Customer Reviews

When I Am God

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The musical intensity of Symphony In Peril and Norma Jean. The harsh screaming vocals like that of Underoath. When you combine the two, it seems it's safe to say that Solid State Records' newcomers Oh, Sleeper and their debut album, When I Am God, will be hard for any hardcore lover to pass up.


Whether it's the loud and crunchy guitars in "I Will Become The Reaping," the technical drums with plenty of double bass in "To Flagship," or the throat-shredding screams in "Building The Nations," When I Am God is full of all the aspects of hardcore. Oh, Sleeper even pulls a page out of Demon Hunter's book, slowing it down a bit halfway through the album in "The Color Theft." And if you're one to never stray from the hardcore scene, you can rest assured that at about the halfway point of the song, it picks up and redeems itself with more of the loud stuff you came for.


Lyrically, this project focuses on humanity. In "Vices Like Vipers," vocalist Micah Kinard screams, "Why do we keep what holds us? Why do I keep what holds me down?." They're simple lyrics with deep meaning. This song also reveals the meaning of the album title, which might cause some confusion at first. "When I am God this church is unsound" is all about how life and the body of Christ is torn apart when everyone tries to be the most important thing in life, and not let God be God. A theme of God's mercy is present in "Charlatan's Host," when Kinard says "Oh, Forgiver! Where is justice in letting me live?" But through all the thoughts of failure and aching for God, the knowledge of His provision is existant as well. "We Are The Archers" talks of God being in control and always there for us, though sometimes we have no idea what exactly He is doing, "The Captain, what will He send? I know He will send, but what will be sent?"


There aren't a lot of flaws on the album. However, the songs seem to lack a sort of rhythm in the vocals. While it's not quite like the chaos of The Chariot, there are times when it seems like Kinard is trying to take one line and elongate it through the music to fill more time. But other than that, there's really not much to find fault with. I'll be looking forward to seeing what these guys do next.

This is just one of "those" cds. Its hard to truly explain what that really means until you take the time to listen.

When I Am God leaves nothing out. Honest, passionate, relevant lyrics? Check. Amazing clean Vocals, throaty/brutal screaming? Check. Outstanding musicianship all around? Check. Shifty, mind-boggling time changes? Check. Excellent production? Check.

Theres nothing more I could ask for in a cd. This is about as good as it gets.

Honestly? This is the best release of the year. In my opinion, it's the second best album ever recorded.

I fell in love with these guys immediately after hearing their EP, and the debut record only improves upon everything they've already been doing right. I was a huge fan of Terminal, and of course Between The Buried And Me, and Oh, Sleeper combines both styles incredibly. They re-recorded all the songs from their previous EP, plus 6 new ones. Every re-recording is better than the original, except for a few parts of "We Are The Archers", which was a huge disappointment for me, since it was my favourite song. The speaking parts, compared to the EP version, take away the energy from the song, but otherwise it's vastly improved.

As for the new songs, they're breathtaking. Beautiful and brutal, sweeping and sultry, everything you could ask for and more, it's all here. While the two slower songs, "The Color Theft" and "Revelations In The Calm" are wondrously put together and executed, and although I enjoy them (much more than some instrumentals bands insist on including), I usually skip them, simply to get to the better songs.

Everything about this album blows me away, the musical tightness, the vocal expression, and the obvious care they take in crafting their lyrics. They sound like no one else, and this is a very good thing.

If you enjoy good music, you should purchase this album. Now.

I don't know why this album draws comparisons to Between the Buried and Me. To be honest, they sound nothing alike and Between the Buried and Me is in fact my favorite band. They don't sound like The Human Abstract either actually.

Anyways, this is an album that's sure to draw up some emotions. It's dark, heavy and uplifting all at the same time. I would tend to agree that this is one of the best metal albums ever, or at least in the past couple of years. It follows no generic formula and pulls you in from the first song. By the time you hit To Flagship you'll grasp how incredible this album is.

Album's like this shouldn't be passed up by any means. This is a band that is worth the support because it's difficult to come across such beautifully dark music like this. Give it shot. Beginning to end, this is a breathtaking album.

I couldn't wait for this cd and I was actually worried that I had too high of expectations. However, this cd didn't disappoint at all. What this band exceeds at is their originality. A lot of bands have been riding the coat tails of previous bands (ie: destroy the runner = As I lay dying) but this band manages to have their own uniqueness and have a lot of aspects to songs that are different than others.

The guitar work is amazing on this cd. Its very technical and the majority of the cd is complex riffs instead of just steady strumming. A lot of the sounds they make and harmonics are unlike any other band and are fresh. The breakdowns are also different. They aren't the standard palm muted open drop D. break downs. They are much more complex and add a new flair to the tunes. There is also some sweeping on the cd that has a great effect that makes it sound amazing.

The drummer on this cd is quite good. He is one of the few who are able to be offbeat on purpose and help the music (ie norma jean and underoath). He's got a lot of talent and drives this band a lot as opposed to be drowned out.

The vocals are flawless in my opinion. Their screamer is a fresh sound who is capable of highs mids and lows. His scream has an intensity that other bands lack and his own style. His lows are also sort of like spencers from underoath (not ridiculously distorted and more a yelling and gut-like scream). One guitarist throws in some clean vocals which are very good and their screamer throws in some talking at times which is oddly enough pretty cool.

This CD is out of control, and even the slower songs are amazing. The songs are all good in their own way. The best songs are the first 4 songs definitely and his name was bishop.

Go pick up this record, its amazing and will not disappoint.

One of the sickest albums from one of the sickest bands I have ever heard. Great, Christian guys who write about what matters to them.

SO GOOD!

I love Underoath's they're only chasing safety, Define the great line, Burden of a Day's Blessed be our ever after and this masterpiece of an album...Maybe the best screamer I've ever heard.

Vices like Vipers is one of the top 10 hardcore songs of all time.

This is a very good CD and a great start for this band. I enjoyed all the songs. Hope to hear more from this artist in the future. Great sound and very original.

I bought this CD without 1st listening to it, which i typically avoid. But it was one that I was soooo glad I bought. "Vices like Vipers" and "The Siren's Song" alone make this CD an absolute must-have for your collection. I listen to it over & over & over. I saw them in concert & they are just as amazing.

Awesome album musiclly! For me the lyrical content leaves a little to be desired. I am not usually a fan of christian anything, but christian metal is taking a step in the right direction... Less preaching, more rocking. This band sounds very similar to new Norma Jean. A little off-beat, with different time signatures. Very decent stuff, in this case Jesus has my blessing.