We Will Soar

Band: MyChildren MyBride
CD: Unbreakable
Label: Solid State Records
Hometown: Madison, Alabama
Sounds Like: For Today, A Plea for Purging, Impending Doom, Whitechapel
Rating: One Thumb Up
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/mychildrenmybride

MyChildren MyBride (MCMB) is a high quality Christian band. When I first got into them I absolutely loved them. I would listen to them pretty much nonstop. I still remember buying the CD after listening to just one song. That's how much I liked it.

Members:
Matthew Hasting - vocals
Kyle Ray - guitar
Robert Bloomfield - guitar
Brian Hood - drums

Hits: Several songs stick out to me when I think of this album. "Faithless" has an awesome intro and its lyrics are amazing. "The Machinist" sticks out because of the lyrics, and "Choke" is by far my favorite song on the album. Its lyrics are a love song and the outro is epic. The art for this album is ridiculously amazing. It is x-rays of someone's skull and also their hands and such. Another thing that I liked about this CD is the vocals. Matthew Hasting isn't amazing, but he can still do some pretty impressive stuff with his voice. The final thing that MCMB has going for them is their breakdowns. Everyone who is in the metal scene knows how important it is to have good breakdowns. MCMB has some pretty amazing ones. The lyrics for all of their songs are good, and talk about varying things.

Misses: Everyone has their flaws and that includes MCMB. Most of the songs except for the ones I mentioned are kind of boring. When I listen to "Unbreakable" I often want to switch to a different song. Each song has something good in it, but most of the "Easter eggs" are in the middle of the songs or in the very end which is a little disappointing.

The Bottom Line: This CD is quality metalcore, and I think anyone would enjoy it.

Did You Ever Have A Touch To Lose?

I am going to kick this off with a video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLALa7pv3_w

Here are the lyrics to the song. Please read along with the lyrics to one of my favorite songs as you listen to it.

"I swear I've done this before.
Oh so familiar is the mess that I'm in.
I once knew.
Now memories escape and people meet their fate.
This says the man walking out on his wife: "And now the whole world knows".
This says the kid with the rope around his neck: "And now they all will know".
And can't you see that there's still hope, and don't you drown in what the world has told you...
Now I know that I've been here before.
It's the feel of defeat when it finally sinks in.
I feel so desperate.
The barrier is so thick.
Can I get through to you?
"Will I learn from this second chance", says the man who was dropping his pants.
"Do I really deserve to live", says that kid who was slitting his wrists.
And can't you see that there's still hope, and don't you drown in what the world has told you...
I once saw.
But now I am exhausted from this mess, from this mess."

I don't fully understand the lyrics to this song, but I think they are really good. What I can fathom I like and what I don't understand I want to like. If you have any ideas as to what it could mean please let me know.

One of the ways I interpreted the song is how the songwriter either was in the situations, and lots of people found out, or he knows/knew someone who was close who did the said things. Of course I could be wrong.

Another way I sometimes take the song is the possibility that the songwriter thought up some pretty nasty situations, and then decided to write about them.

I just found out that Angie starts prayers how I do. We both start them with "hey God." She picked it up from me. Also, I started to pick up some stuff from her. She says "also" a lot(see how I copied it not too long ago?), and she also taught me how to type out yarp instead of yup. I just realized that we both say "whatchu" instead of "what are you." We have both come to the decision that we are becoming the same person. Which is what we get for hanging out as much as we do.

On a side note: my dad picked up a concordance for me today. Concordances for those who don't know are things in the back of your Bible that have Bible verses listed that relate to certain topics. This means I can write blog posts better huzzah. It also means I can write Bible studies for the club that I am running.

Love pt. 3

I may or may not have ended my "series" on love. I don't really want to look, but I am going to continue it regardless. For today's post I actually have not one, but two Bible passages to show you. The reason behind using two is this: they both go hand in hand with each other. Sorry the passages are so long, I couldn't decide on which verses to choose for the second one.

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."
I John 3:16-18

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.  There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother."
I John 4:7-21

The story behind me choosing both of the passages is kind of funny. I don't have a concordance in the back of my Bible, and so I decided to look up Bible verses about love on the webbernet. The site I used had both of the passages on there. The funny part is I had already highlighted some of the first passage, but failed to see the rest of it.

All of that aside, I am a firm believer that love is an action. I know people who think it is not an action but a feeling. My question for those of you who think that is: how can you feel your death for someone? It says in I John 3:18 "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." If you look back at my post Love pt. 2 I think you will see that the greatest form of love is dying for someone. How does one feel their death for another?

