Every Knee Shall Bow was formed by the Wibbelsman brothers in 2008, when they were at a tender age. In November 2010 they were joined by Chris Hull on vocals and the band took shape. Moving onto 2013 the band contains Shane (aged 13 on bass), Cole (aged 14 on guitar), DJ (aged 21 on drums) and Drew (aged 26 on guitar) and the aforementioned Chris Hull. The band melds a mixture of thrash, heavy metal & metalcore with deathcore vocals. Their freshman release, ‘Slayers Of Eden’ (2013) appears on Rottweiler Records.
Slayers Of Eden is based upon the biblical visualisation of Adam and Eve desecrating the garden of Eden with their sin. It is where the first humans chose to disobey God and therefore slayed righteousness. The album art was created by Raul Ramos and depicts a man and a woman destroying vegetation with flamethrowers.
After a brief intro, they quicken the pace as they launch into the title track with heaps of technical riffing. It shifts between thrash and metalcore with multiple time changes. Lyrically it picks up from the point where the serpent uses seductive persuasion to get Eve (and Adam) to eat the forbidden fruit. The consequence being that God curses the serpent and sin enters the world. “Just like dogs / We return to our vomit, our rancid sin / Malice, hate, lust, lies, greed / Homosexuality, adultery, fornication / To betray the father and mother / And Father who loves us / We ALL need the saving grace / Of the death on the cross.”
‘The Story Of’’ has a long Iron Maiden-esque section that trudges along before letting rip. It slows again for a doomy mid-section followed by extended technical riffing. There is metalcore chugging in ‘No Longer Slaves’ before they tackle sexual frustration and lust in up-tempo fashion on ‘The Lion’s Teeth’.
“My deeds of the night / Never showing their face / Bring me here time and time again / My folly is predictable as time / I put myself in this place of dread / For the fleeting taste that will never satisfy.”
As the saying goes, the clue is in the title, for ‘Call Of Love’. It features the first sparse intersection of clear vocals, which seems out of place after all the growling. The unconditional love of God is coupled with ‘The Cleansing’ which illustrates God’s forgiving nature. Then ‘His Mercies (Are Bountiful)’ takes you on a fantasy journey of a weary warrior being guided in battle.
After these longer tracks there is the three minute burst of ‘Avenging The Martyrs’ with a longer section of clear vocals. Their final outpouring is ‘Vigilance Of Battle’ as they anticipate the second coming of Christ with a call to press on with the fight.
Upfront declarations of faith are the norm within the Christian punk scene, but metalcore merely hints at it. So after the gut-wrenching fall of As I Lay Dying, it is great to see EKSB wearing their hearts on their sleeves.
Rating: 7/10
Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby
Track listing:
1) Intro
2) Slayers Of Eden
3) The Story Of. . .
4) No Longer Slaves
5) The Lion’s teeth
6) Call Of Love
7) The Cleansing
8) His Mercies
9) Avenging The Martyrs
10) Vigilance Of Battle
Band members:
Chris-Vocals
Shane- Bass
Cole – Guitar
DJ – Drums
Drew – Guitar
Record Label: Rottweiler Records, March 2013
Buy the album here:
Holland: First Paradox
Norway: Nordic Mission
USA: Metal Helm
Lyric video below for ‘The Lion’s teeth’