The Narrow Plain and simple, The Narrow is rock music. At times you can hear Metallica, Powerman 5000, Cold, and Staind inﬂuences, yet not quite on the same level as these notables. Still, their album titled selfconscious contains 12 tracks (one a remix of another track) of very intriguing music. [thenarrow.com] // JW

Christopher Lee Freeman He taught himself how to play the sitar in less than a year, transformed GS Megaphone’s sound, dropped out of the band and back into school, and is still ﬁnding the time to immerse himself in that atonal Mid-Eastern sound and record many new songs. Not sure how he does it all (probably clean living and exercise … and maybe a lil’ caffeine). Some of his new material would ﬁt in really well on the Shrapnel Records roster, as he mixes the sitar with some dazzling electric guitar playing. This is legit, monster stuff. [christopherleefreeman.com] // DV

The Ferminators Where do old school metal guitar masters go when the musical winds change direction? If you’re Fernando Hernandez of the late great Paradox, you stay in the shadows and appear every once in a while to hands down win guitar contests in San Antonio. Fern has been enjoying some recording as of late. Instrumental stuff. A standout cut is his instrumental of the Bread 70s hit “If.” He makes the guitar cry and wail like a master (Hendrix, Marino, Roth). It brings tears to the eyes of guitar aﬁcionados. [Nano0457@yahoo.com] // DV

5/24/2004 11:08:36 PM

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5/26/2004 8:09:24 AM

HARD MUSIC HISTORY As HM Magazine enters its 20th year of publication, we decided to take the next six issues (culminating next July in our 20th Anniversary issue) and highlight six seminal artists who really shaped the Christian hard music scene we know today. The artist to start off these special historical features was an easy choice – Larry Norman. Larry is known as the “father of Christian Rock,” but he was once a young lad. Raised in an all-black neighborhood, he had an early appreciation for music and, speciﬁcally, the blues that created rock and roll. His pioneering forays into a “Jesus Rock” scene that he pretty much started was right in the midst of the entertainment capitol of Hollywood back in the late sixties. After contributing to two albums with the band People, he released his ﬁrst of many solo albums, Upon This Rock, on Capitol Records. Billboard Magazine called him “the most important writer since Paul Simon.” He signed to Verve/ MGM Records and worked with Beatles producer George Martin on Only Visiting This Planet, which was later voted the best Christian album of all time by CCM Magazine. Like many a pioneer or leader, he was not (and still is not) always understood.

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He simply came along at a time when a freaky guy sporting long hair just wasn’t looked upon too favorable by many conservative church congregations. Like many of his contemporaries (Keith Green, Randy Stonehill, 2nd Chapter of Acts), he was pushing back accepted norms in “sacred” musical styles. In contrast to his peers, however, his methods and lyrics were always one step past the edge. While he had congregations weeping and singing “I Wish We’d All Been Ready,” he was also communicating to acid heads with Jim Morrison-like poetry that read: “It was the Last Supper, and a snake crawled around the plate / it was the Last Supper and I knew I’d arrived too late…” He had the audacity to question the US government’s space program, for crying out loud: “You say we beat the Russians to the moon, but I say you starved your children to do it…” and “…let’s send some people to the moon and gather information / they brought back a big bag of rocks / only cost 13 billion / must be nice rocks!” And he never strayed too far from humor when a good punch line could be had, asking John Lennon, “Who’s more popular

now?” in light of the widespread popularity of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. He accentuated his point with a dig at another Beatle by adding: “I’ve been listening to Paul’s records / I think he really is dead…” By sheer artistic vision, he never cowered to commercialism, musical trends, or monetary temptation to forsake his Jesuscentered lyrics. His albums, like the “trilogy” of Only Visiting This Planet, So Long Ago The Garden and In Another Land were like puzzles with layer after layer of meaning for those willing to dig. For instance, the last song of each of those albums all ended with the line of text that was the album’s title itself (“Reader’s Digest” ends with the phrase, “…don’t ask me, I’m only visiting this planet” and “Nightmare” concludes with, “…we left it oh so long ago, the garden;” and “Hymn To The Last Generation” tallies off with “…He will lead us in another land”). There were a lot of crafty little gems like this. Sometimes the clues jumped entire albums, like the line in “Nightmare” where a marionette grabs his leg and, “said exactly 89 words to me – count ‘em…” Those that bothered counting came up with a slightly different number. And on Something New Under The Son Larry declares, “89 is really 99.”

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H A R D MUSIC HISTORY

While he never struck gold financially, thousands of fans and fellow artists have connected to Larry Norman. He was not only a musical evangelist that preached comfort to the afflicted and affliction to the comfortable, he was an artist that never settled for mediocrity. His art, like his lyrics and messages, could always be held to a higher standard and pass the scrutiny. He named his songs “Baroquen Spirits” and his record label “Phydeaux.” Like a true poet, it’s almost as if he hears a voice the rest of us can’t. We clamor to hear what he says after descending the mountain. It’s this maverick and esoteric attitude and element that attracts us to him. And it’s these qualities that qualify him for an honor he never asked for – the founding father of Christian rock. This form of music, when pursued with the kind of excellence described here, is a passionate art form that draws on the soul of the suffering, the energy of the young, and the song of the seeker. The simple conclusion is that, if it weren’t for Larry and his contributions, it’s likely that there wouldn’t be a Stryper or a P.O.D. or a crazy full scene that we enjoy and love. Sometimes it’s good and proper to give credit where credit’s due. This is one of those times. Thank you, Larry Norman.

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