What really strikes me about both passages is they both talk about doing stuff. Whether it be God doing stuff or us. Another thing that sticks out is how it tells us if you say you love God but hate your fellow person, well then, you don't actually love God.

Why is it this way? God made everything including people. How can you love the artist but hate the art? Or how can you love the art but hate the artist? You can't, simple as that.

More Of Mah Music

Band: xDeathstarx
CD: The Triumph
Label: Facedown Records
Hometown: Redlands, California
Sounds Like: xTyrantx, xArmed for Battlex, Sleeping Giant, Seventh Star
Rating: Two Thumbs Up
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/xdeathstarx

xDeathstarx is a Christian band that uses Straight Edge values and beliefs in their songs. Their songs hate on modern society's issues and most of the songs on this CD are about friendship.


Members:
Eric Gregson - vocals
Tommy Green - vocals
Josh Highland - vocals
Jason Keller - vocals
Ryan Gregson - guitar
Beejay Hamell - guitar
Daniel Myerscough - drums

Hits: This CD is both brutal and beautiful. xDSx fully maximizes the use of four vocalists. The song "Scars" is my favorite on the album because of the aggressive drums, and the just as scary guitar. "Red Asphalt" is my second favorite song on the CD because it is about being loyal to your friends. The thing that makes this song stand out over the countless other songs about friendship is the fact that the songwriter states he is willing to bleed for his friends. That is pretty powerful.

Misses: This CD can be overwhelming to some just because of its brutality. Everything about this album is straight up in your face. The lyrics in pretty much every song are about someone who either gave up on the straightedge lifestyle or someone who betrayed the friendship that the songwriter had with said person. Thus the CD may be overwhelming to certain people.

The Bottom Line: This CD has good lyrics and good everything else, so why not buy it?

I'm A L.O.S.T. B.O.Y.

Sorry the lyrics are so dang long. This song just blows my mind.

"I’m screaming so loud, my throat is bursting.
But like a falling tree in the woods, if no one’s listening am I making noise.
Although I’m still snared by the words of my own breath, I realize a body cannot suffer in sweet repose.
Take heart, this will be over soon.
This is everything that you don’t want to hear.
Never again, never again, will my voice fall on deaf ears.
This is everything that you don’t want to hear.
Never again, never again, will my voice fall on deaf ears.
Traded my life for one on the road, gave up it all, but kept my soul.
Hardly a man, no longer a child, I’m just another L.O.S.T. B.O.Y.
Loud, obnoxious, pissed off, kid with something to prove, I’ve got nothing to lose.
I’m ready to die, ready to die, cause I’m a L.O.S.T. B.O.Y.
Dressed in black, with a target painted on my back, I’ve learned to adapt to this pedestal you’ve placed me on.
I’m ready to die, I’m ready to die, we are all lost boys. L.O.S.T. B.O.Y.
We all want what we can’t have, so it’s time we take it all back.
This world’s the iron, we’re the rust, what’s this world going to do with us?
We are the hammer, we must strike while the iron is hot.
It’s time we lead and not follow.
Quit acting like the space inside your chest is hollow.
Search for me, deep in the cities, singing a rebel yell of pity.
There’s more than blood pumping through these veins.
No pain, no gain.
You’ll find me deep in the cities, singing a rebel yell of pity.
There’s more than blood pumping through these veins.
No pain, no gain.
NO PAIN, NO GAIN.
No pain, no gain.
Like a falling tree in the woods, if no one’s listening am I making noise.
Traded my life, for one on the road, gave up it all, but kept my soul.
Hardly a man, no longer a child, I’m just another L.O.S.T. B.O.Y.
Loud, obnoxious, pissed off, kid with something to prove, I’ve got nothing to lose.
I’m ready to die, ready to die, cause I’m a L.O.S.T. B.O.Y.
Dressed in black, with a target painted on my back, I’ve learned to adapt to this pedestal you’ve placed me on. I’m ready to die, ready to die, cause I’m a L.O.S.T. B.O.Y."

MyChildren MyBride
"L.O.S.T B.O.Y.S"

If I were to try to describe myself with a song, this would be the song of choice. There are other good songs that describe me as being Christian or straightedge, but I think I am best described as a L.O.S.T. B.O.Y.

I think that because I am one of those kids who is angry with a lot of people for many different reasons. Another way that this song describes me is how I have something to prove, and yet nothing to lose. I also wear black 90% of the time. Most of the time it feels like I do have a target on my back because people seem to pick on me; they may not realize it, but they do.

