Author: Timo Cuoco

How many of y’all like covers? Well, ABR has done several & have made them into their own metalcore sound. Covering songs from Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Saves the Day & The Legend of Zelda, Nofx, tons of Christmas ones & now System of a Down, they are always welcome to my ears. Apparently, they played this one during soundcheck before their shows tons before finally deciding to do a cover. It is also one that they showcase more of their clean vocals than before. The single was released December 15th on Fearless Records which is the label that has brought us music from Starset, The Color Morale, Blessthefall, Wage War, Classic Case, The Almost & my fave band of all time, Underoath.… Continued →

December 19, 2020

Song of the Day: Broken - Beautiful

Here’s another obscure band for ya! Broken released one LP on Mercy Street Records which had a small yet diverse array of artists: Real (Nu metal), Popcorn (rap), one of Seventh Day Slumber’s early releases & Salt (Southern rock). Broken has a hard hitting heavy rapcore/nu-metal sound. They released 3 songs to indie Christian rock/loud radio: Beautiful, Stand & Cage. My fave was the 1st track which had lyrics like “beautiful the blood shed for me”. It’s no disguise that this is a full on “Christian” band.… Continued →

December 17, 2020

Song of the Day: Rhonda Gunn - Binding Chains

Rhonda Gunn is a singer/songwriter that has been around since 1995. I admit I did not hear her music til more recently (around 2 years ago) when a station/website called Crossroads started playing her music. Since then I have heard music from 2 other albums Forgiveness & I Wonder. My musical tastes are very eclectic & so I started searching & found she is even on the Frontline Records site & is an outstanding songwriter who has has penned songs for Dallas Holm & Heirloom. Her music sounds adult contemporary with some rock underlinings with her soaring vocals sounding (at least to me) like a cross between Carrie Underwood & dare I say it, Sandi Patty.… Continued →

December 15, 2020

Krig - Tribute II

Krig is a Brazilian band with obvious death metal tendencies. They have been around since 2007 & have released a few albums including now 2 cover LPs . The production is stellar for death metal projects imho. I happened to stumble upon this today & am digging their take on classics from Bloodgood, Megadeth, Messiah Prophet, Trouble & one of my fave bands of all time (lyrically & musically), Tourniquet. The song Ark of Suffering actually was banned by MTV back in the day. The song features Karl Walfridsson who is Pantrokrator’s vocalist.… Continued →

Song of the Day: Animal Couch-Shoes

I try & find obscure bands for these reviews so others can enjoy a lost song/band like I do. Animal Couch is one of those. I first heard their music through my endless digging for Christian music through a long ago website/station called Freerock1). Their goth look seems to be both like Wedding Party or Virgin Black, but sound more akin to modern rock. They had released 3 cds which were rare, but Spotify currently carries all: Spare Room Demo, Chocolate Covered Pears & Words To Die By. … Continued →

December 14, 2020

Song of the Day: Beanbag-Whiplash

How many of y’all remember a hackey sack (the little ball you kicked with your foot & held it on the side of your shoe & sent it up on your head or flipped it to another player in style). Man, in my high school days that was the in-thing! Well, Australia’s Beanbag is named for that little entertainment ball. Saw this 4 piece at Carowinds in South Carolina back in the day. Pretty sure Hangnail, Denison Marrs & Thousand Foot Krutch were there that day also.… Continued →

December 10, 2020

Song of the Day - Raspberry Jam: Everything We Need

Raspberry Jam is one of the earliest Christian alternative rock bands when alternative was such a genre. Heard their music through an indie rock station out of Springfield, MO while I was visiting fiends back in the early-mid 90s. This same station is where I discovered other greats such as Cloud2Ground, The Violet Burning & The Prayer Chain (the later 2 who evolved from the same southern California scene as Raspberry). The band released and EP & 3 LPs before disbanding. Released on Metro One Records in 1993 (the same label who brought us Spoken & Precious Death), the 3rd release Chi-Ro was an alternative rock/funk hybrid with 2 vocalists: Phillip Kim & Angel Short.… Continued →

