The Sacrificed is a metal and progressive Christian Rock band from Lakeland, Florida who were formed back in 2005. Despite different backgrounds and musical influences such as Dream Theater and Iron Maiden, the band shared Christian faith. Their first demo, ‘The Da Vinci Hoax’ was released in March 2007 and was signed by Roxx Records in 2009 and recorded their debut album ‘2012’ in July of the same year, aiming to reach a much wider audience. After adding two more band members, ‘III’ is intended to be simple yet powerful and represents this as the band’s third effort, whilst also reflecting the three nails that were meant to have pierced the hands and feet of Jesus Christ when he was crucified.
 |
| 'Powerful' Album Artwork |
Despite being wary of uproar the mainstream world may bring to the controversial album art, the band emphasise that their music and lyrics can reach out to any listener. Commencing with the theatrical, scary movie style spoken lyrics ‘A plane has crashed into the world trade centre…’, ‘The World is Changing’ attempts the Angels & Airwaves, 30 Seconds to Mars or Rise Against flair with very little effect. Merging into ‘Falling’ which immediately crash lands into a much heavier, metal style. Subconsciously, many perceive metal as full of anger and hatred and The Sacrificed’s attempt to eradicate this idea with terrible sound effects but decent guitaring, combined with odd vocal styles and lyrics. The worship and prayer orientation of this album is almost like a parody of more mainstream metal music.
‘Ark of the Covenant’ works well in terms of rhythm and instrumentation, but its aspiration to be powerful and not for the faint hearted is definitely questionable. Perhaps even laughable. However, The Sacrificed speak from the heart and make music about what is important to them, which is something to admire from any band or artist. Yet, referring to divisive topics, even amongst the Christian community, such as the reality of the crucifixion of Jesus and how horrific it was meant to have been, does not bode well with the Christian or Metal conventions as such. ‘The Nephilim Agenda’ (yes, I have no idea either!) and ‘Times Up’ illustrate almost inaudible vocals, excessive guitar solos and no worship elements whatsoever. From my experience, Christians tend to devote time to showing God, and people around them how much they appreciate him, in a joyful and more peaceful manner, with the likes of Hillsong United and Phil Wickham.
Although, with a much lighter, more sentimental elegance, ‘Words on The Gin’ has the potential to be much more effective, but is very lacking lyrically. ‘Behold The Power of God’ may come across as another emotion or worship driven offering, but The Sacrificed opts to revert back to their odd merge of Metal and God. By convention, Metal tracks tend to be rather long, but ‘Regeneration’ is so repetitive, its 4 and a half minutes snails by, much like ‘Offended’ does.
 |
| The Sacrificed: Merging Metal and Christianity |
Concluding with ‘Before the Storm’ and ‘24’, ‘III’ fails to provide the promise The Sacrificed propose they are capable of. With an unruly merge of Metal and Christianity, inaudible or ineffective lyrics and a few decent guitars solos thrown around, the album, especially for a third release, it abysmal and fails to reach out to either Metal heads or Christians.
0/5
No comments:
Post a Comment