Customer Reviews

Son Of The Morning

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

So I caught Oh, Sleeper on the "Scream the Prayer" tour this year. I was there to see Haste the Day, so I wasn't quite committed to watching any of the other bands. Still, for Oh, Sleeper, I still found myself in the pit and crushed against the stage, though I knew none of their songs.

Their new effort, "Son of the Morning", has surpassed all my expectations. Gorgeous guitar work kicks off this disc, and you will be screaming along during the opener: "They call me the son of the morning". The drums on "World Without A Sun" are intensely and surgically precise, and fabulous technique is employed throughout. I like how the drums are conservative when other levels of the song are up front, and when the time is exact, a nice fill explodes to wake you up and have you rewinding the track.

Another thing that is great about this disc is the production. I am a big production guy, and on the album, everything is slick and crisp. The guitars cut through wonderfully, and the drums are sharp and have that snap. The vocals are intelligible, even when screamed.

Overall, this disc is up with "Dreamer", "Define the Great Line", and "Ashes of the Wake" for my all-time favorite metal album. I am definitely going to go back, get their older stuff, and keep track of this band. Fabulous, fabulous show gentlemen.

Oh, Sleeper are an excellent band. It's as simple as that. While most metal/screamo/hardcore bands shine in the instrumental department, many offer just decent lyrics. Oh, Sleeper is the exception to that well-known and easily understood rule. Not only is 'When I Am God' an exceptional instrumental album, the lyrics are superior to those of any other artist a fan could name as a rival. The whole concept of "When I am God and decide for myself what is right and wrong, I have no hope for salvation" is very effective and, in all reality, completely correct. Now we are presented with 'Son of the Morning' which has its own excellent concept. This new album details the final battle between God and Satan. While unable to listen to the album in it's entirety more than twice as of yet, I have decided that this is an excellent concept and the album is an undeniably excellent album.
What has changed this time around? Frankly, if 'When I Am God' had one weakness, it was the repetitiveness of the guitar-work. Thankfully, the two guitarists in this band (Shane Blay and James Erwin) have decided to branch out more (Shane even thanks John Mayer, possibly the best guitarist of his generation, in his thank you section). Vocally, Micah Kinard is an absolute beast (in the vein of Tim Lambesis). His screams are excellent. They are powerful, passionate, and audible (thank the LORD!). Matt Davis is an upgrade on the skins, and Lucas Starr does what all bassists must do, and holds his own. Shane, who does the clean vocals, is used much more on this album, and listeners will be thankful because he has a wonderful voice. The mere fact that he was once a member of Between the Buried and Me tells you how talented he is. It's nice to know he went on to form a superior band in Oh, Sleeper. Now for a song by song review:
1. Son of the Morning: 8/10. This track opens nicely with a lead combined with Micah's screaming. All of a sudden we are given some quality chug combined with the line "don't send an angel to face the devil!" Once that effect has worn off the chorus comes in with Shane's excellent singing and ends with Micah screaming what Shane has just sung. This song is an excellent example of Oh, Sleeper's superior compositional abilities. Excellent song.
2. The New Breed: 10/10. Hands down the best track on the album. It's not instrumentally flashy but is a compositional delight. It contains the best lyrical line on the album in "We can't sit quietly because there's more to life than we see. So if you are the new breed scream, 'I am Immortal in you.'" This is by far the most epic part of this undeniably epic album. A perfect 10 because it is one of the best songs I have heard this year. Right up there with Threat Signals "Through My Eyes."
3. In All Honesty: 8/10. Begins with a nice beat combined with clean vocals. I do believe that Micah was singing and his clean voice isn't nearly as nice as Shane's. I hope they adjust that for live performance. A crushing and heavy song with an excellent chorus that reminds me of As I Lay Dying's "Elegy" with the heavy chord pattern layered over excellent lyrics.
4. Breathing Blood: 9/10. Begins with Micah's very effective half scream-half spoken vocals. We are even treated to Shane's harsh voice. While the music isn't as heavy or crushing as the title would advertise, the vocals are full of power and raw emotion, which lifts this song to the higher ranks of the album. This track contains another lyrical gem in "how afraid of life can we be?" As a music fan who is annoyed by terrible lyrics, I must appreciate the lyrical superiority of this band. There's even a clean guitar part in the middle of this song reminiscent of Threat Signal's ending of their monster of a song entitled "Inane." This song is wonderful.
5. Reveries of Flight: 7/10. A bit too short for my tastes. Anything under 3 minutes isn't as effective as it ultimately could be. However, we are treated to a nice soft opening with clean vocals. The song kicks in eventually with a heavy chord progression with Micah's harsh vocals layered over it. While this part of the song is wonderful, especially once the chorus kicks back in, the length of the song is still a detriment. The drum beat during the second chorus is wicked, by the way.
6. World Without a Sun: 8/10. Also short but instrumentally delightful. We are greeted by Micah screaming, "I fear a world without a sun!" This song makes up for it's length with it's instrumental complexity. There is also a nice little breakdown near the end that is eventually followed by some nice lead work. A great song, overall, just too short.
7. The Fire Dawn: 7/10. Not bad at all, but nothing spectacular instrumentally or vocally. It stands out lyrically, but I'd learned to expect that from Oh, Sleeper.
8. A Banquet for Traitors: 8/10. Nice and heavy with some cool leads and and fully effective clean vocals.
9. Commissioned by Kings: 8/10. Great leads combined with Matt's excellent drumming propel this song to an 8. It is instrumentally enticing as well as vocally intense. This band seems incapable of disappointing its listeners. I sure hope they hold this same trait in the future.
10. The Finisher: 10/10. An absolute beast of a song defining the end of the battle and God's victorious outcome. Excellent leads and instrumentals as well as top-notch vocals are welded together to create the second best song on the album. A monster album should always end with a monster track.

