Skillet - Rise (2013)

Starting off 2020 in the ripe old month of February, I bring you Rise, the eighth studio album by Christian rock band, Skillet. Rise is different to other Skillet albums as it is a concept album. This means that the songs within the album tell a definitive story. It tells the story of a teenage girl coming to grips with the real world, once she has reached adulthood. All these large scale events are happening and the thing you should do is rise above it all.

I discovered this album shortly after Unleashed was announced and purchased it on iTunes. I instantly enjoyed it (it is a Skillet album after all), and it had me even more excited for Unleashed. But ultimately, it can't hold a candle to older material, like Collide, or newer material, like Victorious, so overall it's a mid-tier album. However, there are several redeeming factors about Rise. One thing I really like is some of the transitions between songs, especially between "Good to Be Alive" and "Not Gonna Die". It makes the album progress a lot more fluidly and tells the story to a greater extent.

Some of the songs on this album are absolute bangers and are worth replaying a million times over. Notable examples are "Sick of It", "Not Gonna Die" and "Salvation". These albums just resonate so well with me that I just love listening to them. "Salvation" is especially cool because the majority of it is not sung by John Cooper. Instead, the majority of it is sung by Jen Ledger, the drummer for Skillet. Other songs are good but not as good as these. On a technical side, the drums, guitars and other instruments are classic Skillet. Easily recognizable and easy to listen to.

Overall, Rise is an album that is good but is not up the highest Skillet standard. In recent times (from the style change in Collide), this is probably my least favourite album. It's good but it's nowhere near equal to Comatose or Unleashed.

Favourite Tracks: "Sick of It", "Not Gonna Die", "Salvation", "Hard to Find", "What I Believe"

Rating: 7 / 10