Author: Loyd Harp

Folk really has to have something special if it’s going to catch my attention. Sure, there are a lot of great artists out there, but there are so many that it’s hard to stand out. A unique vocal, guitar prowess, or lyrics that hit that spot right in your gut that makes you either want to cry out at top of your lungs, or just really and truly live. Harrod and Funck managed all of that (their Mark Heard-produced full-length Dreams of the Color Blind is worth checking out in full if you like this style).… Continued →

Featuring ex-members of Jeremiah’s Grotto and pre-members of Rookie of the Year, emo band Farewell to Fashion disappeared just as quickly as they sprung up. They released one split EP with Inez called The Price of Fame (highly recommended), and then a full-length. Both were on Future Destination Records (Neutral Agreement, Hotshot Freight Train). “Morning Grey” highlights all that was great about third wave emo–raw, melodic, punkish, and at times sloppy, but always full of emotion. Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q36TfdhF6UI… Continued →

With the development of the black metal genre into an ever-splintering family of subgenres (symphonic black, atmospheric black, blackgaze, folk black, traditional/harsh), there’s been a lot of room for diversity. However, and probably as a result, those artists who take the traditional sound have become fewer and fewer. Hailing from Chile Anima Mortuum take their stylistic nods from Venom and Bathory (instead of Emperor or Pyramids), and seem keen to keep the traditional sound alive. Morbid Temple is a newly released 4-song demo, and it does not disappoint.… Continued →

I’m a sucker for this style of hardcore–really fast, short songs, with equal parts melody and anger thrown in for good measure. For some reason, this subgenre didn’t have nearly as much of a following in Christian circles as their secular counterparts, making Hit the Deck stand out even more. They released one full-length on Facedown imprint Strike First Records, and had a couple of demos as well, all of which can be found as digital downloads if you know where to look.… Continued →

Paramaecium. Legendary. Heavy as a concrete slab, and slower than a slug. The band’s debut, Exhumed of the Earth, shocked metal fans everywhere with slow, heavy riffs, string parts, and death metal vocals that were juxtaposed with occasional operatic female vocals added in for good measure. Their sophomore album Within the Ancient Forest changed styles somewhat by cranking up the folk and classical elements and adding a technical flair. But by the time A Time to Mourn came out, the band had shifted styles again–still within the doom metal category, of course–by adding a touch of groove and including Seventh Angel/Ashen Mortality frontman Ian Arkley (later of My Silent Wake).… Continued →

Bloomsday’s debut “The Day the Colors Died” was brilliant, if a little disjointed. The trio ambitiously covered indie rock, shoegaze, jangle pop, slow-core, lo-fi, and emo all in the span of 10 songs. Amazingly, 20+ years later it still holds up. But it was their second release, this time an EP, that really caught listener’s ears and held them in a death grip. It was much more focused this time around–emotionally charged indie rock that somehow managed to merge emo and shoegaze into a singular, cohesive unit that was both of those things and yet neither of them entirely.… Continued →

To commemorate the deluxe vinyl re-issue of Starflyer 59’s legendary sophomore album, Gold, our Song of the Day has to be a pick from that timeless release. The first time I heard this song was also my first time catching the band live. It was the very first Tooth & Nail Weekend at the Where-House in Bartlesville, OK. Also on the bill was Focused, Unashamed, locals Mr Bishop’s Fist (if you know, you know), Wish for Eden (whose van broke down en route so they were unable to join, unfortunately), Chatterbox, and Plankeye.… Continued →

Over the past 2-3 years, I’ve been discovering a bunch of old Christian punk, post-punk, and new wave that I didn’t know existed. One of the best examples is a short-lived band from the south coast of England called Crowd Control. I only know of one track they recorded, which can be found on the excellent “Shots in the Dark” compilation. The album features other UK-based punk, new wave, and ska tracks. “There are Houses” is brilliant. It’s dark, brooding, true post-punk with enough keyboards to keep things interesting.… Continued →

Where are my hip-hop heads at? Lightheaded is/was a collaborative project between Ozay Moore (FKA Othello), Braille, and Ohmega Watts. Each of these MCs have had significant solo careers on their own. This track brings the three of them back together after a long hiatus. Super-cool stuff! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wk8aWiY0PQ… Continued →

Lo-fi indie rock never made a huge impact in the Christian scene. To be fair, it was a niche market even in mainstream circles. Beck and R.E.M. were the only 2 artists to break out of the underground, and both of those bands more or less ditched their lo-fi roots to do so (Beck only temporarily). I can only think of a handful of Christian-themed lo-fi bands: Jetenderpaul, Danielson Famile, Pedro the Lion (early stuff), Sappo, Joe Christmas, and some early Damien Jurado projects. Enter Jupiter James.… Continued →