December 8, 2020

Album Showcase: Reflescent Tide -Self Titled

By Timo Cuoco in Articles | 4 Comments

Reflescent Tide is one of the first Christian rock bands I heard of way back in the mid 90s. There was a college show out of the University of Illinois that had a DJ that would play all kinds of music I had never heard of. The 3 piece band out of Canada had a 2 cd career. Their follow up actually had a music video which is grainy on YouTube They do not look like rock stars akin to most music released at the time.… Continued →

December 7, 2020

Song of the Day: The Violet Burning-Rock Is Dead

By Timo Cuoco in Articles, Music Videos | No Comments

So this post is my response to one of my fave 90’s bands. TVB is imho a cross between The Smashing Pumpkins, The Prayer Chain & alternative worship music. Michael Pritzl’s voice & lyrics are a stark example of what made worship music exciting & caused at least listeners like me to think of our Savior & want to lift my hands & heart in worship. (Check out my fave song by them The Only One.) TVB is one of a few bands in my collection that I have collected most, if not all, their music.… Continued →

November 30, 2020

Featured Album: Rottweiler Record's Fleas Naughty Dog Vol. 8

I know it’s not Christmas yet, but in the spirit of the season, Shawn Browning’s Rottweiler Records released their yearly Christmas compilation back on November 24, 2020. I remember seeing various Facebook posts about the upcoming project & is up on Rottweiler’s Bandcamp page. Consisting of 20 songs, this comp is sure to satisfy most hard subgenre lovers. The lead track For Unto Us is Malaysian band Shamash who actually released their first EP recently. Coming in on track 2 is progressive rockers Mawcore (formerly known as Blushing Well) with vocalist Joshua Redding who is pretty active on social media so it was nice seeing them here.… Continued →

November 10, 2020

Song of the Day: Leaderdogs For The Blind-Restless

By Timo Cuoco in Articles | 1 Comment

One of my all time fave releases, Lemonade, was from a band released by the defunct R.E.X. Music. Forming circa 1993, the 4 band members had changed their name from Leaderdogs to add For The Blind. They blew Christian indie music lovers away with an industrial/hard rock hybrid with iconic songs such as Yellow & Black Attack (no, not the Stryper album!), Better Ways, Ripple & Supersaturated. They followed up with The Resurrect Me EP that included other the greats Pollinate & Lie You Buy. Then, boom, that was it.… Continued →

November 9, 2020

Song of the Day: Weathered-Quick Tempered

Facedown Records indie rock band Weathered’s first & latest single Quick Tempered from their upcoming album lyrical content is simply some of the most profound lyrics that I’ve seen in a while. They seem to align with my favorite Bible verse that I have tattooed on my arm. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Here are the lyrics up until the bridge.… Continued →

November 7, 2020

Song of the Day: Rackets & Drapes-Turn UpThe Downside

Rackets is the best shock rock band imho with loyal fans called Therapy Patients. Led by vocalist Kandy Kane (Kiffany), they have definitely had a controversial impact on the Christian music industry & have been repeatedly listed as sounding akin to Marilyn Manson. Starting out in 1994, they formed under the name Human Soup. Many years have passed & they have released recent music more akin to their first 2 albums. The first was released under the moniker of A Violent System with this new one back to Rackets & Drapes.… Continued →

October 24, 2020

Song Of The Day: As We Are-Paralyzed

By Timo Cuoco in Articles | 1 Comment

So I had a chance to meet these guys while I was recording a sound byte from their record label owner for my online radio station a few years ago at Audiofeed Festival in Central Illinois. Wow, has their style changed. I would have classified As We Are’s (stylized sometimes as AsWeARe or just plain AWA) sound as pop punk, but with a rock twist a few years back when they came out with their self-titled EP. The 3 member band consists of drummer Caden (drums), vocalist/guitarist Dale & bassist Eli.… Continued →

