In the Midst of Lion have been busy little bees since I reviewed their 2009 Strikefirst records debut, Out of Darkness. They of course moved on and up to Facedown Records and some time in 2010, released Heart of Man, which I never got around to reviewing, and then in late 2011 released album number 3, Shadows. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say Shadows and Heart of Man (from what I remember of it) are in fact somewhat interchangeable.
Unlike label mates A Plea For Purging, In The Midst of Lions have staunchly stayed the course in their chosen style, to the point where the albums and songs are pretty indistinguishable. That being said, if you are in the mood for some choppy, hefty, staggering Christian deathcore with a heavy, steady djent pace, In the Midst of Lions and any of their 3 albums should fir the bill. Sure, there’s plenty of non Christian, and heavier options for this style like Vildhjarta, Veil of Maya or Volumes to name a couple, but if you need your lurchy, djent riffs to have a message or not care about the scene or trends, In the Midst of Lions seem to be as honest, consistent and hard working as anyone. Plus, they don’t mess about with clean vocals, shimmery introspection or harmonic interludes Shadows is 10 songs all hovering around that perfect 3-4 minute range of direct, choppy, mid paced, staggering riffs and death metal growls.
Admittedly, like the previous 2 albums, nothing really jumps out or screams greatness, but the band’s unflinching dedication to the style and productivity has a robust likeability and you could do far worse. There are more talented and more ambitious Christian metal bands out there, and some on Facedown Records, but In The Midst of Lions know their sound and stick to it. There’s no denying the albums last third as the likes of “Overcome”, “Take Your Place”, and “The Call” have that steady, heaving A Life Once Lost gait that has some allure, but quickly repeats it self from song to song, and that’s the only real downfall of an otherwise solid album.
[Visit the band's website]
Find more articles with 2012, Christian, E.Thomas, Facedown Records, In The Midst of Lions, Metalcore, Review
Comments
Leave a Reply
This album was sweet, boring at times but still sick.
on Feb 23rd, 2012 at 12:07Deathcore sucks as it is, mixing deathcore with jesus is the worst thing since your chocolate got in my peanut butter.
on Feb 24th, 2012 at 10:31Yeah I found this album to be extremely solid. They could use something more to give the songs a little more diversity with each other, but there is no doubt they are very heavy, and worth listening to.
on Feb 24th, 2012 at 12:37i would never give a christian band a chance.especially since every one of them i gave a chance to ended up being the worst kind of posercore id ever heard.right from the god awful mortification up to any of the cookie cutter bands on this garbage label.its amazing that the child molesting christians can still trick people into spspreading their message of hate and sickness,which is what this review is doing.shame.
on Feb 24th, 2012 at 12:47extol was probably the only good christian metal band i could think of, but they turned into a bag of ass. i think believer might have been acceptable as well…maybe early living sacrifice wasn’t pure balls? can’t remember.
on Feb 24th, 2012 at 16:25@nick Taxidermy- have you heard Earth From Above: http://youtu.be/nWlpN-upJhY
on Feb 24th, 2012 at 20:59or With Blood Comes Cleansing?
@ jerry – I thought Underoath’s first album or two were really solid, and I really liked the first 4 Zao albums. both Christian bands. Woe of Tyrants is pretty cool too.
on Feb 24th, 2012 at 22:07I dunno, Eric, that whole sound just does nothing for me. my tastes in metal are pretty narrow anyway, I tend to mostly listen to black metal, doom, grind, and some sort of crusty hardcore stuff. very rare death metal (like Acephalix’s full length) but this floor-punching no neck shit does nothing for me at all.
on Feb 27th, 2012 at 12:39