From Velvet Blue Music . . . “To celebrate the upcoming re-issue of STARFLYER 59 ‘gold’ on vinyl . . . we’ve made a run of Gold era shirts and a cool sticker pack. Links below. Or you can email me if you’d like a link to pay via PayPal jeff@velvetbluemusic.com”. Click below for the links to purchase… Continued →

In the late 90s, I lived in Atlanta, GA, doing inner-city ministry and discipleship training. An old college friend of mine from the area, Darrel, invited me to a show south of the city. Blindside were doing a U.S. tour and this new band was opening, featuring ex-members of Spudgun and Joe Christmas. I’d been hearing from others about the intensity of their live shows so I was eager to attend. Pop-punkers Jesse and the Rockers also played, as well as a new band made up of high school kids, called Luti-Kriss that never went anywhere (I kid!)… Continued →

Huntingtons were a prolific punk and/or pop-punk band, as most of you will know. For me, you just can’t beat their sophomore album, “Fun and Games.” The title says it all. This song has that punk rock meets 50s style doo-wop that many bands tried but not many could pull off. It works incredibly well here! Listen here: Huntingtons – The Only One… Continued →

I don’t suspect many of our readers will be familiar with What of the Night, which is a shame. This Irish & English punk band released only one album in 1979 (yes, you read that right!) making them the earliest Christian punk band (if we don’t include Death, which is a discussion for another time). The LP features post-punk, mod, and garage rock sounds and would be at home next to the likes of The Undertones, The Jam, Buzzcocks and so many others. It’s super rare and hard to come by, but I managed to track down a copy for myself a couple of years ago.… Continued →

Come to Pass is a one-piece lo-fi death metal band from Virginia. The band has recently released an EP through Bearded Dragon Productions, but instead I’ve chosen a track from the “Words of Endurance” compilation on the same label. Raw and heavy stuff. Stream or download the track here: Come to Pass – Confessions of the Cursed… Continued →

The Belgian lo-fi Christian scene himself, Bram Cools, is back with a fourth album. More quirky weirdness accompanied by lyrics that tackle a wide range of social topics. I don’t know how familiar IVM readers are with this Belgian artist, but Bram makes eccentric lo-fi indie pop/rock with socially-conscious lyrics from a European viewpoint. He has over a dozen albums under his belt and Civilised is his latest full length. It stays within the lo-fi umbrella, yet true to that genre, touches on a variety of styles including indie rock, electronica, spoken word, trip-hop, etc.… Continued →

SPOILER ALERT: This is a fantastic release! 3 different bands playing 3 different styles (sub-sub-subgenres) of black metal. Each band contributes 2 songs, and while it would be logical to assume that 6 songs equals an EP, this album clocks in at 37 minutes, so I’m gonna call that a full-length. First up are TIMŌRĀTUS (from Louisville, KY), who continue to surprise and amaze me! Every album they do is in a different style, and amazingly they somehow manage to do them all well. Previous efforts I’ve heard have been in post-metal or drone metal territory and others have touched on experimental metallic sounds.… Continued →

Cerimonial Sacred, a symphonic black metal band from Brazil, has released a new single for FREE download. The band have been around since the early 00s and have taken this single from their upcoming new full-length album on Vison of God Records. Get the single here: Everything Beautiful is Falling… Continued →

Instrumental indie rock/post-rock supergroup Unwed Sailor have just released a new single, and for a very limited time it’s a “pay what you want” download. The band had this to say about the track: “Gone Jungle is a stand-alone single that we recorded shortly after mixing our latest record, Heavy Age. It’s a nice mid-point between Heavy Age and what’s to come musically from Unwed Sailor.” Download the track here, and throw ’em a buck or two if you can afford it: www.unwedsailor.bandcamp.com… Continued →

The year was 1997. The heyday of Christian alternative rock was starting to wane, as mainstream sounds were drifting into new territory. Dance pop (in the form of boy bands and girl bands) was starting to make another attempt at dominating the airwaves. Electronica and house were exploding in creativity and splintering into new subgenres every day. Outside of punk and hardcore, the most exciting thing happening in rock was a revival of traditional British sounds in a new format cleverly dubbed “Britpop.” While not a new genre per se, its popularity had boomed with no small thanks to bands like Oasis, Blur, James and literally dozens of others across the pond.… Continued →

