Fight The Fury - Still Breathing EP (2018)

When I first listened to this EP in 2018, planning for Rock On! to be a segment for my school's radio, I didn't think too highly of it. Understandably, this was disappointing for me, as this was a Skillet side project. 11 months on, my opinions have since changed. Still Breathing EP is the debut EP by metal band Fight The Fury. Fight The Fury was conceived with the hopes of satisfying Skillet fans who prefer their earlier, more heavier music.

In the prototype radio show I tried to bring into fruition, there was a separate version of Rock On!, entitled Rock On! For Just a Little Bit. This was to be used for shorter pieces of music, like singles and EPs, but was not needed when I formed this blog. Nevertheless, let's get into the music. Still Breathing contains 5 tracks, lasting just over 20 minutes, making it a nice, quick listen. And as there are less songs, I feel like I can go into a bit more detail.

Let's start with "My Demons". The opening track to the EP is honestly, a really good start. It's punchy; the drums have a great attacking feel, which works perfectly with the rest of the instruments. The vocals are exceptionally well performed, and carry with them a lot of emotion. Despite all the praise I am giving it, it is not my favourite track on the EP. I like it a lot, but it's not as good as "I Cannot", which is my favourite song on the EP.

"Dominate Me" is the second track, and the most overtly Christian track. It's a whole lot heavier than the previous track, in terms of guitars and drums. The guitars also have a scratchy feel, which does work well with the other components. As an atheist, the lyrics seem completely wrong and weird, but from a religious view, they don't. They describe a person wanting to be an example of God, or something like that. Overall, this track is great. The fast paced vocals, along with the heavy backing track, hype you up and make you feel ready to tackle pretty much anything.

After that comes "Still Burning". Now, this track is a whole lot better than "My Demons" and even more so than "Dominate Me". The more toned down vocals is such a relief for me, and makes this track a whole tonne better. The drums are some of the most powerful I've ever heard, and paired with the guitars, it becomes incredible to listen to. This is one of my favourites on the EP, that's for sure.

"I Cannot" is the fourth track on the album, and is my favourite out of the 5 on the EP. I think it's the vocals which make me like this song a whole lot. They're emotional; they're powerful; they make you want to sing along at full volume, and I love songs like that. The backing track is also brilliant, but the vocals play a vital role in the success of the song for me. I love this song. I love it a whole lot more than the next track.

"Lose Hold of It All" is the final track of the EP, and it is, in my opinion, the worst out of the 5. I do like it a lot more than I did 11 months ago, but it's still not as good as the other tracks featured. The vocals make or break something for me, and the vocals on this particular song feel forced kind of. They feel a lot less forced than I thought before, but still forced nonetheless. The backing track is the best part of this song. It just works really well. As I said in my plan for this song 11 months ago, "I feel like this is an OK ending to the EP." and it's true. It's OK.

Thanks for sticking through this. For the conclusion, Still Breathing EP is a great beginning for Christian metal band Fight The Fury. It definitely feels a lot different to Skillet's material, but I guess that's why this band was conceived. The guitars and drums were pretty good throughout and the vocals were packed with emotion. Overall, a brilliant EP with only a few flaws.

Favourite Tracks: "My Demons", "Still Burning", "I Cannot"

Rating: 8 / 10

Enter Shikari - The Mindsweep (2015)

Enter Shikari aren't like any other rock band I've ever listened to. What they sing about has deep and thorough research behind it so that they know what they're saying and that they were making accurate statements about the topic at hand. The Mindsweep makes no shortcuts when it comes to this. Enter Shikari's fourth studio album tackles subjects that not every rock band would want to cover, like governmental activities, life, and race. Rou Reynolds, Enter Shikari's lead vocalist, even criticised other punk bands for labelling themselves as punk but not "speaking about anything important."

The Mindsweep covers a range of genres and a range of themes, including governmental activities in "Anaesthetist", to the value of life in "The Last Garrison". I first listened to Enter Shikari in 2017, after my friend recommended some of their songs to me, with "Anaesthetist" being one of them. Only now am I on my way to understanding the scope of detail that Enter Shikari put into their songs. Looking into the meaning behind each of the songs, it's difficult to piece something together because each song is put together forms a story, with a whole lot of lore and backstory. In the deluxe edition, notes were included which gave explanation to the songs. Here is an example of the notes, this one to do with "The Appeal and The Mindsweep" 1 and 2:

Source: https://imgur.com/a/WyEnm

The music itself is of excellent quality. What I particularly like about The Mindsweep is the mixture of genres. In classic Enter Shikari style, they have mixed rock music with a lot of electrical elements and styles, which is very different from other albums I've listened to. Nevertheless, it is a welcome difference, as it is executed fantastically. The music is empowering and powerful in its own right. Enter Shikari have made clear what they want to change in the world, or what they want you to understand, leaving it up to you to decide whether you agree with them or not.

