Your favorite CDs of 2015.

alldatndensum wrote:

Jim, what do you do for Untombed Radio?

I was asked by Jefferey De Los Santos if I could do a review for Untombed.  I felt honored that he'd ask lil ole me, and so I said I'd give it my best college try, even though I'm no writer. I gave my all and put a lot of work into the review for the ApologetiX album but didn't hear anything for a little over a month, so I figured they must've come to their senses and tossed my review -haha.
Then I was told by David Michael that he had been busy but finally posted the review.
I was stoked !  Then a little bummed after reading it as it had been edited in ways I didn't care for - the edits didn't "sound like me"... but I humbled myself and, being thankful just to have the opportunity, asked for a couple little changes and decided I was satisfied with the final write up. 

I'm a little surprised that I'm all of a sudden on their site as an Untombed member... it's kinda cool, but I don't feel I belong.

I don't know, I guess I just don't feel I have what it takes to be an official writer for a legit website and all.

kerrick wrote:

Mmm that's a good album!  However I prefer their newest one and s/t more; do you have those?

I have Exodus, Through the Storm, and Chapter IV: The Reckoning. Although I don't have any with the original lead singer, based on the one or two he sang on Exodus I think I like the "new" guy better.

I think what I like about Exodus is they brought in other singers that I like, such as Eli, Matt, and Lance. And while I had never heard of the guy that sings "Wrath of Pharaoh", I love that style, like early Rob Halford.

That's cool Jim you are writing reviews for Untombed Radio.
Hope there are coming more reviews from your hand.

BearDad wrote:

kerrick wrote:

Mmm that's a good album!  However I prefer their newest one and s/t more; do you have those?

I have Exodus, Through the Storm, and Chapter IV: The Reckoning. Although I don't have any with the original lead singer, based on the one or two he sang on Exodus I think I like the "new" guy better.

I think what I like about Exodus is they brought in other singers that I like, such as Eli, Matt, and Lance. And while I had never heard of the guy that sings "Wrath of Pharaoh", I love that style, like early Rob Halford.

Gotcha.  I think Through The Storm and The Reckoning are the band's best material yet, though their s/t album is very close behind in my books.  The vocals are indeed totally different and thus the new stuff vs old stuff has a totally different feel, but I highly recommend their first album.  Here's the opening track and possibly my favorite from the album:

kerrick wrote:

BearDad wrote:

kerrick wrote:

Mmm that's a good album!  However I prefer their newest one and s/t more; do you have those?

I have Exodus, Through the Storm, and Chapter IV: The Reckoning. Although I don't have any with the original lead singer, based on the one or two he sang on Exodus I think I like the "new" guy better.

I think what I like about Exodus is they brought in other singers that I like, such as Eli, Matt, and Lance. And while I had never heard of the guy that sings "Wrath of Pharaoh", I love that style, like early Rob Halford.

Gotcha.  I think Through The Storm and The Reckoning are the band's best material yet, though their s/t album is very close behind in my books.  The vocals are indeed totally different and thus the new stuff vs old stuff has a totally different feel, but I highly recommend their first album.  Here's the opening track and possibly my favorite from the album:

There's no question that I want it, the trouble is getting it at a reasonable price. The cheapest on Amazon is $28 used and shipped ... in "acceptable" condition. There's a brand new one on ebay for around $15 shipped, but it's from Poland. I've been asking myself if I trust the seller; no reason NOT to, I guess I'm just hesitant. Of course, the Amazon one is from Japan, so either way I'd be getting one from overseas. I think my biggest worry about those is will the text on the insert be in English! LOL!

I bought my copy directly from the band.  Even though it came from Europe, it was pretty reasonably priced as I recall.  I just checked though and it doesn't look like there are any copies listed there!  It's definitely worth sending them an email.  Ronnie is super friendly and we chatted a fair bit via email when I ordered my CDs.  He may have some copies left still.  I got the Japanese version which has an extra track.  It's the same booklet (all in English) but with it also came a separate sheet with the lyrics in Japanese.

I decided to take a chance and order. I've ordered from overseas sellers before without issues, so there's really no valid reason for my hesitation. I also ordered their second one from Amazon. I guess I kind of went on a spending spree! I gotta stop doing that!

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:

Jim, what do you do for Untombed Radio?

