For Today - Breaker

01. The Breaker’s Origin
02. Devastator
03. The Advocate
04. The Breaker’s Valley
05. Seraphim
06. Arm the Masses
07. White Flag
08. The Breaker’s Encounter
09. Phoenix
10. Psalm of the Son
11. King
12. The Breaker’s Commission

I received this CD a couple weeks ago, right before it hit the shelves, and while I wanted to listen and jump right in with an early review, I decided to wait, listen more, and let it sink in.

I admit, I did not discover the band until their second album was released, but at the time I was immediately impressed with the sheer power and feel of their album; and this time around it is no different. For me, this band stands above many other in their genre for a few main reasons:

Messenger - On Delivery (Live)

Messenger returns with this live release for 2010, recorded during a benefit concert for Corinne's Kitchen at Arlington Assembly Auditorium. This release is available on CD as well as DVD and, believe it or not, Blu-ray. The band seems to be appearing everywhere, and in the short time since hitting the music scene, seem to be accomplishing quite a bit. I had the privilege of reviewing their first release I'm Talking to You in a past issue of the Heaven's Metal fanzine, so before going further with the review of this new live release, I'd like to go back and cover their initial 2008 release for those of you not familiar yet with this hard rock outfit.

The Showdown - Blood in the Gears

OK, I wish to start with a little background to build up my thoughts on this new release. Album number one, A Chorus of Obliteration was a modern metal monster; with a typical vocal styles that leaned a bit more heavily on the extreme/screaming/growling style mixed with singing as most bands use these days.

Album number two, Temptation Come My Way was a drastic change from the first, and looked and sounded a LOT like Metallica's "Black album" with a heavy bent towards southern metal.Vocal style had little to no extreme screaming/growling style to it, but was down-and-dirty gritty singing. Most fans of the first album really didn't like this change. I personally thought it was great.

The Moshketeers - The Downward Spiral

This month we see the reissue of a gem from the past. OK, I admit upfront, I had previously heard of these guys back in the day when they were active (late 80's - early 90's), and under their former band name, Rapture, had seen reviews of their releases; I had just never acquired a copy of their music myself. Back about six years ago, I did some MP3 demo trading with some guys online, and acquired about ten discs loaded with hundreds of old demos. Among them were both Rapture demos, as well as this release, The Downward Spiral. But I never really got around to listening to this, and did I ever miss out. I am impressed with this disc, and this reissue has been cleaned up, remastered, and made to sound even more amazing than the copy I had on hand.

Vision - Vision/Mountain in the Sky

Finally, after 25 years, one of my favorite releases is finally remastered and on CD. The self titles Vision release is HERE! And a bonus, as their first release that I never could get my hands on, is also available. And word has it a third unreleased album is forthcoming. I was thrilled to finally get my hands on these, and hope you all grab your copies, as they are limited editions.

In 1985, I stumbled across this album in the local Christian book store. The dark figures, the smoky cover, they looked like they might rock enough to satisfy me, so I grabbed it. About ten years later, I found a company that for a fee, would bounce vinyl to CD and clean it up a bit, so I quickly sent this and other albums to them. Now, I can replace that edition with this true remastered CD quality.

Michael Roe - We All Gonna Face The Rising Sun

For those of you who have followed the stellar career of the 77's and/or the solo releases by front man Michael Roe, have hopefully already ordered your copy of his latest solo effort. In essence this release is like a part two release to the latest 77's releases, Holy Ghost Building.


Holy Ghost Building was a very big departure from the typical 77's sound, and found the band tackling a very old gospel style, very similar to the feeling of the soundtrack from O Brother, Where Are Thou?as far as being a recreation of very old tunes with a deep bluesy southern feel to them. While that 77's album was a most excellent release, I think this new solo release has taken it a huge step forward.

Since October - Life, Scars, Apologies

I have been following Since October ever since they released their first EP, that later was expanded to their first full length independent release entitled Gasping for Hope. Once they got signed, they took a good chunk of the songs from that independent release, and added some new tracks to make up their first major release This is My Heart. Album number three finds the band in fine form, albeit a slightly different feel. Again they recorded this with the wizardry of Travis Wyrick so the production value is as amazing as expected, but musically they seemed to have toned down just a hair.

Gone is the more intense and heavy styling, and in it's placed is a mature and polished heavy edge release - dare I say a slightly more commercial sound?

War of Ages - Eternal

This fourth release from the PA metalcore quintet is a big leap forward in all areas - production, maturity and power. Not a drastic change musically from previous releases, they have taken the same warrior metal style, and pushed it to the next level.

In my early days of "getting into" the heavier metal/metalcore/hardcore/scream music (being mainly a melodic metal fan previously), this band was one that immediately grabbed me, and I liked them from day one. When I got my hands on this new release I was thrilled with expectation, and that expectation was fulfilled with what quickly became a favorite release.