Band: Sophia
Title: My Hands, My Greedy Hands
Review By: Josh IndieVision
Tracklisting:
01. Prison Epistle Abridged
02. Stapley Drive Ballet
03. Return From Rome
04. Wisdom Is More Than Just Thought
05. Feeding Bob Potter
I felt there might be no better way to introduce this band, than by posting a copy of what is found in the bio section of their website. It helps to give a clear perspective of why this band exists and what they’re focus is. This young band, coming from the music hotbed of Nashville, TN is poised and ready to let their voice be heard.
“To label something Christian is to say that there are absolutes. One man may decide something that he has accomplished is both glorifying and constructive to the kingdom of God. Yet another man may decide that it lacks originality and poetic justice. The truth is there are no black and whites. Faith in Jesus is a constant reformation and a constant struggle to seek justice and love in a world cluttered with peoples self love. To label something Christian is more responsibility than any of us can contain.
Let us not make music to sell to certain audiences. Let us make records and play concerts, to give us something to all be a part of. Let us make music because it is beautiful. If every Truth and every Good is a creation from God the father, then what Sophia is to strive for is a product that is good and a message that rambles truth. There will be days of failure, but as grace be our guide, tomorrow the search will continue and we will sing hallelujah.”
Sophia wastes no time unleashing their brand of furious metalcore, jumping right into a chaotic chugging low end/high end approach with “Prison Epistle Abridged”. This pace is continued as it drops into a breakdown with the vocalist chanting “I will walk this road with fear and trembling!” The song is given a moment of quietness with some nice piano work and singing. Don’t worry it’s not super-emo singing like other groups like to do. It’s decent and on tune, but thankfully not cheesy. “Stapley Drive Ballet” is more upbeat and sounds along the lines of Still Remains initially. The band utilizes some gang vocals which lead in to the thunderous breakdown. The breakdown is complemented by atmospheric keyboards, which in this song, definitely add to the overall feel and sound as opposed to just being background noise. The closer, “Feeding Bob Potter”, again helps to set apart the band from others, especially during the keyboard interlude. Another quiet piano part shows up in this song, where “I will follow you” is sang over and over, even growing into harmonized parts. The album comes to a close in epic sounds, with “I will follow you” still being sung, while screams go over top and the music grows louder with the screaming as well.
Overall Rating: I highly recommend picking this disc up! I’m quite sure that this band will be picked up by a label and it’s always nice to have the release that got them there. Hard-edged melodicore, complete with atmospheric keyboards, are impressive for an unsigned group. The vocals are harsh and bold, and the clean singing parts add to the overall catchiness of the album. The writing ability is solid and each song has strong points. I found myself listening to it multiple times in a row and singing along. A very good debut, which hopefully will lead to better things for these guys.
Standout Tracks: “Stapley Drive Ballet”, “Feeding Bob Potter”
Individual Ratings:
Marketability: Good vocals, good singing, and solid hard-hitting tracks. The band should be signed, plain and simple. This self-released album is better than a lot of the independent label releases coming out these days. With more money helping on the production end this band could definitely gain a large fan base.
Similar To: Vindicated, Still Remains, (old) Hopesfall
Website
Myspace
Buy: IVM Store