Black metal stalwarts Ascending King are back! They’ve just dropped a new single “Lignum Vitae,” which is a collaborative effort with Sebat Frost from Frost Like Ashes. Whether it’s due to that influence or not is hard to say, but the doomy elements first heard on the Ascending King EP released last year are gone this time in favor of a faster-paced black metal sound. The single can be downloaded for free here: Ascending King – Lignum Vitae… Continued →

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is one of the greatest songs our scene has ever produced! It gets straight to the heart of what it’s all about: “Hey I’m talkin’ to you/Yeah, I’m trying to get through/God cares about you more than think . . . You are loved! You are loved!” It was the first song I ever heard from the Altar Boys, in the late 80s. Ironically, it was on a metal compilation where I first heard them. Though the song is nowhere near metal, it has that late 80s post-punk/power pop sound from SoCal that has loads of energy.… Continued →

Although this was released around Easter of 2019, I only recently stumbled across this gem while perusing the Zap Records page on bandcamp. As it turns out, its history is even deeper than, having been recorded and self-released in 2010. Hailing from Pittsburgh, the band has roots in the punk scene in that area, but UHWU is a completely different animal. The union was formed to create “authentic church music . . . devoid of hype.” So I guess you could call this a worship band, but it’s not what you think.… Continued →

If you’ve been following hardcore at all in the last 5 years, you probably already know about this Chicago “positive hardcore” band. Reflecting a PMA approach to lyrics, which includes things like unity in diversity, straight edge, veganism, and faith, the band churn out revivalist true school hardcore punk classics with great fecundity. This short track’s opening riff reminds me of the glory days of Descendents, and yet vocalist Wiley Willis seems to be drawing inspiration from H.R. of Bad Brains. Check it out and let me know what you think.… Continued →

I woke up this morning with this song in my head, so it clearly has the be the Song of the Day. Classic metal. You either love it, or just don’t really get the appeal. It’s 1986, and the only Christian metal that most people are aware of is Stryper. But hairspray and over-the-top production was not all that Christian metal had to offer in ’86. The same year the glam kings released To Hell with the Devil, Saint was dishing out their best album, Time’s End (in fact, it’s in the top 5 Christian metal albums of all time, IMO).… Continued →

Who remembers Sal Paradise? Obscure 90s indie rock band from Sydney, Australia (formerly known as The Crux–unrelated to the punk band). Those who do remember them are probably most familiar with their one and only album on Tooth and Nail Records, entitled “Further.” However, they had also released a few independent releases in their native country. This song, “Travels” made it to a Velvet Blue Music compilation in the form of an acoustic version. The electric version was darker, but just as moody. It was originally released on the Scatter release pictured here, but has popped in various other releases, including “For You and Before You” still available from the Velvet Blue Music shop here: https://velvetbluemusic.com/shop/sal-paradise-for-you-and-before-you/… Continued →

Cincinnati indie rock band Okay Lindon have released another single in advance of their next album.  The album will be a departure from their quirky brand of alternative rock, this time heading into reggae territory.  While an unconventional move, for sure, the seasoned band have the ability to pull it off.  Plus, the reggae sounds fit the new material well.  Founder Dustin Smith claims, “In this song I’m calling out aspects of my evangelical upbringing as ‘escapist theology’ which focused so heavily on an afterlife, that the joys of experiencing union with Christ in the physical world, ourselves, and others is lost.… Continued →

  Amazingly, this song is now 23 years old, and I still feel the same way about it as I did back then.  It’s a fantastic song, and one of the highlights of the Christian alternative rock scene!  Plankeye’s first album (“Spill”) was raw and unrefined, showing hints of Orange County punk.  While their second album “The Spark” had that same raw energy, the songwriting and musical chops had improved, along with just the right amount of production–not too raw, not too slick.  “Open House” is the standout track and has a great message of God’s love and grace even in times of difficulty. … Continued →

Ohio indie rock band Okay Lindon have released a new single in anticipation of their full album release, set for a July 12th release date.  The full-length “Participation” is a departure from previous efforts, venturing into reggae territory.  All proceeds go to Shared Harvest Foodbank. Every dollar raised provides 8 meals for those in need. The single and subsequent album will be released through Poptek Records, and can be found here: http://www.poptek.com/okay-lindon?fbclid=IwAR2DPWWgqO8DBbXEf1JXcfTMtyaCeUaxvIpAA4x5wv-qfJ46_uEu8pkVDmg… Continued →