October 21, 2020

Song of the Day: Lust Control-Mad At The Girls

So this track is one of my favorite songs of all time. There are a couple different versions out there, but the one off We Are Not Ashamed is my go to. I remember hearing this song for the first time circa 1993 on a University of Illinois indie Christian rock/metal show whose DJ introduced me to greats such as Living Sacrifice, Reflescent Tide, The Clergy amongst many others at the time. Lust Control’s background can be found on many other sites, but what I liked about this specific song is the in your face lyrics & the romping punk music.… Continued →

September 19, 2020

Have You Ever Heard Of: Mattie Montgomery

So Mattie is not a soloist per se. He is the former dreaded frontman for disbanded metalcore bands For Today & Besieged. He branched out & has 3 prophetic teaching CDs that are basically short sermons set to music. He currently serves as the pastor of a ministry he founded called The Altar Fellowship. Here are the lyrics for his 2nd sermon from his first album, Restless What is my destiny? What is God’s plan for me? Who was I made to be? Now, these are questions that are in every one’s heart.… Continued →

Song of the Day: Gryp - Against The Crowd

Fresno, Cali nu-metal band Gryp (fronted by educator Curtis Shamlin) is epic imho. First heard this band’s firt release Indecision while checking out demos at a defunct Christian bookstore in Bloomington, IL & I was immediately hooked. It was different than what was out in 1997 in the Christian realm with staples Ungrateful, Heal Me Back & You Were There. I remember being on their street team when they released their ep Left Behind while stationed in the military in Columbia, SC. I was so excited and gave out numerous CD singles & stickers while hanging out at New Brookland Tavern with numerous bands such as SF59, MeWithoutYou, Underoath, etc… & was having an awesome time being on fire for YHWH.… Continued →

August 23, 2020

Song of the Day: Symphony of Heaven - Deathmarch

By Timo Cuoco in Articles | 1 Comment

Here is a nice adult contemporary Sunday SOTD for ya…NOT!!!! This artist consists of an acquaintance of mine Logan Thompson who started solo back in 2016 who hails from Indiana, USA. What drew this fan twas the name & the debut single In Anger’s Midst. Since then, I hung out with most of the band members at my local festival Audiofeed (which is what Cornerstone festival became). Covid has deterred us Christian metal heads from hanging out again this year. His patch “WE are Metal, We Are Family” refers to Pastor Bob’s Sanctuary International.… Continued →

August 20, 2020

Song of the Day: Azusa – Interstellar Islands

By Timo Cuoco in Articles, Music Videos | 1 Comment

So it has been messing with my head this band Azusa & how I think I know whom they sound like. I know the band is composed of members from The Dillinger Escape Plan (whom I saw live many years ago), Absurd2, Frodus, Arvinger, & lo & behold-Extol, Mantric & Benea Reach! This band is like a female vocal version of those 3 latter bands & has released 7 singles so far. Solid State Records truly knows how to find awesome music IMHO. Eleni Zafiradou is (believe it or not) a pop vocalist, but she screams like the best of my fave female vocalist fronted bands (Your Chance to Die & Bloodlined Calligraphy).… Continued →

August 14, 2020

Have you heard of Apologetix?

By Timo Cuoco in Articles | 4 Comments

The band that just keeps on parodying hit after hit! I have been a follower of this parody band for at least 15 years or so. They take mainstream songs and compose Biblical lyrics & release 2 songs per month. The name of the band stems from 1 Peter 3:15 & is a derivative of the word apologetics which means “defense of the Christian faith. The past few years they have been churning out 2 songs at once even with female vocals. Their massive discography covers songs from System of a Down to The Beatles to Eminem to Ozzy.… Continued →

June 22, 2020

Have you heard of The Walter Eugenes?

