Search - Oh Sleeper :: Son Of The Morning

Making God a Relevant Topic

Midwest Metalhead | canada border | 11/26/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Oh, Sleeper are an excellent band. It's as simple as that. While most metal/screamo/hardcore bands shine in the instrumental department, many offer just decent lyrics. Oh, Sleeper is the exception to that well-known and easily understood rule. Not only is 'When I Am God' an exceptional instrumental album, the lyrics are superior to those of any other artist a fan could name as a rival. The whole concept of "When I am God and decide for myself what is right and wrong, I have no hope for salvation" is very effective and, in all reality, completely correct. Now we are presented with 'Son of the Morning' which has its own excellent concept. This new album details the final battle between God and Satan. While unable to listen to the album in it's entirety more than twice as of yet, I have decided that this is an excellent concept and the album is an undeniably excellent album.

What has changed this time around? Frankly, if 'When I Am God' had one weakness, it was the repetitiveness of the guitar-work. Thankfully, the two guitarists in this band (Shane Blay and James Erwin) have decided to branch out more (Shane even thanks John Mayer, possibly the best guitarist of his generation, in his thank you section). Vocally, Micah Kinard is an absolute beast (in the vein of Tim Lambesis). His screams are excellent. They are powerful, passionate, and audible (thank the LORD!). Matt Davis is an upgrade on the skins, and Lucas Starr does what all bassists must do, and holds his own. Shane, who does the clean vocals, is used much more on this album, and listeners will be thankful because he has a wonderful voice. The mere fact that he was once a member of Between the Buried and Me tells you how talented he is. It's nice to know he went on to form a superior band in Oh, Sleeper. Now for a song by song review:

1. Son of the Morning: 8/10. This track opens nicely with a lead combined with Micah's screaming. All of a sudden we are given some quality chug combined with the line "don't send an angel to face the devil!" Once that effect has worn off the chorus comes in with Shane's excellent singing and ends with Micah screaming what Shane has just sung. This song is an excellent example of Oh, Sleeper's superior compositional abilities. Excellent song.

2. The New Breed: 10/10. Hands down the best track on the album. It's not instrumentally flashy but is a compositional delight. It contains the best lyrical line on the album in "We can't sit quietly because there's more to life than we see. So if you are the new breed scream, 'I am Immortal in you.'" This is by far the most epic part of this undeniably epic album. A perfect 10 because it is one of the best songs I have heard this year. Right up there with Threat Signals "Through My Eyes."

3. In All Honesty: 8/10. Begins with a nice beat combined with clean vocals. I do believe that Micah was singing and his clean voice isn't nearly as nice as Shane's. I hope they adjust that for live performance. A crushing and heavy song with an excellent chorus that reminds me of As I Lay Dying's "Elegy" with the heavy chord pattern layered over excellent lyrics.

4. Breathing Blood: 9/10. Begins with Micah's very effective half scream-half spoken vocals. We are even treated to Shane's harsh voice. While the music isn't as heavy or crushing as the title would advertise, the vocals are full of power and raw emotion, which lifts this song to the higher ranks of the album. This track contains another lyrical gem in "how afraid of life can we be?" As a music fan who is annoyed by terrible lyrics, I must appreciate the lyrical superiority of this band. There's even a clean guitar part in the middle of this song reminiscent of Threat Signal's ending of their monster of a song entitled "Inane." This song is wonderful.

5. Reveries of Flight: 7/10. A bit too short for my tastes. Anything under 3 minutes isn't as effective as it ultimately could be. However, we are treated to a nice soft opening with clean vocals. The song kicks in eventually with a heavy chord progression with Micah's harsh vocals layered over it. While this part of the song is wonderful, especially once the chorus kicks back in, the length of the song is still a detriment. The drum beat during the second chorus is wicked, by the way.

6. World Without a Sun: 8/10. Also short but instrumentally delightful. We are greeted by Micah screaming, "I fear a world without a sun!" This song makes up for it's length with it's instrumental complexity. There is also a nice little breakdown near the end that is eventually followed by some nice lead work. A great song, overall, just too short.

7. The Fire Dawn: 7/10. Not bad at all, but nothing spectacular instrumentally or vocally. It stands out lyrically, but I'd learned to expect that from Oh, Sleeper.

8. A Banquet for Traitors: 8/10. Nice and heavy with some cool leads and and fully effective clean vocals.

9. Commissioned by Kings: 8/10. Great leads combined with Matt's excellent drumming propel this song to an 8. It is instrumentally enticing as well as vocally intense. This band seems incapable of disappointing its listeners. I sure hope they hold this same trait in the future.

10. The Finisher: 10/10. An absolute beast of a song defining the end of the battle and God's victorious outcome. Excellent leads and instrumentals as well as top-notch vocals are welded together to create the second best song on the album. A monster album should always end with a monster track.



Overall, this band is downright awesome. Go buy this album."