Disciple: O God Save Us All

Release date: 13 November 2012

Genre: Christian Metal, hard rock, alternative metal

Label: Fair Trade Services

Similar artists: RED; I Am Empire

Album length: 36 minutes 53 seconds, 11 tracks

Rating:  4.5/5     

You put the album in…15 seconds later…BOOOOOM!!! The first guitar intro begins and you know this is going to be a rocking album. “Do you live, do you think like they told you?” are the opening lyrics to their first hit song Outlaws. Knowing who Disciple is as a band is important to understand their lyrics. The lyrics are not simply written because they go well with the beat; they are written because they are anointed, and this is evident when every song is accompanied by a bible scripture - pretty cool.

The feel of the album is not hidden; the music is heavy in the first few songs, heavy enough to be classified as heavy rock, sometimes even metal, yet calm enough to be able to hear the lyrics. There are certain songs in which hearing the lyrics becomes a little difficult but it isn’t the end of the world and doesn’t ruin the vibe at all. Speaking of vibes, one of the coolest vibes given off by the album is in track two which happens to be the title track O God Save Us All. Half way through, the song breaks into a mad drum and guitar solo and it leaves you feeling as though you haven’t listened to it loud enough...every time you raise the volume, its never loud enough.

Compared to their previous album, ‘Horseshoes and Hand Grenades’, this album is a little bit calmer. The reason I say this is because the ratio of melodic rock and heavy rock songs is higher on ‘O God Save Us All’ than on ‘Horseshoes and Hand Grenades’ which is something I do not condemn about the album but actually admire; it is not easy to successfully adjust the tone of a rock album several times in one album and Disciple pulls it off perfectly. The shift between track 3 R.IP and Once and For All is gradual enough to notice yet it doesn’t make you think you have started listening to a different band. In my humble opinion, the album is great from songs 1 through 3, but where the album truly comes into its own is from track 4 onwards. I cannot explain the amount of times I have received strange looks in traffic while jamming my face off to songs like King’ and in particular The On’. You cannot help but rock out when listening to this album, but there is more to it than meets the eye…

In the process of writing this review I have listened to this album over 17 times, but I wanted to give the best review possible, so it was all for you guys. During those 17 or so times of listening to the album I began to listen past the insane drumming and awesome guitar solos and I began to notice the story being revealed by the lyrics. From what I could gather, there was a definite story that was developed from song 1 to 11…I do not want to give the story away, you can go listen to the album for yourself.

I had to search hard for anything negative to say about this album and eventually I thought I had it, but then the one thing I thought was the only negative to this album turned into one of the positives: the album is only 37 odd minutes, a full 6 minutes shorter than their previous album which I thought was going to be a negative. But then the beat got to me; each time the album finished I felt as though I wasn’t finished listening to it, so I just listened to it again, and again, and so the albums lack of length proved to be an asset.

Disciple has produced an album in ‘O God Save Us All’ that is near perfect; it’s a fine choice for our first album review on this blog, and it’s a fine album to add to any collection. Secular or Christian rockers will thoroughly enjoy the intense lyrics, the insane instrumentals- whether solo or backing. Having said all that there are certain parts of the album that stick out more than others, namely the intro to track 8 Unstoppable… just listen to it, you will thank me later. The second out standing aspect of the album is the chorus in track 9 The One. I am going to type them in caps lock because they are that awesome: “CAN YOU FEEL IT WHEN THE HEART STARTS BEATING? / CAN YOU FEEL IT WHEN THE BODY STARTS BREATHING? / CAN YOU FEEL IT WHEN THE WALLS START BREAKING? / CAN YOU FEEL IT WHEN THE HEAVENS START SHAKING? / WE WONT EVER FACE THIS FIGHT ALONE, WE BLEED ONE FOR ALL, WE BLEED ALL FOR ONE”.

Overall I rate this album to be one of the best rock albums out at this moment, and every person that calls themselves a rocker should have one. As I will do in all my future reviews, I will name my favourite song from the album and in this case, it goes to The One.

Thank you Disciple, we look forward to your next project.

Have a rocking week everyone

J