The Mindsweep is, honestly, really great. It does what many albums don't: it talks about important topics and problems in the modern world, in hopes that something happens. Along with the intense meaning, the backing tracks and vocals are exceptionally well done. An impressive performance and a great listen. I highly recommend you listen to this.

Favourite Tracks: "Anaesthetist", "The Last Garrison", "Myopia", "Dear Future Historians..."

Rating: 9 / 10

Alter Bridge - One Day Remains (2004)

I first heard Alter Bridge's music about a decade ago when I was playing WWE games a whole lot. "The Rated R Superstar" Edge uses an edited of "Metalingus" for his intro theme, and it is probably still the best intro theme used in the WWE to date. And speaking of "Metalingus", it comes from this album. One Day Remains is the debut studio album by rock band Alter Bridge. When I was younger, I didn't know any better and I thought Edge himself sung "Metalingus", completely unaware about the fact that a whole band was behind the masterpiece of a track.

With 11 tracks lasting about 55 minutes, One Day Remains offers some of the cleanest vocals and instrument tracks that I have ever heard. The vocal range of Myles Kennedy is mightily impressive and add a form of power to the songs that I can't really describe. The raw emotion poured into these songs is definitely on a level that I have never heard before, and it shows all the way throughout. It's just amazing, electrifying. This album has me pumped in all kinds of ways; I have the most fun jamming out to these songs more than any other albums or songs I have heard from other artists. 

One Day Remains also offers the calmer, almost sadder songs "Broken Wings" and "In Loving Memory", which shows the contrast between this and the other songs. I especially like the backing track to "Broken Wings". It's still most definitely a rock song, but the tone is meticulously set by the guitars, which I find amazing. With the vocals and drums, the emotion is very easy to hear. As this is the first time I've listened to an Alter Bridge album, I am unable to compare it to their later material, nor am I able to give it a complete 10 / 10, but boy, I wish I could. This album shows the true scale of Alter Bridge's potential from the absolute get-go.

I love this album. It's clearly a Rock album, and makes sure you are aware of that in the coolest way possible. It's actually quite a shame I'm only listening to this now, because I would have loved to have listened to this when I was younger. One Day Remains is a spectacular debut album and showcases the raw potential of Alter Bridge. I highly recommend you listen to this one. It's incredible.

Favourite Tracks: All
Rating: 9 / 10

Skillet - Alien Youth (2001)

I'm a big fan of Skillet, but not every album of theirs can be winners. Starting off September, Alien Youth is the fourth studio album by Skillet, and is the last album to showcase their techno, synth-based style, changing to a much harder rock style, which started with Collide. This is also the farthest Skillet album back in time that I can listen to without cringing a whole tonne, but there are songs which I really can't get behind. Now, some of the songs are really good, but they are overshadowed by the jittery-ness of the synths and electronic instruments featured in other songs.

Skillet has always been experimental, but experiments don't always end up with great results. Alien Youth is a semi-successful, semi-failed experiment; it just doesn't hit home for me. That's not to say it's entirely bad. Not by a long shot, but a few songs let it down. I get that the album is dated, and would have been pretty cool back in the day, but today, some the songs don't make the cut, to be honest. Examples are "Stronger" and "Rippin' Me Off". These showcase techniques that aren't particularly fashionable or enticing. 

However, to save me from lamenting over these flaws, I can talk about the good stuff. Stuff like "Earth Invasion", which is one of the best songs on the album, and it shows you how a good techno song sounds. As well as this, the calmer songs are the actual best songs on the album. "You Are My Hope", "The Thirst Is Taking Over", "Will You Be There". All these are fantastic songs and have aged incredibly well. These I recommend listening to, but not the 2 in the previous paragraph.

At the end of the day, Alien Youth is an okay album. It's not the best Skillet has produced, but it is certainly not the worst. I tried listening to Invincible, and I just couldn't. Some songs let this album down, and that I am very disappointed about. I am going to say listen to it, but please don't be surprised if you're let down. Some great tunes; some not so much.

Favourite Tracks: "Earth Invasion", "You Are My Hope", "The Thirst Is Taking Over",

"Will You Be There"

Rating: 6 / 10