Last night my parents and I got into a fight, and it wasn't that bad at least from my perspective. My mom got really upset, but on the bright side my dad finally laid down some rules that apply to everyone in the family. Yeah sure, I do a lot of stuff to tick my parents off, but they also do stuff to tick me off. I hope things start to make a change for the better, but I doubt they will. Am I trying to curse things with my family? No, I just can't see my mom or myself changing within the two years that I am still home.

Today my mom picked me up from practice and we didn't say anything in the car. It wasn't very pleasant, but it was better than a fight.

Well I'm off to play some Resident Evil 5 I think....

I'm So Scared

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

Joshua 1:9

One of my friends just called me and told me he had a dream, and I was in it. It was unexpected and ,well, very frightening. When he told me that he had a dream that I was in I thought to myself surely it has to do with my girlfriend, and that's how God is going to respond to my prayers.

I was 100% wrong. My friend told me that in his dream there were three people, Jesus, himself, and me. Jesus turned to me and said "You are the last chance for Huron." In case you don't know Huron is my school. Why me, and why I am the last hope for a school I will only be attending for two more years I don't know.

I have no idea what I am to bring to the table, or how I am to save my school. I will be the leader of a club, and it is a Christian club. Why not me and my club I have no idea.

The second biggest question is how do I save them? I know I can pray for the ENTIRE school, but I took it as you actually have to go out and do stuff to save the people. I have no idea as to which I am supposed to do. I guess I should get prayer for discernment, or just ask people to pray to see if they get words for me.

The biggest and most scary question I have is: what if God is telling me to go out and actually save someone? How do I start a conversation about faith? There are so many other questions, and I have no way of writing them down.

I am also scared about this: the arch of my right foot started to hurt today. Not that big of a deal, but a long time ago someone was praying over me and pointed right to the spot that hurts now. They told me that there would be problems with my arch.

Love pt. 2

This time we are going to look at love with a whole new perspective; we are going to look at it as more of a action as opposed to a feeling or a mindset.

"'As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.'"

John 15: 9-17

This passage is crazy! It is so amazing because Jesus calls us friends after he tells us that the best kind of love is dying for your friend. What does he do not long after he tells us this? He dies on the cross for us, his friends. How awesome is that?

As I have said before the best way to love God is to love other people, and the best way to love other people is by loving God. Last night my girlfriend and I had this crazy discussion. She doesn't see us as boyfriend, and girlfriend. This is how she sees it, "I see it as siblings in Christ, friends, then boy/girlfriend." I think it is really cool how she puts our relationship last and how she puts God first, and she also described it as being friends with benefits. She didn't use those words, but that almost how she put it. Yeah sure we hug on each other and stuff, but we aren't going crazy when it comes to getting physical. We may hold hands like all the time, but we are still talking the whole time.

God is also a major part of our relationship. We pray every chance we can, and we also do Bible studies whenever we have the opportunity. When we were talking about it, we said that doing this kind of thing makes us excited for God, and it has strengthened our relationship.

I ended up telling her I love her, even though she doesn't like it when I say that. We had a little "boy girl fight" over this, but we quickly resolved it. I will talk more about that at a later date.

Love pt. 1

I could start my mini series off with some of the more popular verses about love, but I decided to start with some more unknown verses.

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord. On the contrary: 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
Romans 12: 9-21

Let's start at the beginning; it says our love must be sincere. This means we shouldn't lie about our love. If you actually love someone, say it! On the opposite hand, if you don't love someone then don't fib by telling them you love them. The Bible also says that we should love each other with brotherly love. This means we should love someone like family even if they aren't blood related.

The next part talks about not lacking in zeal. The passage also talks about how we should continue to serve God. Serving God is pretty simple. It isn't always easy, but it's pretty simple. Love is the epitome of doing God's work.

Not cursing someone is tough. When you say something bad about them you curse them. That's why gossip and such is so powerful. Instead of saying bad things we should say good things about people. That's blessing them, and it has just as much power as cursing them.

Rejoicing with people and mourning with them is pretty straight forward. You should be happy when your friends are happy and should be sad when they are sad. Living in harmony is also pretty simple don't fight.

The last section is basically saying don't be mean to the jerks in your life. Instead be nice to them, and it will put them in a world of hurt. Don't judge people for what they do to you because they will be judged by God, and He measures peoples' hearts where you can't.

I think the rest is pretty straight forward. I hope this post was helpful about love. I'm going to do something new and post some lyrics about how crazy God is in love with you.

Brian "Head" Welch
"L.O.V.E."

