We Are Resolute is a heavy rock band that was born from a pair of Michigander (or is that Michiganian) musicians John Mokma and Bryan Carman back in 2016. Originally both in a band earlier that decade, they decided to work together on a spiritually focused project in reference to their commitment to the spiritual war referenced in Ephesians 6:12. Having the instruments covered, they reached out to Dale Thompson (Bride) to be vocalist. With Dale on the mic, they released three albums through Roxx Records: “Shine The Light” (2020), “Only Human” (2022), and “Fallen Angel” (2023). To augment the instrumental side, they added in bassist Tracy Ferrie (Stryper) for their next release “Full Armor,” which is another reference to Ephesians 6.

WAR plays somewhere between heavy metal and hard rock. They remind me of Rainforce with its hard rock structure metal sound. It has a DIY feel like two dudes with a passion for making faith-based music, wanting to make a difference with their talents. Even with some big-leagues help on vocals and bass, the end product still has rough edges.

Dale is the voice for many bands that I have reviewed, but not every one of them hits the mark. I think it has to do with how his voice is used. There are some songs on here where it is in his wheelhouse where he is belting out with passion like on “Thunder of God,” “Full Armor,” and “You Are My God.” However, when he is trying to tone it down, he can sound strained and tiring like on “Living The Life” and “In Love With You.” That said, I think there are bright moments in the vocals that highlight conviction for their lyrical message of resoluteness in Christ.

The songwriting was handled by Bryan and has a couple of good moments, but suffers from a lack of variety and dynamics with a tendency to repeat that gets stale pretty quick. I found the rather tepid mid tempo tendency particularly tiring. But when they pull away from that mid tempo, the results pop. “Anyone” is an acoustic song, an oasis among the heaviness, that has an infectious melody and is quite memorable. Using repetitiveness to their advantage, “You Keep Me” has a grunge flavor to it that shows off Tracy’s bass and Dale’s voice in his wheelhouse with a pretty decent screaming guitar solo to boot.

Overall the musicianship is pretty decent if not uninspired. On the upside, I enjoyed the bass work and some of the lead guitar work, which wasn’t always consistent. Often times, it felt that the lead guitar was noodling aimlessly without anchoring to anything else musically. I didn’t write many notes on the drums, but I think that more variation on the patterns could have helped break up the mid-tempo tepidity. Some songs struggled to move forward and some more aggressive drumming may be just the ticket to get the party started.

The production also felt rough in terms of the mix and the mastering. I felt there was a lot of higher frequencies in the mix that made the songs noisy, particularly when the cymbals were being played often. It really grated on me. The other side is that the mastering sounded too loud, contributing to the lack of dynamics and burying more enjoyable musical nuance.

I don’t like ending on a bad note, and neither does WAR. In fact, WAR had their best song, the one that I think they should study for future songwriting, as the last (well actually penultimate with the hidden track). “You Are My God” broke the speed barrier for these guys and the riffs got me bobbing my head and hearing potential for this project. The guitar noodling was still present, but just moving it out from Dale’s sonic space and playing with a little bit of purpose would make this a rock solid song to be reckoned with.

I appreciate to Bryan and John for their perseverance and putting their talent and convictions out there. I know that is not easy. Although this is a rough listen for me, I honestly believe that there is potential yet to be realized here. If you want to support the Christian metal scene, this is a release to check out with full realization there may be more rough spots than bright ones.

Rating: 6.5/10

Written by Sean Bailey

Tracklist
1 – Thunder of God
2 – Living The Life
3 – In Love With You
4 – Full Armor
5 – Heaven Draws Near
6 – You Keep Me
7 – Mind Control
8 – Battle Cry
9 – Anyone
10 – Broken Dreams
11 – You are My God
12 – Deck The Halls (Hidden Track)

We Are Resolute is:
Dale Thompson – vocals
John Mokma – drums and rhythm guitars
Bryan Carman – lead guitars
Tracy Ferrie – bass

Release Date: May 30, 2025

Record Label: Roxx Records

Discography:
Shine The Light (2020)
Only Human (2022)
Fallen Angel (2023)
Full Armor (2025)

Social Media: Facebook | Spotify

Video for Thunder of God