Music Spotlight Archives - Rockin' With Purpose

XIII Minutes – Obsessed

By Donn King

To start, I’m blown away by this album. I love the blend of metal styles. Growls, screams and melodic and some numetal sound all mixed in. Very uniqueness to their sound. I love new and different stuff in Christian Metal. I’m telling you that this is the next album you...

Red, Gone

By Donn King

Listening to Red’s new album, Gone for probably the tenth time or so on Amazon prime music. Still want the physical copy but I love this album. I don’t know yet, if it’s their best work but either way, it’s awesome. It opens with my favorite track - Step Inside,...

TFK, The End is Where We Begin Revisited

By Linda

Thousand Foot Krutch’s 2012 release has been stuck in my car CD player for five years! This concept album takes us on a journey through our faith as Christians. It starts out with a Darth Vader type voice drawing you in with these words "You have activated all systems, deactivation...

12 Stones – Picture Perfect

By Donn King

The 5th release from 12 Stones, Picture Perfect, is a good hard rock release with twelve tracks and two bonus songs make for a nice long album. 12 Stones is an American Christian post-grunge band that was formed in 2000 in Louisiana. Their last release was Beneath the Scars in...

Seventh Day Slumber – Found

By Donn King

It's just heavy enough and yet you can still understand the lyrics perfectly. And that's the style Seventh Day Slumber plays perfectly with a mix of harder music and ballads and Christ centered lyrics. I love heavy metal and really enjoy the real heavy stuff with screams and growls but...

Nothing Left, Destroy and Rebuild

By Donn King

This is a new group started by Ryan and Brandon Leitru from the band For Today. They bring in Danon Saylor on vocals from a bullet for pretty boy and Alex Camarena on drums from Silent planet. And so was born a new supergroup. Make no mistake, this is not...

Dire – Volume 1

By Donn King

This is Dire, an indie metal band from Georgia's release from 2016. We can expect great things from these guys. The first track All Glory just hits you in the face with Christian metal. The growling in the chorus singing all glory to the one true God just blows you...

Demon Hunter – Outlive

By Donn King

With lead vocalist, Ryan Clark's side project of electronic pop, we were worried that they'd go soft. But worry no longer. The new release is plenty heavy. There is some electronic sound but it fits nicely. The album is a great release from a band that is just straight heavy...

Death Therapy – The Storm Before the Calm

By Donn King

This is the new project from Jason Wisdom, the former lead singer of Christian death metal band Becoming The Archetype. But he's come up with a totally different sound while still getting his trademark growls into the vocals. What makes it so interesting is that for a metal band, there...

Red, of Beauty and Rage

By Aimee Otero

With an exceedingly growing career, It is no surprise that Red once again makes an outstanding delivery. This particular album; of Beauty and Rage is by far their greatest work yet. Although they are not known for an upbeat sound, they nonetheless glorify their Creator with a raw and relative...

Islander, Power Under Control

By Linda

I became obsessed with Islander's Power Under Control when every song drew me in and kept me engaged. The songs vary in genre being described as alt-rock, punk via hip-hop inspired, alt- punk, emo, second wave nu-metal, modern with some retro undertones and likened to a Deftones, POD, Afghan Whigs and...

Disciple, Long Live The Rebels

By Donn King

What to say about Disciple? This is their 13th studio release and they continue to stay true to form. They're always good with a nice mix of harder stuff and the power ballad and they do it again here. For me, the ballads God is with Us and Empty Grave...

Skillet – Comatose 2006

By Donn King

It's November 2006, I'm new to downstate NY and a brand new born again Christian. Totally clueless about how to read the Bible, I start at the beginning with Genesis. But what do I do about music? I love hard rock and heavy metal. Do I have to give it...

Silent Planet – Everything Was Sound

By Donn King

Silent Planet, a metalcore band from California's second full-length release knocks it out of the park much like their first release. With an excellent blend of screams and melodies, Everything Was Sound deals with struggles of mental illness. The band is not afraid to go after the social issues of...

Awake O Sleeper – A River Wild

By Linda

A bluesy, Southern rock style guitar riff in a short introduction beckons you into A River Wild, the latest album released by Awake O Sleeper in 2015. All Hands On Deck uses imagery of navigating a ship in rough waters, requiring "all hands on deck" mustering all faith and proclaiming "this...

Norma Jean, Polar Similar

By Donn King

From my first listen, this album just blows me away. Most albums take me a few listens to fall for, especially hardcore heavy metal. I like to read the lyrics and then listen again but that was not the case for this album. It's a perfect blend of screams and...

Fit For A King – Deathgrip

By Donn King

Definitely a heavy metal band with good screaming. This is the group's third release and might be a little controversial as the lyrics are pretty dark and delve into the violence and sometimes hopelessness of today's society. The first track is titled, "Pissed Off" and you might wonder what's Christian...

Theocracy, Ghost Ship

By Donn King

This interesting band fits into the genre called power metal, which is more popular in Europe than in the US. It reminds me a lot of Stryper or from early Dream Theater from the secular scene. There's no screaming and you can easily hear the lyrics. My favorite song is,...

Wolves At The Gate, Types and Shadows

By Donn King

This album is different from the band's earlier releases, which I really liked. This one is a change of pace, definitely softer metal for them. It is more in line with Demon Hunter's sound. I like the album a lot, as much as I love the harder albums, it's nice to...