New Year, New Music?

The past few years I've mostly forgotten about our little music blog and the friends I've made through this little endeavor. As is often the case, life snuck up on me and I haven't had much time to focus on posting music, introducing new bands and other such things. But I've come to miss it quite a lot. So, if I don't get too busy with the myriad other things (I'm now a full-time caregiver for my 91-year-old grandpa, I'm soon to be engaged, and my family has already started making plans for the wedding), I'll try to share some of the music I've discovered recently. Here's a few off the top of my head:

Valadares
Burdens Within
Small Town Titans
Brightgray
Cloud Break
NF

So... stay tuned! Here's hoping we can revive this thing!

Oh... Have I ever mentioned I write my own music? This year I'm going to try and get some more professional recordings done of songs I've written. So if you're curious what I sound like, be on the lookout for that! lol

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.