Album Review :
Spirit and the Bride - Dry Bones

Ohio hardcore band Spirit an the Bride got themselves a new album out! And it’s heavy.

The album starts with “Bloodline”. The song starts off with some programming and then jumps right into the pit. The music is very metalcore in style. Josh Simmons’ vocals are intense and passionate, which brings a new level of heaviness to the song. In an interview I did with the band, they revealed the background behind the song. Check that out. The drums on this song are intense, the guitars are hardcore, and the bass is just awesome! It’s rare to hear the bass…well, ever.

“Dead Men” features Wolves at the Gate vocalist Nick Detty. The song brings kind of a Norma Jean style musically, but I also hear some of the Chariot. Near the end, the song slows down and brings out the hardcore sludge and Nick Detty. The song is one of the shortest on the record, so there’s not a whole lot I can say.

“Dry Bones” brings the chaotic hardcore sound. Adam Simmons does a great job with his fills on this song. The song is intense and brings the heaviness. The song reminds me of Advent, save for the vocals. The lyrics of the song are very intense and spiritual. The song slays all around.

Dry Bones is story out of the Bible found in Ezekiel 37. I basically wrote that as a cry to those who say that they have “made their bed and now they have to sleep in it” people, letting them know that they don’t have to die in the mistakes they’ve made. That whole “made your bed” saying is crushing people but in this scripture, God goes as far as giving these people yet another chance to make things right. It’s a story of second chances after decisions we make have lead us into a dry and desolate place where eventually we die. But God still loved us even then to raise us up out of the desert.

“Authority” brings the sludgy hardcore, like Maranatha or Trenches sounding music. The vocals are close to Maranatha’s even. ‘Fill this place oh God!!’ The song is devout and spirit-filled, and brings its all. The band destroys with this track. The song seems to be talking about cleansing our souls, and that we should stand true to what we believe in.

“Jesus Wept” features Zack McKim of Take It Back! and Paperweight. The song starts off like one of Advent’s new tracks off of Pain and Suffering. The song is slow and gritty but brings the level of hardcore we all need. They told me themselves it was closer to metalcore, but I don’t know. I think it’s pretty even. The song seems to deal with the foundation of faith: ‘Brick layer! Wolf slayer! Their fangs will not break through!’ are the final lines that are repeated over and over. This is one of my favorites so far.

“Threshold” is sludgy hardcore. The song brings dark sounding guitar tones, a gritty bass tone, and tricky drum beats. Closer to the end it gets a little up beat and then they go into a breakdown. “Threshold” is certainly a song to mosh to.

“Armageddon” starts off really weird, but jumps back into the metallic hardcore style. ‘If God is our foundation, we will not shake!’. After the first time they say this line, the song goes into a For Today metalcore style breakdown. After that, the song slows down into more of Advent feel. The song continues the hardcore until it fades away.

“Thieves” definitely starts off like Advent. The track is brutal and sludgy, but also passionate. There is a emotional hardcore feel behind it. Noisecore too a little. Advent is definitely an influence if you listen to it. The track is kind of short, but still rocks hard!

“Open Heaven” is a song that Vocalist Josh Simmons wrote with his wife. The song brings a slower style of hardcore. The band really brought the heavy with this song. ‘Open up!!! Open up the heavens! We will worship you! Before your throne!’ The song is certainly giving all the glory to God.

And finally, the album ends on “Perseverance”. The track is definitely the longest on the album. The song is more of spoken word thing, much like For Today on some of their songs. The track is glorifying track. The track remains spoken word until around 2 minutes. After that is done, the band jumps into a standard punk rock/hardcore beat. The song brings clean singing into it for the final time, which makes the track even better. Like most of Spirit and the Bride’s songs, this one is giving it all up to God!

Spirit and the Bride have once again, put out an incredibly amazing album. Hope to see some sweet tours in the future with these guys. The album is available through OnTheAttack Records. Go check it out!

Sounds Like: Advent, For Today, Sleeping Giant