Swimming With Dolphins are debuting a brand new song entitled "Sleep To Dream" off the forthcoming Water Colours, out May 17th. The song can be streamed here and is also available to buy on AmazonMP3 and iTunes. The pre-orders for Water Colours are up now as well, and the three different options, including a water color paint set, can be viewed and purchased on the Tooth & Nail Records online store. In addition to that news, be sure to catch SWD out on the road with Family Force 5 now, and at both Creation Festivals Northeast and Northwest this summer.

You may have heard of Hyland lately from CRR, or perhaps heard their single "This Love Is Free" on your local radio station, but want to hear their new album, and in fact, own a copy yourself? Well, look no further! We will be giving away one copy of their upcoming Tooth & Nail Records debut album, Weights & Measures. To enter, just send in your name, email, and mailing address to contests@christianrockrocks.com. It's as simple as that! The contest will run until Tuesday, May 3rd, so be sure to enter soon!

Update: The winner has been notified and can be looking for their copy of Weights & Measures soon!

Dynasty has released a new song from their upcoming Strike First debut Truer Living with a Youthful Vengeance. Go have a listen to "Way of the Wolf" here http://www.facebook.com/DynastyHC and then get entered to win a pair of custom Dynasty Nikes by pre ordering the new album.

Artist: The Color Morale
Album: My Devil In Your Eyes
Release Date: March 8, 2011
Label: Rise Records

In the metalcore and post-hardcore scenes these days, there are of lot of same sounding bands out there, that don't show much creativity and variety. The same scream-sing-scream-breakdown formula  is something found in many of these bands as well. There are still a small amount of bands that can actually do metalcore/post-hardcore right, and The Color Morale are one good example. My Devil In Your Eyes, the band's Rise Records sophomore release, packs in plenty of down tuned riffs, growls, and well done clean vocals that aren't high and whiny, with a hopeful message of leaving hard things in the past behind and moving on.

Vocalist Garret Rapp's scream of "Dreams, are forever!" starts off the great opener "Nerve Endings." I couldn't have asked for a better starting track, as the song makes you want to dig further into the album. "Human(s)being" has a chorus that demands attention, with strong, commanding clean vocals, and "The Dying Hymn" hits hard with the poignant lyrics of "The world can't make you faithless, when faith is first, where is your faith?"

A message of hope is found on "Walkers," stating "We are not useless," which follows after a song dealing with tough issues in life ("Be Longing Always"). The album's most unique track, and perhaps its highlight, "Demon Teeth," is filled with a chaotic element, similar to Underoath, and an unexpected chorus full of great harmonies that comes out of nowhere. Some of the album's best melodic parts come on "Falling Awake" and "This Lost Song Is Yours," the latter being made up completely of clean vocals. A bit of ambience comes into play on the haunting closer, "fill;avoid," which poses the closing words "You made me from dust, but not dirt."

Overall: The Color Morale are showing to be one of the best up and coming metalcore/post-hardcore bands in the scene today, a statement proved on their sophomore release, My Devil In Your Eyes. A great vocal performance from vocalist Garret Rapp on account of both his growls and clean vocals, not to forget his honest and relatable lyrics, are pulled together with chugging riffs and blast beats. There are a few times throughout the album that I feel the breakdowns aren't always as strong as expected, and that the band would experiment more with the chaotic style of "Demon Teeth," but those things are my only complaints. The Color Morale have a bright future ahead of them, and will be sure to gain attention with their solid new effort.

Rating: 7/10

Tracklisting:

1. Nerve Endings
2. Human(s)being
3. The Dying Hymn
4. Be Longing Always
5. Walkers
6. Demon Teeth
7. Falling Awake
8. Quote On Quote
9. This Lost Song Is Yours
10. fill;avoid

(Buy Here)

The lineup for this summer's Scream The Prayer tour has been announced. Norma Jean will be headlining, support from nine other bands, such as The Chariot and Sleeping Giant, which can be seen above. The dates have yet to be announced, but look for more info on the tour soon.

COME&LIVE! RELEASES NEW ZEALAND {OUR STORY} DOCUMENTARY

This past week, Family Force 5 have been debuting new music off their upcoming full length album, coming later this summer. They are streaming "You Got It" in full on their Facebook page, as well as clips of "Dang Girl" and "Wobble". The band is also selling a limited run of their III EP which features all the aforementioned songs, on their online store. Be sure to catch Family Force 5 on the TOURantula currently, and on some of this summer's Warped Tour, as well as at a few festivals!

Strike First is happy to welcome a new band to the family.  Ark of the Covenant play hard hitting, undiluted hardcore, and will be releasing their debut EP with Strike First this spring.

