I slipped the disc in my stereo. With it cranked, I sat back in my seat and prepared myself for what the band hand to offer me. The thing that caught my ear on the first track, “A Rhetoric In Writing,” was the opening guitar lick. It brought me back to the days of Figure Four, but underneath the beautiful disaster was well placed 4/4 breakdowns, followed by heart warming and almost jazz like solo.

On the music aspect of the EP, The band is very well crafted and you can almost feel the confidence in their playing ability. Each of the six songs are very dynamic and are not formulated to one genre. Often times they toss in shades of southern metal like Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster and even at times Norma Jean. But with any band and any music lover, you open up the jacket and explore the lyrics. Lead singer-Carlos Salazar (Or should I say Screamer) probes at the heart of the listener. In the song “18:37″ his screaming becomes calm as he catches you off guard with spoken word, reminding me for a moment of Project 86. There is a song called “A Shadow Of Things We Know.” This song stood out to me above the rest because of its boldness and heart softening honesty.

“Twenty years of breath in these lungs. I have always felt a farther. But I’ve never known a Dad. I am just a boy and I can’t feel my lungs. And if you’ve been abused. You can sing this song. A decade has gone and you are the child and I am the man, where is that smile and look in your eye? Hope has saved me. What do you got? But I won’t accuse you. God have mercy on both our souls. Love endures.” (lyrics taken from the song noted above)

This band has something to say in their music! They don’t shy away from their spiritual beliefs, nor do they shove it in peoples faces. Make no mistake: BTWR left me wanting more, as most extended play CD’s do. http://www.myspace.com/beforetherewasrosalyn

I want to talk about pain, and the presence it has in our society this very moment. I believe with all my heart that we are not meant to turn our heads from pain, we are meant to take it in full force and feel its full weight. Let me also clarify that pain and suffering is not pretty, it’s not something we smile at and cover up with bandages in hopes that the pain will heal on its own. Sometimes we need to open up the wound and let the pain bleed out on its own; only then can we hold our hands over the wound. I want to turn our hearts and minds over to the life of Christ for a moment. After all, this is the heartbeat and soul cry of Enoch: To make the love of Yahweh (another name for Jesus) known in a world and society starved of truth and hope.

Who wouldn’t want a love where one would lay down his or her life, for the redemption of someone else? Most people, if they are honest, are not apposed to this translation of Christ. So how then does Jesus respond to our pain? Well. He enters into it, and we can see this throughout the sacred love story that is the Bible.

Take for example: Mark 9:20-22

The verse focuses on a farther with a son who has been having seizures, (the text describes it as convulsions). The boy’s farther fears for his sons life, and what farther wouldn’t? When I was a young boy, I had a very dangerous seizure late one night. My Mom held my tongue with her fingers, preventing me from swallowing it, which can happen. My Dad called 911 and from my understanding, the ambulance drove right passed our house! So my Dad went running in the dead of night to wave them down.

But back to the verse: When Jesus shows up, he doesn’t heal the boy right away. Instead, he asks the boys farther, “How long has he been like this?” This is a very personal question Jesus is asking, its heartfelt and venerable. In a way, he is almost saying: “My friend, I am sorry for your grief and the agony of your own son.” Jesus is embracing life and confronting it in a bold loving manner.

So let me leave you with two questions to ponder: 1) What have we been turning our faces from in our lives? 2) How can we better learn to have the same empathy for the pain of others, as Jesus did for the boys farther?

Shalom to you all.

The last time Norma Jean and I crossed paths was at a show in Sydney mid last year, and this album gripped me so tightly that my skin rippled with the presence of fierce, six-stringed monsters lurking in the room with me.

Fourth track in, “Robots 3 Humans 0,” which was also delightfully sampled on their Myspace, drew the palate of my ears away from the usual, sometimes incoherent but not distasteful, vocals and tantalized my eardrums with harmonious vocals. With guitars that sound more like synths and enough distortion to live up to the name of their official website, normajeannoise.com, this track proved to be a favorite on my ipod and in my car.

The opening riff in “Discipline Your Daughters,” a somewhat slower number, encapsulated my attention for the duration of the song. Every guitar strum that ricocheted off my walls made me ache to see them live once again.

