Big Dismal

Remember that brief period in the late '90s and early 2000s where everyone tried to sound like Scott Stapp? Well, the lead singer of this band pulls off a pretty convincing double. Although the musical style doesn't exactly match that of Creed, if you were listening and not really paying attention, you might begin to wonder if it was a long-lost Creed song. Sadly, they only recorded one album before fading into relative obscurity. I thought I'd share a few of my favorite Big Dismal songs in the hopes that you'd also enjoy them. For my first example, here's a kind of power ballad-type song, "Remember (I.O.U)":
Here's one featuring Amy Lee (of Evanescence fame), entitled "Missing You":
This song was my introduction to the band, way back in the early 2000's. Called "Running Through My Mind":
And finally, a song which doesn't even sound like the same band. Kind of a Matchbox Twenty or early Train vibe to it. Titled "Just the Same":
Let me know what you think of this band. I'm a sucker for anything similar to Creed, so I automatically liked them the first time I heard them. Most, if not all, of their songs can be found on YouTube.

Christian Music Corner: Stavesacre

Stavesacre seems all but forgotten nowadays. Although they were never big like Creed or P.O.D., they consistently put out excellent music from 1995 to 2009. Stavesacre was formed by members of the crossover thrash/punk band The Crucified, as well as members of hardcore punk bands The Blamed and focused. But their musical style doesn't really reflect much of the thrash or punk origins, instead going for more of a hard-rock sound more in the veins of Project 86 and... well, I'm not really sure. It's hard to categorize Stavesacre or offer a similar band for comparison. So, as with my previous posts, I'll just link to some of their songs and let you judge for yourself.

Here's a song from their first album, titled "Threshold":
From their second album, here's "Colt .45":
From their third (also my favorite) album, here's "Sundown Motel":
Also from their third album, here's "Gold and Silver":
From their 4th album, here's "Witch Trial":
From their 5th and final album, here's "The Trouble With Being Born":
Like with other posts, if you don't like one song, try another. There's quite a variety out there, and many of their songs are available on YouTube for your listening pleasure. Let me know what you think!

Christian Music Corner: The Violet Burning

The Violet Burning is one of those odd cases in music. They prefer not to be called a "Christian Band", and yet, a lot of their music embodies everything that Christian music should be. But at the same time, it's completely different from anything in the worship music genre/scene/whatever. Ever since their debut album way back in 1989, "The Violets", as they're nicknamed, have been putting out powerful music. It's really hard to pin down one or two bands they sound like, so I'll just post a few of my favorites and let you judge for yourself:





This song reminds me of the band Filter. Especially the song "Nice Shot".



And here's a song from their most recent album. Very reminiscent of Smashing Pumpkins, if you ask me!



Of course, the songs I posted were just a drop in the bucket of TVB's music. They have 13 albums, and I've only heard songs from 4 or 5 of those. I'd recommend checking them out, and if one album doesn't "get" you, try another! You may fall in love!