"I gave you everything, all the pain life brings
Just to get you to come back to me
I want to give you light, I don’t want to ever fight
Stop resisting and come home to me
You’re so afraid of love, there’s not much time
All the pain inside just makes you want to die

Love me, don’t hate me, you’re angry, it’s OK
Trust me, come this way, live in eternity

I’m the real drug to take, to numb your heartache
Stop your running and come back to me
I’ve had it up to here, I’ve cried way too many tears
You’ll keep suffering till you come to me
Outside you act so tough but inside you cry
All the pain inside just makes you want to die

Love me, don’t hate me, you’re angry, it’s OK
Trust me, come this way, live in eternity

Your soul is mine, your soul is mine
I don’t want to fight
Your soul is mine, don’t be unkind
Your soul is mine, your soul is mine
I don’t lie, I swear you’ll never die
Stay alive when I restore all mankind

Love me, don’t hate me, you’re angry, it’s OK
Trust me, come this way, live in eternity
Come see, you’ll soon be not guilty and set free"

Bloody Ears

Last night I went to a concert and it was sick. The lineup was: Taken by Talons, A Bullet For Pretty Boy, Inhale Exhale, Sleeping Giant, and Demon Hunter. I decided to put each band's myspace so you could see what they are like.

Taken By Talons was a decent band. They played enough songs, and the vocalist was good. He knew how to growl and do some other crazy stuff with his voice. Their guitarist was also really good. http://www.myspace.com/takenbytalons

A Bullet For Pretty Boy was a disappointment. They only played four songs, and they were extremely repetitive. During every song they had us clap. I stopped after they asked for the third song. They also told us who they were after every stinking song. On the upside they did talk about Jesus and they prayed before they went onto the stage. http://www.myspace.com/abulletforprettyboy

Inhale Exhale was a lot of fun. I didn't know any of their songs, but they were very sick because they wanted people moshing the whole time. I didn't mosh, but I had fun watching them do it. They were also very full of energy and were handbanging and jumping around a lot. I bought a shirt, and their new CD and enjoy them both. http://www.myspace.com/inhaleexhale

Sleeping Giant was a band I had heard about through HM magazine(Hard Music) and I was really stoked to see them live. I heard they did some preaching and they also were really worshipful. They were 100% brutal. I was not let down in any way shape or form. The vocalist shared his testimony and he also shared a couple stories about what he and his band have done. I ended up losing my voice because they had me screaming along with them. I would love to see them again. They did some really sick stuff when on stage that was totally worshipful. I won't explain it here because I don't want to ruin it for you if you go see them live. http://www.myspace.com/sleepingxgiant

Demon Hunter and I have come a long way. They are the band that got me into metal. I was super excited to see them live because they have been my favorite band since I first fell in love with them. It was really cool because I knew 75% of their songs and Ryan told us if you know the words sing along. Boy, did I sing my heart out. I lost my already lost voice because of them. It was really cool because I got to shake the hand of Ryan Clark, who is the vocalist for Demon Hunter. I would also love to see them live a second time. http://www.myspace.com/demonhunter

All in all the concert was a blast, and I am now hooked on shows.

Trying My Hand At New Things

I have said I was going to try out music reviews, well, here one is. Please feel free to comment on it. When I say comment I mean constructive criticism.

Band: xDeathstarx
CD: We Are The Threat
Label: Facedown Records
Hometown: Redlands, California
Sounds Like: xTyrantx, xArmed for Battlex, Sleeping Giant, Seventh Star
Rating: Two Thumbs Up
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/xdeathstarx


Members:
Eric Gregson - vocals
Ryan Bermuda - vocals
Jason Keller - vocals
Ryan Gregson - guitar
Corey Johnson - guitar
Nick Smith - drums

xDeathstarx is by far one of my favorite bands. We Are The Threat is the second full album they came out with. I would write about the other one first, but they re-released their other full length album. Thus I am going to write about this one first. The "x" in front of and behind their name signifies the band as "straight edge." Straight edge is anti-drugs, drinking, smoking, and in some cases premarital sex. The band is Christian, and they write about the fallen morals of society; they also write about straight edge(sxe) values as well as incorporating Christian beliefs into their songs.

Hits: The CD is very aggressive and very musical at the same time. Most of the lyrics are in your face and down to the point. I really enjoyed how they incorperated both Christian and sxe values into their music to make the world appear as bad as it is. XDeathstarx doesn't sugarcoat a thing.

Misses: I don't agree with some of the lyrics like for example they talk about the Rapture. I personally don't believe in it, but it is still great they are reaching out to those kids who need the help they are providing.

The Bottom Line: Buy this album if you want something that is in your face and very brutal.