One dude playing Protestant metal from the heart of South Florida. That is the information that this ‘dude’ gives on his facebook page. He also makes it very clear on his website www.thesaving.org , which by the way is very hard to open due to safetyproblems, i had to open it on my iphone, that this is not a band but a ministry.  If you like his music or not, you have to appreciate his boldness and his passion. This is a full-length album covering the story of David’s life.

Now about the music which is clearly metalcore but then almost without clean vocals, and still remembering that this is just one ‘dude’ playing metal, i have to say that i am impressed.  The album starts with the song  “God Of Shepherds” and it is right from the beginning full of energy and breakdowns which obviously belong to metalcore.

Sometimes when you compare a lot of metalcore screamers they tend to sound the same, than this ‘dude’ has a unique voice. It doesn’t sound like all the others, it is refreshing between all the others.

When we reach the fifth song “Goliath” it features Josiah Lyle from Mouth Of The South. And then it is followed by “Leader Of The Misfits” where for the first time there are some clean vocals. I have to say that is sounds real good. I personally like it when the rawness of metalcore is interspersed with clean vocals but don’t like it when it is overdone so i think the balance is great on this album.

Then what to say for the rest of the songs, is it new? Is it original? Then the answer is simply no, but than again to be really original in metalcore is almost impossible nowadays. There are so many good and proffessional bands in the genre that everything that you do is probably done already by someone else. But for me the main question is, is it done properly? Than i have to say yes! Especially when you keep in mind that this is done by just one man. He puts down a sound where some full bands fail. And i almost forgot to mention that you can download this album and the previous one for free!! Just follow the instructions on his facebook page

Rating: 7.5/10

Written by: Rene Woning

Track Listing:
1. God Of Shepherds (4:19)
2. Bethlehem (2:40)
3. Anointed One (3:20)
4. Book Of Songs (3:31)
5. Goliath (Feat. Josiah Lyle from Mouth Of The South) (3:02)
6. Leader Of The Misfits (3:43)
7. Maskil (1:55)
8. Bathsheba (3:46)
9. Selah (2.08)
10. God Of Kings (3:40)

Band Members:
Andres Ortiz – multi-instrumentalist and vocals

Discography:
“Reign Of Terror EP” (2012)
“David Star” (2014)

Record Label: Unsigned, March 2014

Weblinks: Website / Facebook / Bandcamp

Video below: ‘God Of Sheperds’