Besides having the two most awesome two names put together at one time, this band rocked. The two man band was Walter Paul Robinette & Rick Eugene May! At a time when alternative music had taken a major foothold in Christian music (starting with Undercover), this group was seen on Christian music television channels with their rockiest song: Crawl. If you haven’t noticed my posts, I tend to look for music that is hard to find to bring back the sounds & lyrics that made me come to enjoy “Christian rock” music.… Continued →

June 20, 2020

Song of the Day: Fluffy-Guitars, Guns & Girls

Fluffy was a garage grunge band heralding from Mike Knott’s Blonde Vinyl Record label. Guitarist Chris Colbert has remastered both of their full lengths recently and are available on many digital platforms. The record label Lost In Ohio is running these repressings & have a few cool ones including The Julies & Black & White World. I bought their first Go, Fluffy, Go Cd back in the 90s & had no idea what I was in store for. I was treated to lots of feedback fuzz & gritty vocals that reminded me at the time of a cross between Smashing Pumpkins & Nirvana.… Continued →

June 12, 2020

Have you heard of Jack Of All Trades?

Finnish rapcore at its finest in the early days of nu-metal. Simply said, this is one of the most high energy bands imho ever (just see the video for their song “Point of No Return”). It seems they did not keep the same label as each release was through a different one. Having formed in 1997, their debut LP (aptly titled) RU Ready was released on Bullroser (the Finnish label responsible for releasing several musical heavyweight artists such as Deuteronomium & HB) in 1999. They released a few singles & EPs before releasing their 2002 monster Superior.… Continued →

May 27, 2020

Have you heard of PsoulPatch?

Another rarity from the archives, this early nu metal band released one EP back in 2001 called A Trip To Southern Metal, but must have had another release as Last.fm shows a few other songs not from that album. They had a sound akin to Pantera, but was a bit muddy with downtuned vocals that at times were rapped. They seem to have hailed from Texas and had released music on the old mp3.com and Godcore sites. Hope you like this tune “Bring The Noise” as it reminds me of Metanoia’s Time to Die LP especially “Now Listen Up”!… Continued →

May 18, 2020

Song of the Day: Vagabond 12-Crystal Clear

Vagabond 12 was a brief rap rock band which reminds this listener of Broken Yoke and NOT the heavier rapcore music made known by bands such as EDL or Jack Of All Trades. They seem to have only released a two song single before fading into obscurity. But the 2 songs are very radio friendly with rapped vocal hooks laden within acoustic guitars. Crystal Clear (the rockier of the 2) found is way on an indie show out of Florida, but research shows the 4 man band out of Greenville, South Carolina .… Continued →

May 13, 2020

Song of the Day: Whitman’s Mold-Kingdom

By Timo Cuoco in Articles | 5 Comments

WM was a brief rapcore band reminiscent of American Made. Hailing from my old stomping grounds in South Carolina, I first heard of them on a Christian indie rock show. Their 1999 LP was released on DTS after they released their first demo in 1998 on cassette. DTS comprised an eclectic artist list ranging from Paul Noel Stookey to .hopesfall! Their driving song “Kingdom” from that LP Nobody Loves Me explodes with the line I Wanna Go… To Heaven! Enjoy… Continued →

May 10, 2020

Have you heard of Jesus Music?

One might think of the term Jesus Music as the early days of Christian music originating from the Jesus movement. But, Jesus Music the band is one that released 2 albums in the late 90s: Flowers in the Storm & 3D. Their music is upbeat quirky fun music reminiscent (at least to me) of Hokus Pick. Their second album produced a cover of Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild”. Both albums even have dance remixes (90s style) if that doesn’t get you stoked. Here is their very first radio single & the first track to the first LP “The Box”.… Continued →

April 29, 2020

Have you heard of Real?

By Timo Cuoco in News | 3 Comments

The band released one LP 2001’s Breathe on the short lived Mercy Street Records that also released Seventh Day Slumber’s first 2 LP’s & 2 little known band’s: Broken (rap core) & Salt (southern rock). Real’s sound could be described as nu-metal with a hard rock twist. Not much can be found on the band, but from sites listing the CD for sale. Consisting of 11 tunes, the band rocks hard and is one of my favorite albums from the early 2000s. Indie stations had played a few of the songs Breathe, Let It Be & Downfall.… Continued →

April 24, 2020

Have you heard of Sly’s Alter Ego?