I discovered Hyland two years ago, after their then current radio single, "Til Death," caught my attention, while at many Christian rock stations.. A band who can actually do pop rock well, the Minnesota natives blend some rock fueled songs ("Fireworks," "Til Death"), with slower, acoustic elements as well ("This Love Is Free," "Coast To Coast"), for a solid debut album. Weights & Measures will be out May 3rd on the band's new home, Tooth & Nail Records, and will be an album worth giving a listen, from a promising up and coming band.

Swimming With Dolphins' anticipated Tooth & Nail Records debut album, Water Colours, will be releasing on May 17th. SWD is finishing up their section on Abandon Kansas' album release tour currently, and will be heading out with Family Force 5 on the TOURantula in May. For more info on Swimming With Dolphins and the new album, you can go right here.

All Things Bright and Beautiful, the forthcoming album from Owl City, has been pushed back to a release date of June 14th, just in time for a summer release. You can also sample four new songs from the new record on the album's site.

AUGUST BURNS RED announce title and release date for new album

Artist: FM Static
Album: My Brain Says Stop, But My Heart Says Go!
Release Date: April 5, 2011
Label: Tooth & Nail Records

FM Static have been around for eight years now, the pop punk side project of Canadian hard rock band Thousand Foot Krutch, made up of frontman Trevor McNevan and drummer Steve Augustine. The band's latest, My Brain Says Stop, But My Heart Says Go!, is a fun album that blends together the band's high energy pop punk tunes with some '80s' influences, and an emphasis of the pop in pop punk.

The opening two songs, the title track and "F.M.S.T.A.T.I.C," are reminiscent of their song "The Shindig," which closed out the '09' release Dear Diary. The title track starts off with crowd vocals, that are featured on a good amount of the album, and cowbell (because everyone loves some cowbell). McNevan shows off his rapping vocals, that he's done on earlier Thousand Foot Krutch material, on the song as well, and the next few tracks. The band's new anthem, "F.M.S.T.A.T.I.C," contains some cheerleader-like vocals in the beginning, and could be compared to Hawk Nelson's "Live Life Loud." Both "(Hey) I Want It" and "U Don't Know Me Like That" come off as sporting event anthems, and are songs to fuel a team's desire for winning.

The slow ballad "Lost In You" is something of a love song to God, and is very laid back, containing only a slow drumbeat throughout the verses. The band gives a slight nod to some of their earlier songs "Crazy Mary" and "Definitely Maybe" on "Black Tattoo," with storytelling lyrics and a comparable sound as well. "Last Train Home" takes a hopeful and nostalgic look back on a relationship, as does "Cinnamon & Lipstick." Catchy guitar riffs make up most of "Breaking Me Again," before moving into the piano and acoustic-driven closer, "Inside Out." The piano parts on the song add a modern piano-pop feel, one that FM Static executes quite nicely.

Overall: My Brain Says Stop, But My Heart Says Go!, the latest from FM Static, is a high energy, fun, feel good album that just begs to be listened to on a summer drive, cranked up with the windows down. A lot of the pop punk songs on the album bring to mind songs heard on movie soundtracks, from the late '90s' and early '00s', while the slower ballads are radio-friendly. While it may not be the band's best effort in their eight-year career, it is a fun one that brings with it an enjoyable listen.

Rating: 7/10

Tracklisting:

1. My Brain Says Stop, But My Heart Says Go
2. F.M.S.T.A.T.I.C
3. (Hey) I Want It
4. Lost In You
5. U Don't Know Me Like That
6. Cinnamon & Lipstick
7. Black Tattoo
8. Last Train Home
9. Breaking Me Again
10. Inside Out

(Buy Here)

You may remember hearing the name Blood & Water, from when we reviewed their fantastic album In Character, but now our good friends over at Indie Vision Music are offering the whole album for free! That's right, you can download In Character until next Friday, April 8th, completely for free, no strings attached, right here.

In addition to that download, the folks over at Facedown Records are offering a free sampler of their many bands in honor of this year's Facedown Fest, including new songs from Hope For The Dying, Take It Back!, Gideon and Onward To Olympas, as well as some great songs from My Epic, Your Memorial and A Plea For Purging, to name a few. The 17-song sampler can be downloaded at AmazonMP3.

The final album from Cool Hand Luke, Of Man, was released yesterday, and is available on AmazonMP3 and iTunes, and a hard copy can be purchased from the CHL online store. For information on Of Man, Cool Hand Luke, and what Mark Nicks will be doing after CHL is over, you can visit the new site set up for the album.

Sweden's Blindside have posted a brand new song off their highly anticipated forthcoming album, titled With Shivering Hearts We Wait. The song is titled "There Must Be Something In The Water" and can be heard right here.