*This is part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured State*
This month’s State is Arkansas!
Looking for some new, wicked Metal for your ears? Digging Metalcore’s uber-heavy, stuttering, modern rhythms with 808 hits that you feel in your chest and crush your skull when played at the proper, too loud volume? Ready for something driving that reflects frustration of the world around us that drives straight to your soul? How about also offering solutions to said frustration for a change? If this is you, like it is for me; and, well, minus the “wicked” part, you NEED to check out Little Rock’s Becoming Saints! BOOM!
This State of the Art choice for Arkansas was an easy one for me to make. In my search, I was immediately hooked from the first song: “It All Ends With You” off of their EP “Let this not be the end of me” that was released early last year. With influences said to be Living Sacrifice, As I Lay Dying, Unearth and Killswitch Engage, you get the idea of where this band’s sound lays its roots and what to expect, except in many ways, even better. Super heavy rhythms layered with complex yet melodic leads and coherent barked out vocals with occasional cleans, sound effects and even some acoustic interludes to mix things up to get a point across. Members of Becoming Saints consist of Drew Garrison on vox, Allen Bobson on guitar, Kory Olson on guitars and vocals, bassist Jeff Bowie and Dylan Rylee on the kit and can be seen in and around Little Rock at Metal venues and churches. Oh, yeah. Did I mention: This is a Christian Metal band? If this instantly turns you off, please wait, because this is NOT “church” music. This is real, honest to God (pun intended), heavy-duty Metal that just happens to be Christian but their lyrics never even come close to being cheesy or preachy or judgmental, as many stereotypes would suggest. Becoming Saints tends toward cleverly thoughtful, pragmatic, realistic, and practical dealings with day to day difficulties and offer answers being grounded in moral and ethical principles that apply to everyone whether you are a believer or not. Subject matter like good and evil, deceit, life choices, hate and love are just a few things that apply to all of us, as humans, whether we identify ourselves as being a Christian or not. Don’t do yourself the disservice of closing your mind to this band and its message. They are simply too good to pass by because of some preconceived notion of a label.
Based on videos and show reviews, Becoming Saints live shows are energetic, “explosive” and fun no matter where they are playing. After forming in 2005 and garnering a long-time and loyal fan base, Becoming Saints have recently signed with Rottweiler Records and are releasing their first, full-length CD: “Oh, The Suffering” in the Fall of 2016. Be assured that we will stay in touch with Becoming Saints as the release date approaches and keep everyone up to date with this killer band. In the interim, check out their aforementioned EP on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and BandCamp and videos on YouTube.
If still in doubt, check out the lyrics to “Dress of Red”:
This bitter struggle
I fight with every single day
To a point where
Deceit is all I’ve ever known
To a point where
Deceit is all I’ve ever known
I’m chasing light, leading nowhere
I’m chasing light, down this dark path
Deceit wears a dress of red
And a smile for all to see
Inside her eyes, murder
Inside her smile, bloodshed
Longing for more
Lurking in the dark
Longing for more
I’d still fight for you and everything, still waiting
Deceit, wears a dress of red
And a smile for all to see
(Deceit wears, run away, deceit wears)
More information about Becoming Saints can be found at the following links:
Instagram: becomingsaints, Twitter: becoming_saints
