Music Review: The Ascendicate

So, recently I have been looking for more good Christian metal. The problem I have with most "Christian" metal bands is that there is really nothing "Christian" about a lot of them. Bands like Haste the Day, Norma Jean, and even Underoath rarely if ever speak about their faith in their lyrics, or else they are intensely cryptic with the messages of their lyrics.

So, to further my search, I used everyone's favorite music discovery tool, Pandora. I believe the station I used most successfully was either a Demon Hunter station or a Decyfer Down station... at any rate, I soon made the greatest musical discovery I have made in a while. The Ascendicate.

To quote from the highly acclaimed JesusFreakHideout.com,

 The Ascendicate  battles ahead of the mediocre while serving up some thought-provoking and catchy melodic tunes...Thanks to [lead singer] Marlowe's singing and the frenzied manner of the music, [their debut album] To Die As Kings rises above most, especially as a debut. While a majority of bands spend two or three albums trying to perfect their own style and sound, ... [The Ascendicate's] polished sound and maturity are evident in every growl, every pronounced lyric, and every guitar smashing chord. If you enjoy melodic hard rock, but aren't necessarily a fan of the more chaotic symphonies often found in the genre, then The Ascendicate's rocking debut is worth checking out.
                                   

To put it simply, I love these guys. I absolutely love their sound; they have brought a whole new level of interest to the metal genre, let alone the Christian metal subgenre. Their artistic combinations of growling and melodic singing, often within the same line or even the same word, just adds so much to each song.

More importantly, I am so pumped to find a metal band with a sound that I like who are also straight-forward and bold with their message.

Here are a few lines to demonstrate what I'm talking about:

From "Scottish":
Shake me, break me,
Make me into something free,
Make me complete, ‘cause this is where I want to be.
I wanna be where he abounds,
I wanna be where he abounds.

From "Burden":
I feel this pain, I feel it burn in my heart
I know that this is a test
To make me stronger
You tell me this is my cross
That I bear for the weak
I'll give you all that I am, You're my blood
You're my strength
Now learn, and live through this
and let it burn.
Don't let this burden flee from me
till the lesson is complete
Because the pain is teaching me
Who I need to be.

From possibly my favorite song by them thus far, "Fighting Words":
You’re never gonna hear what I say ‘til I stand up and say what you want me to,
And I’m gonna stand right in your way, pray God will have mercy on all of you,
You wanna know what’s inside of me,
You wanna know what we’re all about,
You keep it up and you’ll be finding out.
No way – you’re not stopping us,
It’s here in our hearts,
No way your fighting words will tear us apart.
I think it’s time you started watching your mouth, ‘cause God never called us to be walked on,
And you’re never gonna figure us out,
If you know what is best, you’ll leave us alone.

So, yeah. I'm pretty psyched about these guys. I can't wait to see what they come up with next. Check them out:

http://www.solidstaterecords.com/artists/276/The_Ascendicate/
http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/cdreviews/ToDieAsKings.asp
http://www.myspace.com/theascendicate


Today's Quote, featured in The Bible:
"Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not! And if worry can't do little things like that, what's the use of worrying over bigger things? "
- Luke 12:25-26