Maylene & the Sons of Disaster

Been listening to Maylene for a while now. Heard them first on a compilation CD back in '09, and they've been kinda growing on me since. They have a kind of southern hard rock mixed with metal sound. Like if George Thorogood decided to start screaming metalcore vocals instead of singing. Maybe that's not the best description. Like always, give a couple songs a listen and decide for yourself.
Here's a song from their first album, also my initial introduction to them. "Tough as John Jacobs":

From their second album, here's "Raised by the Tide":

Their third album is the only one I owned for a while, so I love pretty much every song. I'll share 2 of my favorites. Here's a song with mostly clean vocals and good ol' Southern rock n' roll vibes, "Listen Close":

And here's "Oh Lonely Grave":

They have a 4th album out, but I haven't gotten to listen to it yet. Let me know what you think of it all.

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!

Sam's Christian Metal Corner: August Burns Red

I recently got started listening to the metalcore genre of music. This genre is defined as "a mix between hardcore punk and extreme metal". Some examples of metalcore bands include Killswitch Engage, All That Remains, and Bullet for My Valentine. There are several Christian bands in this genre as well: As I Lay Dying, Underoath, The Devil Wears Prada, and August Burns Red are some of the most popular. This week, I picked up an album titled "Rescue & Restore" by August Burns Red (hereafter referred to as ABR). Here's one of my favorite songs from the album, "Fault Line":



 I like how the lyrics start with the line "We all hurt. We all need. We all cry. We all bleed." I have gone through some rough stuff in my life, and this confirms that I'm not the only one out there who hurts.

ABR also does some interesting instrumentation on this album. Here's "Creative Captivity", which utilizes several unexpected instruments, including a guzheng (a Chinese zither), a trumpet, violin, and cello:



 ABR did an instrumental Christmas album last year, entitled "Sleddin' Hill". They put a metal twist to holiday favorites such as "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", "Carol of the Bells", and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas". They did a punk version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", and a few original compositions, my favorite of which is "Flurries":



They have also been featured in the popular "Punk Goes..." album series. Here they are brutally murdering Britney Spears' "...Baby One More Time":



I'm not going to post a whole bunch of videos, but if you like what you hear, check them out! Most, if not all, of their songs can be found on YouTube.

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!

Christian Metal Corner: Tourniquet

I thought I'd do a post about one of my favorite Christian Speed/Thrash/etc Metal bands, Tourniquet. They just released their 8th album, Antiseptic Bloodbath. Here are a few of my favorite songs from their most recent release:
Antiseptic Bloodbath

I love the intro to "Fed by Ravens, Eaten by Vultures". Nice use of cello and violin.
And no Tourniquet album would be complete without a song about their strong stance against animal abuse. Here's their song "86 Bullets" about the killing of an elephant named Tyke. (Wikipedia article here)
At the moment, the entire "Antiseptic Bloodbath" album is uploaded on their YouTube account. I recommend checking it out, and as always, support the artist if you like their music.

Write This Down

If you've never heard of Write This Down, I'd recommend checking them out. They are a Christian rock band from Minnesota. Anyway, they just released a song for their next album, entitled "Crash and Burn". Check it out:



Here's the first song I ever heard by them, which I immediately fell in love with:

Let me know what you think!

Band Recommendation- Fono

I discovered this band after a friend threw in one of their CDs in a trade we did. They sound to me like Gin Blossoms or maybe earlier Goo Goo Dolls.

Here's one of their most popular songs, "Drift Away":



Here's another song, "Now She's 24":



Here they are performing "Collide" live:



Let me know what you think!

The Elms

The Elms are a Christian Indie band that I like. Here's a couple of my favorite songs from their self-titled EP:

Goodnight Rosa


Lifeboat


If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Radial Angel

I discovered this band nearly 5 years ago after recording a bunch of songs off a local Christian Radio station. I had forgotten about them until I found that mixtape and looked up the song lyrics. I have since fallen in love with their music. They sound like TRAPT, with elements of Lifehouse in their softer songs.

She (one of their softer songs)



Falling



Not Beautiful



My favorite song by them is "Love", but it doesn't seem to be available on youtube. Please let me know what you think. I know I'm in love... :)

Today's post featuring christian indie rock band Future of Forestry

The californian band named after a poem by C. S. Lewis started in 2000 and has released one full-length album, Twilight, and a few EPs so far. Last year, they put out two EPs from a planned trilogy that is collectively known as Travel Series. And it's especially these two records that I enjoy enormously. The last piece of the series is due out at the end of July and I'm quite excited about it. If you enjoy bands like Nada Surf or Death Cab for Cutie, give them a chance right away. By the way, their song "Traveler's Song" will be featured on Grey's Anatomy April 29.


Band's MySpace