Overall, this band is downright awesome. Go buy this album.

I was a huge fan of the When I am God CD and have been waiting for this for a long time. This is without a doubt probably the best Christian Screamo CD there is. An awesome concept album with extremely intelligent lyrics theorizes the conflict between God and Satan. Even if youre not a believer and simply love screamo: Pick this up, it is worth way more than the price.

Sick Sick Sick, the album is written beautifully..the whole kingdom verses another kingdom idea..i love it very much.

Because you'll spend twice as much time listening to this then most other albums you'll buy.

No joke, this is metal you can sink your teeth into. Conceptually and Lyrically brilliant. Fresh and New. Talented and Virtuosic.

Trust me. This is amazing. Take it from a long time metalhead.

YESSSS!!!!! Where have you been all my life, Oh, Sleeper?!?!? I found these guys at an Emery concert in Chattanooga, TN and they absolutely blew my mind! (Emery, you always have been and always will be first in my heart) BUT OMG!!!! EXCELLENT screaming voice, EXCELLENT drumming, EXCELLENT creative, stunning, imaginative, gripping lyrics. This has renewed my passion for Christian metal, knowing that there REALLY ARE people out there that aren't afraid to say it like it is!

I'LL CUT OFF YOUR HORNS!!!

most powerful lyrics in the metal world. buy it fellas, these gys have such a heart for god and hes ways and they deliver it in such a phenomenal way.

I admit I never was a Metalcore fan, but then I started to listen to Dead Poetic (I know their not Metalcore), and once I got used to their screaming style, it opened the door to various other bands within and around the Christian Metalcore genre. I haven't gone to deep into it however, after a certain point it begins to sound to similar.

Not to long ago I picked up Haste the Day's "Attack of the Wolf King" and I couldn't stop playing it. It really was a great album, so I had to have more. Tipped off by the Solid State/Tooth and Nail sampler I decided to check out some of the bands on it. For the most part I didn't dig the softer stuff, but the heavy "Son of the Morning" song by "Oh, Sleeper" was one I did like. So I checked out the album and got it and was blown away. Heavy, energetic and powerful Biblical messages about the battle between Satan and God(perfect for playing when punching the punching bag). My favorite songs so far are probably "Reveries of Flight", "In All Honesty", "The Fire Drawn" and "Breathing Blood." But really there's no song on here that's not good.

Oh, Sleeper is another band playing melodic metalcore, and like Killswitch Engage, Demon Hunter, and a handful of others, they make it brutal and melodic at the same time without it being poppy. I like the symbolism on the front cover, which means the Devil is defeated. when I first saw the cover, I was puzzled as to why a Christian band would feature a pentagram, and then I looked closer and it is missing its horns. very good artwork indeed. like many other Christian metalcore bands, Oh, Sleeper is uplifting and positive. I like how song no.5, entitled "Reveries Of Flight" starts out slow and then starts bludgeoning the listeners ears. this band has a bright future with Solid State

I think this CD shows a growth in the band as a whole and shows them getting even better musically. I can't wait for a new CD from them. Highly recommended to those who like a hard alternative sound.