Sweet Jesus fucking Christ (figure of speech, but hey, it fits - these dudes are fans of the lord)... hands down, no doubt, Seventh Star is by far the best christian hardcore band out there right now, and I've come to this determination after hearing just one song off of this, their second full-length. No shit. This one's got it all: Good songs, solid recording, killer layout, done deal. I had never heard this band before but it only took them about three minutes to make me a fan. Expect basic three- to four-minute compositions chock full of midpaced chugga chugga mayhem and some of the best vocals I've heard lately: Just hoarse fuckin' shouts that sound way more genuinely pissed off than 95% of the bands out there yelling and screaming about random nonsense. Seriously, the dude sounds like he weighs at least 50lbs more than he does and his voice makes me wish he was in a band like Fury of Five or something, just singing about beating the fuck out of anyone and everyone and generally wrecking shit. But the lyrics on this fucker ain't bad for a christian band, so I'm more than willing to settle. There aren't really any surprises on this one from a songwriting standpoint, but there's enough happening to get 'em through 34 minutes easy. The title track has a few more metal riffs tossed in, "The Seventh Star" blends staccato chords with a thrashier disposition, "The Torch" is shorter and kind of has a NYHC kick to it, "My 96th Thesis" has an All Out War thing going on at times (complete with a guitar solo), with "First Rains" throwing a little bit of a sludgy groove into its churning tempo, and so on. The recording was handled by Kurt "one of the only producers I consistently enjoy" Ballou and sounds perfect for this style. The guitars are dense and in your face, totally running the show, you can make out a bit of the bass, the percussion sounds natural and has a good sense of warmth, and those vicious motherfucking vocals are laid down in a way that lets their texture show through without it any way overpowering the music. And trust me, it wouldn't be hard for this dude's vocals to jump out front and drown out the guitars, so the production has been damn well secured on this outing. Good work. I also love the layout. The artwork (of which there is plenty) is excellent, the appearance consistent, and none of it looks generic at all. The lyrics aren't typical either, which is great. There are definitely a lot of references to god and themes of dealing with fear, betrayal, and other such hardships, but almost all of the religious elements are internally based, so it's not the kind of stuff that's coming off as directed at "nonbelievers" or whatever. Sure, there are still some passages that I'm not really into, but I have to commend them for being more creative than any of the other bands I've encountered from that type of scene in a long time. "The eye of god sees lukewarm deeds - his mouth disgorges lethargy. With a tepid faith, and a deafened ear - Laodecian heart - I will spit you out..." I don't know, I mean, musically it's pretty cut and dry, but I don't fucking care. The songs are powerful and everything about this release puts it a step above a lot of what I hear, regardless of whether or not I agree with what they have to say. This is definitely the best thing Facedown Records has released to date. Great work, I'm digging this. I'm not kidding, when it comes to the surprisingly massive deluge of christian hardcore out there these days, this record is leagues above every bit of it.
[Facedown]
Running time - 34:06, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Feverish, The Seventh Star, Resistance to Resistance, Last Hours]
Facedown Records - http://www.facedownrecords.com
