With a career spanning 20 years, Disciple has consistently turned out great albums. Over this time span we have seen the rise and fall of grunge, nu-metal and hardcore. There have been major changes in the last few years, so that Kevin Young is the only original man standing. The band now consists of Kevin Young (vocals), Rich Ward (lead guitar), Josiah Prince (rhythm guitar), Jason Wilkes (bass) and Trent Reiff (drums). Their style changed to a mixture of hard rock and southern metal for ‘Southern Hospitality’ (2008) and continued in the hard rock vein for ‘Horseshoes & Handgrenades’ (2010) and ‘O God Save Us All’ (2012).
‘Outlaws’ has a raunchy rock approach, before they stomp all over your face in ‘O God, Save Us All’ with “And every dream that I chased I watched it all be erased / It is just like trying to capture the wind / And the hole we find ourselves in is sinking / Misguided, divided / We have nowhere left to fall / O God save us all / Mistaken, forsaken / With our backs against the wall / O God save us all”.
‘RIP’ reprises some of the ‘This Might Sting a Little’ era sound as they ditch the radio-friendly format and Kevin spits out the words with aggression. The first three tracks notch up the raw power before pulling back into a slick rock ballad ‘Once And For All’.
This is followed by the reflective ‘Someday’. Having suffered through hard times as I watched cancer destroy my mother’s body and my sister’s mental state spiral out of control, it seemed to speak directly to me. “There are days when all the color turns to gray / and it feels like there’s no solace from the pain / And I’m on my knees asking for a reason why / but the answers all seem miles and miles away”. Thankfully her long-standing faith helped my mother see it through to the end. “Someday we will rise above the pain of this world / Someday the grave and death will lose their sting / There’ll be no more tears and no more shame / And all our scars will fade away / Only love will remain / Someday”.
There is the more commercial rock of ‘Draw The Line’ followed by the freshly-minted ‘Kings’ with its harder-edged industrial influences and the glorious metallic stomp of ‘Unstoppable’.
As we have come to expect from Disciple, their lyrics continue to be faith-filled and are bound together by strong song structures and tight musicianship. Whilst the album does not have a new sound, it does recap on some of the previous highlights as well as sprinkling in some newer ones.
Rating: 8/10
Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby
Tracklist:
01. Outlaws
02. O God, Save Us All
03. RIP
04. Once And For All
05. Someday
06. Draw The Line
07. Kings
08. Unstoppable
09. The One
10. Beautiful Scars
11. Trade A Moment
Band members:
Kevin Young – Vocals
Israel Beachy – Bass
Micah Sannan – Guitar
Trent Reiff- Drums
Record Label: INO Records
Discography:
What Was I Thinking [1995]
My Daddy Can Whip Your Daddy [1997]
This Might Sting a Little [1999]
By God [2001]
Back Again [2003]
Disciple [2004]
Scars Remain [2006]
Southern Hospitality [2008]
Horseshoes & Handgrenades [2010]
O God Save Us All [2012]
Weblinks: Website / Facebook / Twitter
Buy the album here:
Holland & Worldwide: First Paradox Metalrecords