I was asked by Jefferey De Los Santos if I could do a review for Untombed.  I felt honored that he'd ask lil ole me, and so I said I'd give it my best college try, even though I'm no writer. I gave my all and put a lot of work into the review for the ApologetiX album but didn't hear anything for a little over a month, so I figured they must've come to their senses and tossed my review -haha.
Then I was told by David Michael that he had been busy but finally posted the review.
I was stoked !  Then a little bummed after reading it as it had been edited in ways I didn't care for - the edits didn't "sound like me"... but I humbled myself and, being thankful just to have the opportunity, asked for a couple little changes and decided I was satisfied with the final write up. 

I'm a little surprised that I'm all of a sudden on their site as an Untombed member... it's kinda cool, but I don't feel I belong.

I don't know, I guess I just don't feel I have what it takes to be an official writer for a legit website and all.

For what it is worth, I don't think any of us are actual writers, just music lovers with a platform to share our thoughts on the music in print.  As for your review, I thought it was really good and, although I tend to be more of the second category of people you mentioned, I've been giving the album a chance based solely on your recommendation.  It isn't that I have a problem with Apologetix itself, they are clearly very talented musicians, it is just that at the first church I went to when I was in college (the church where Torn Flesh went) there was this guy that everyone thought was just the greatest singer so he was asked to do a song every couple of weeks and what he did was take backing tracks from pop songs and write really cheesy Christian lyrics to them.  So I guess since then, taking a pop song and rewriting with Christian lyrics just turns me off. 

Anyway, keep it up.

messiaen77 wrote:

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:

Jim, what do you do for Untombed Radio?

I was asked by Jefferey De Los Santos if I could do a review for Untombed.  I felt honored that he'd ask lil ole me, and so I said I'd give it my best college try, even though I'm no writer. I gave my all and put a lot of work into the review for the ApologetiX album but didn't hear anything for a little over a month, so I figured they must've come to their senses and tossed my review -haha.
Then I was told by David Michael that he had been busy but finally posted the review.
I was stoked !  Then a little bummed after reading it as it had been edited in ways I didn't care for - the edits didn't "sound like me"... but I humbled myself and, being thankful just to have the opportunity, asked for a couple little changes and decided I was satisfied with the final write up. 

I'm a little surprised that I'm all of a sudden on their site as an Untombed member... it's kinda cool, but I don't feel I belong.

I don't know, I guess I just don't feel I have what it takes to be an official writer for a legit website and all.

For what it is worth, I don't think any of us are actual writers, just music lovers with a platform to share our thoughts on the music in print.  As for your review, I thought it was really good and, although I tend to be more of the second category of people you mentioned, I've been giving the album a chance based solely on your recommendation.  It isn't that I have a problem with Apologetix itself, they are clearly very talented musicians, it is just that at the first church I went to when I was in college (the church where Torn Flesh went) there was this guy that everyone thought was just the greatest singer so he was asked to do a song every couple of weeks and what he did was take backing tracks from pop songs and write really cheesy Christian lyrics to them.  So I guess since then, taking a pop song and rewriting with Christian lyrics just turns me off. 

Anyway, keep it up.

Right on ! Yeh, I can totally see how that would be annoying. Especially if the lyrics are cheesy. Apologetix have their share of cheese, but they just click with me. I assume it's cuz:
1. I love parody in any form -MAD Magazine, The Wittenburg Door Magazine, Weird Al, Youtube parodies, etc.
2. As a young believer in the late 80s early 90s, I always had great ideas for replacing pop song lyrics with Christian thought. So I always thought it'd be cool if someone with talent could do something like that. Then I discovered the Apo boyz back in 1998 and it was love at first listen.

As for writing reviews, I actually love doing it.. I just feel like a 12 year old given the chance to be lead singer for Van Halen (<-- see I can't even write a good illustration - LOL !!!!).

My favorites of 2015:

10. Roses Unread – Silver Lining
09. W.A.S.P. – Golgotha
08. Harmony – Remembrance
07. Sweet & Lynch – Only To Rise
06. Signum Regis – Chapter IV: The Reckoning
05. Diviner – Fallen Empires
04. Impellitteri - Venom
03. Disciple – Vultures (EP)
02. Worldview – The Chosen Few

01. Stryper - Fallen

KellyM wrote:

...
10. Roses Unread – Silver Lining
...

I'm not sure I have ever heard of that group, going to have to check them out.

