Artist: Where The Ocean Meets The Sky
Album: Empires
Release Date: 10/12/10
Label: CI Records

Recently, CI Records have been known for starting careers off of such bands as August Burns Red and Texas In July, and now, you can say hello to six-piece metalcore band Where The Ocean Meets The Sky, with their debut album Empires. The firing riffs and guttural growls heard throughout the album are contrasted by clean vocals and synths, adding together for a heavy, yet melodic atmosphere.

Empires starts off with "On the Backs of Your Brothers," which is layered with synths and a repetitive screamed line of "I'm your master!" The following "We Are But Instruments" is full of explosive riffs, that showcase the expertise guitar work of Where The Ocean Meets The Sky. "Victims" takes refuge in its clean vocals, that go back and forth with vocalist Blake Martin's heavy screams.

The short "Regime Discarded" is made up of only clean vocals, pounding drums and a haunting piano. The song leads into "Delusions of Grandeur," which is a heavier, synth driven track. The closer "Who We Are" follows after the title track, which seems to come a bit too soon of the shorter, eight track Empires.

Despite the expertise guitar work and great growls, the only main downfall on Empires would be the clean vocals, which aren't all that bad, but could have been better. However, songs like "Regime Discarded" and "Delusions of Grandeur" show hope, with better performances of clean vocals. However, the clean vocals do not hold back WTOMTS at all, and in time, are sure to improve.

Rating: 7/10 Empires is a good start for Where The Ocean Meets The Sky, with its firing riffs and guttural growls that are held together by melodic synths and clean vocals. However, the clean vocals could use some work, but no doubt will WTOMTS just continues to improve.

Tracklisting:

1. On the Backs of Your Brothers
2. We Are But Instruments
3. Victims
4. Mettle of a Man
5. Regime Discarded
6. Delusions of Grandeur
7. Empires
8. Who We Are

(Buy Here)

Artist: Lakes
Album: The Agreement
Release Date: 9/3/10
Label: Independent

The unfortunate thing about independent artists are that many will go undiscovered, along with any talent that they have. Hopefully, Lakes will not be one to go unnoticed, as they certainly deserve the attention with their long awaited full length record, The Agreement. The album is a collection of warm indie rock songs, with a pop rock sensibility at times. The band is fronted by Seth Roberts, formerly of Watashi Wa, whose vocals flow with the instrumentation just right.

"Broadlyn" and "The Heart Is An Anchor" start off The Agreement, showing off their talent right away. They are a good representation of the album as a whole. "Oh Lovely" is a piano-driven tune that serves as a nice love song. The darker rocker "Loose Fix" feels nearly a bit out of place, not being as upbeat as some of the other songs that have a lighter feeling to them. My favorite track on the album comes with "Lifting Me Up," which states "When life looses meaning, when it's hard to keep breathing, You keep lifting me up." "The Agreement Song" follows and is a very simplistic song, that is succeeded by the closer "I Was There." It ends The Agreement on rather good terms, with a driving guitar thrown in to close the song.

Rating: 8/10 Lakes have marked their territory in the indie scene with The Agreement. An album full of warm, accessible indie rock, Lakes have started it off well with their debut full length effort.

Tracklisting:

1. Broadlyn
2. The Heart Is An Anchor
3. Oh Lovely
4. The Ghost and the Man
5. The Feeling
6. Back In Your Head
7. Sweet Dream
8. Loose Fix
9. The Tree
10. When We Were Younger
11. It's You It's Me
12. Lifting Me Up
13. The Agreement Song
14. I Was There

(Buy Here)

Artist: Close Your Eyes
Album: We Will Overcome
Release Date: 2/16/10
Label: Victory Records

Some of the best albums can certainly come as surprises. While I've known about Close Your Eyes for a while, it wasn't until last month that I finally gave them a listen, and what I heard on their debut album, titled We Will Overcome, is one of the best debuts that I have heard over the past few years. Close Your Eyes play an interesting style of hardcore/hardcore punk, thrown in with a bit of progressive and pop here and there, mixing for a very nice sound. Lyrically, CYE have a strong, unashamed message about living our lives for Jesus.

The opener, "A Proclamation," is a good example of what to expect on further listen of We Will Overcome, with a chorus proclaiming "With every breath we take, let our lives proclaim the promises that we made to You." A few tracks later comes another highlight with "The Body," featuring guest vocals from Mattie Montgomery of For Today. His vocals are the perfect fit for the song, resonating well with Close Your Eyes' vocalist Shane Raymond.