Anti-Mother creatively captures you in your own realm, draws you in with its big, lyrical arms and gets your heart beating in time with the heavy drum. The harmonizing choral vocals in “And There Will Be a Swarm of Hornets” was just like a warm, motherly hug for my worn out ear drums.

I long to teach people how to fight back says Brandon Ryan. Are lives are beautiful and they are gifts, no matter how dark they may seem. There is light inside us. We can use that light to change our lives and even the course of history. Lacey Mosley of Flyleaf once said “Music is passion”. And Brandon Ryan agrees whole heartedly with her assessment.

Brandon loves being part of the Enoch community and does not take position as a staff member lightly. He is currently listening to: Wavorly, RED, Demon Hunter, Matt Kearney, Thrice, As Cities Burn and The Glorious Unseen.

Brandon is also an author of a book called “The Emotional Struggle”. Which speaks of his life with Cerebral Palsy, Depression, Suicidal-thoughts and the mercy and hope that he found through Christ.

For more information please visit him at: www.brandonthewriter.com

Paul’s latest album CLEAR BLUE reminds a listener that there are still Neal Young fans dying for a taste of the old days. With an eerie feeling of Cat Stevens in his vocal delivery, you may want to grab a bottle of wine and meditate on the nearest couch.

On the track Angels Cry, you feel as if your at the edge of heaven and you can hear the angels softly crying as they look down on the sin of mankind.

After a long hard day at work, Paul Turner is sure to relax your ears and put a smile on your face. Initially, wasn’t so appreciative of his album when it arrived in the mail, but last night I threw it in my stereo and instantly felt compelled to write this review. I highly suggest supporting this talented Indie artist and adding this to your collection.

The last time Norma Jean and I crossed paths was at a show in Sydney mid last year, and this album gripped me so tightly that my skin rippled with the presence of fierce, six-stringed monsters lurking in the room with me.

Fourth track in, “Robots 3 Humans 0,” which was also delightfully sampled on their Myspace, drew the palate of my ears away from the usual, sometimes incoherent but not distasteful, vocals and tantalized my eardrums with harmonious vocals. With guitars that sound more like synths and enough distortion to live up to the name of their official website, normajeannoise.com, this track proved to be a favorite on my ipod and in my car.

The opening riff in “Discipline Your Daughters,” a somewhat slower number, encapsulated my attention for the duration of the song. Every guitar strum that ricocheted off my walls made me ache to see them live once again.

Anti-Mother creatively captures you in your own realm, draws you in with its big, lyrical arms and gets your heart beating in time with the heavy drum. The harmonizing choral vocals in “And There Will Be a Swarm of Hornets” was just like a warm, motherly hug for my worn out ear drums.

Her first collection of works was published in 2007, and she is currently working on getting a literary agent and hopes to eventually sigh a book deal. She divides her free time, such as it is between writing and researching for her latest novel and writing articles that express her inner most thoughts.

Enoch Magazine: Warped Tour EP 2 - Say Anything

I’ve had some things on my mind for sometime, and thought it was finally time that I shared them with someone else. For what good is it to keep things to yourself, if revealing what you think might inspire people to do their part to make the changes that are so desperately needed in the world today.

The first thing I would like to share with you is regarding so many of the big ministries out there in the world today. It seems that some of them have lost sight of what they really started their organizations for. They have gotten caught up in the creation of their media empires, and the prestige it brings them, but have forgotten the very people they had once wanted to save.

So many times, those who head up these ministries have never really had any true hardships. Yet, the audience they attract are the very ones suffering from all the hardship. So many of them have been raised in upper-class families where they’ve always had their needs met and have never had to do without. They don’t know what it’s like to have to deal with an abusive husband or boyfriend. Or having to forgo a meal just so your children will have the chance to eat.

They say that they want to help, but they don’t know how, nor do they know anyone who might be able to give actual advice. They seemed to be more concerned with saying how wonderful their lives are going, and if they actually do mention a problem, it’s rather arbitrary in comparison to what is happening in the real world. It’s time that they lose the rose colored glasses and face the hard simple facts. The sooner they do, the sooner they might be able to do some actual good in the world.