Roses Unread is female fronted hard rock. I've interviewed them on my radio show twice (2013 & 2015). Very nice people.

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

messiaen77 wrote:

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:

Jim, what do you do for Untombed Radio?

I was asked by Jefferey De Los Santos if I could do a review for Untombed.  I felt honored that he'd ask lil ole me, and so I said I'd give it my best college try, even though I'm no writer. I gave my all and put a lot of work into the review for the ApologetiX album but didn't hear anything for a little over a month, so I figured they must've come to their senses and tossed my review -haha.
Then I was told by David Michael that he had been busy but finally posted the review.
I was stoked !  Then a little bummed after reading it as it had been edited in ways I didn't care for - the edits didn't "sound like me"... but I humbled myself and, being thankful just to have the opportunity, asked for a couple little changes and decided I was satisfied with the final write up. 

I'm a little surprised that I'm all of a sudden on their site as an Untombed member... it's kinda cool, but I don't feel I belong.

I don't know, I guess I just don't feel I have what it takes to be an official writer for a legit website and all.

For what it is worth, I don't think any of us are actual writers, just music lovers with a platform to share our thoughts on the music in print.  As for your review, I thought it was really good and, although I tend to be more of the second category of people you mentioned, I've been giving the album a chance based solely on your recommendation.  It isn't that I have a problem with Apologetix itself, they are clearly very talented musicians, it is just that at the first church I went to when I was in college (the church where Torn Flesh went) there was this guy that everyone thought was just the greatest singer so he was asked to do a song every couple of weeks and what he did was take backing tracks from pop songs and write really cheesy Christian lyrics to them.  So I guess since then, taking a pop song and rewriting with Christian lyrics just turns me off. 

Anyway, keep it up.

Right on ! Yeh, I can totally see how that would be annoying. Especially if the lyrics are cheesy. Apologetix have their share of cheese, but they just click with me. I assume it's cuz:
1. I love parody in any form -MAD Magazine, The Wittenburg Door Magazine, Weird Al, Youtube parodies, etc.
2. As a young believer in the late 80s early 90s, I always had great ideas for replacing pop song lyrics with Christian thought. So I always thought it'd be cool if someone with talent could do something like that. Then I discovered the Apo boyz back in 1998 and it was love at first listen.

As for writing reviews, I actually love doing it.. I just feel like a 12 year old given the chance to be lead singer for Van Halen (<-- see I can't even write a good illustration - LOL !!!!).

It takes several reviews to finally figure out your style and what works best.  Don't worry, we'll make sure you have plenty to review so you can practice 

Sorry I'm late to the party, but I thought 2015 was a great year for Christian rock. Here are my top 10 favorite albums from last year:

1. "Fallen Empires" Diviner
2. "Golgotha" W.A.S.P.
3. "Venom" Impellitteri
4. "Fallen" Stryper
5. "Chapter IV: The Reckoning" Signum Regis
6. "The Chosen Few" Worldview
7. "Her Halo" Teramaze

I know 7 is an odd number for a list, but these were clearly in the top and there was a big gap before the next ones so I cut it off there. And thanks to everyone else who posted their faves...I'll be checking them out, too!

I still need to pick up that Teramaze 

Welcome to CHM MadMap.

MadMap wrote:

Sorry I'm late to the party, but I thought 2015 was a great year for Christian rock. Here are my top 10 favorite albums from last year:

1. "Fallen Empires" Diviner
2. "Golgotha" W.A.S.P.
3. "Venom" Impellitteri
4. "Fallen" Stryper
5. "Chapter IV: The Reckoning" Signum Regis
6. "The Chosen Few" Worldview
7. "Her Halo" Teramaze

I know 7 is an odd number for a list, but these were clearly in the top and there was a big gap before the next ones so I cut it off there. And thanks to everyone else who posted their faves...I'll be checking them out, too!

Some great choices there, welcome to the board.

Thanks, everyone. I've been a longtime reader and finally decided to join. Don't know how much I can bring to the table but glad I have a seat!

There's room for more and more.

Through The Dark Radio wrote:

I still need to pick up that Teramaze 

When you do, be sure to listen to it as an album. It's much better that way.

metaldude wrote:

When you do, be sure to listen to it as an album. It's much better that way.

Truth.

MadMap wrote:

metaldude wrote:

When you do, be sure to listen to it as an album. It's much better that way.

Truth.

Tritto! (it's like ditto, only for the third time).