However, the album's best two tracks come as the last two on the album. The first, "Something Needs To Change," flows with a hardcore vibe, being the heaviest track on We Will Overcome, with well placed growls throughout the song. The end of the song is filled with a great breakdown, that asks "Who will be the hands and feet of Jesus?" "Arms Raised" closes out the album, with a worship sense contained in the lyrics. Sevaral times, the song takes a turn with a pop punk sound, which is very nice on the ears. I could not have asked for a better closer.

Rating: 8/10 Close Your Eyes have released one of the year's best debut albums thus far with We Will Overcome. Some great hardcore punk, mixed in with elements of pop punk, this album has been on a heavy rotation for me, and on giving it a listen, I'm sure almost anyone would agree.

Tracklisting:

1. A Proclamation
2. Friends Are Friends Forever
3. xChet Steadmanx
4. Digging Graves
5. The Body
6. Song For The Broken
7. 17:20
8. Wake Up!
9. Bitter Path
10. Something Needs To Change
11. Arms Raised

(Buy Here)

We recently talked with up and coming metal band I, The Breather about their new album, touring and more!

Christian Rock Rocks (Brooks Ginnan): Can you say your name and what you do in I, The Breather?
Jered Youngbar (I, The Breather): My name is Jered and I play guitar in I, The Breather.

CRR (Gary Mark Peterson): First off, congrats on signing to Sumerian. How did signing with them come about and what made you decide on them?
Jered: Thanks a lot. Our manager Chris is good friends with Shawn and Ash of Sumerian Records. So he helped us a lot with the process and got our music into the right hands. We love Sumerian Records and are really pumped to be part of the family.

CRR: How was the writing process for the record? How does everyone contribute to the actual songwriting process? Is everyone involved or do only a few core members write the music?
Jered: Normally how it goes is that Justin will write the skeleton of a song, and then Morgan, him, and I will practice together and work out the kinks and get it exactly how we want it. We're very picky and particular when it comes to writing music, haha.

CRR: I love how I, The Breather put out videos that were basically instructionals on how to play ITB songs. I thought it was very unique and showed that you guys care about your fans deeply. Who thought of that and why?
Jered: Kids would ask us often at our shows and on the Internet about how to play our songs. So we decided to do the videos. We figured that would be the best way for them to learn and play along.

CRR: I saw you guys at Scream The Prayer and was blown away. I had already heard of ITB and knew I wanted the music but was amazed at how tight y'all are live. How were you received overall? Anything that you guys would like to improve upon in regards to your live shows (not that I found any flaws)?
Jered: Thanks man. We loved Scream The Prayer! It was awesome to see the kids get into it and have fun. We are constantly trying to improve our live show and with our stage presence. It's very important to us that kids can see that we're having fun on stage and it not just being a routine.

CRR: You guys were billed a little higher than some of the other, shall we say, more established, bands on Scream The Prayer. You seemed to take full advantage of the nice billing with the performances. How did you guys end up with that slot?
Jered: Honestly, we thought we were opening the tour beforehand. And then first day of the tour we found out we were fourth every night.

CRR: I noticed on Twitter that you started having a few van issues towards the end of STP. Please tell me the issues are being handled and that we'll be able to see you guys on more tours soon? We all know that being on the road is hard on you guys so what are some ways fans can make your travels a little easier?
Jered: Yes, we had some major problems happen to our van, but we got everything fixed and we'll be back on the road in a few weeks. And to answer your other question, just come to our shows, support us, and buy our merch. It helps more that you think.

CRR: Speaking of travel, when can we expect the new album and tour supporting it? In regards to the new album, what can we expect in terms of release, length, amount of songs, etc.?
Jered: The album is scheduled to be released on December 21st. It will have 11 tracks and I believe runs about 40 minutes. Tours will follow and are being worked out right now.

CRR: Do you have a name yet for the album?
Jered: Persecutors

CRR: How did you get started as a band?
Jered: We started in August of 2009. We all were good friends with each other, but were in different bands at the time. Eventually we all came together and formed I, The Breather.

CRR: What role does your faith play in your music?
Jered: It plays a huge role in not just our band, but with everything in our lives. We all believe strongly in Jesus Christ and try our best to show His love to everyone we meet.

CRR: Any last things you'd like to say?
Jered: I just wanna say thanks to everyone that comes out to our shows and supports us. We have two tours coming up soon so check out our Myspace and Facebook for the dates and we'll see you guys soon!

Your Memorial will be releasing their Facedown debut album Atonement on November 23rd, and you can hear the title track from their stunning new album here:  http://www.myspace.com/yourmemorial