Pillar
Tulsa, Oklahoma8 reviews across 4 releases
Pillar is a Christian rap-rock band formed in Hays, Kansas, in 1998 and later based in Tulsa. Its early music fused chunky hard-rock guitar with hip-hop delivery and melodic choruses; funk and reggae appeared as detours, while the lyrics remained direct and evangelical. The 2000 debut Above could move from the worship song "Father" to the comic Superman imagery of "Original Superman" while retaining a live-band intensity. On Fireproof, the sound became heavier and more confrontational: Noah Henson's guitar thickened the attack, Rob Beckley's rapid verses met shouted refrains, and the writing pressed its message without much tact. The 2004 Where Do We Go From Here moved further toward nu-hard rock and nu-metal, reducing the earlier rap-rock identity.
In 2003, MCA Records picked up Fireproof for a mainstream reissue, but a label restructuring returned Pillar to Flicker. Bassist Michael "Kalel" Wittig and drummer Lester Estelle left in 2008, ending the lineup associated with the band's early-2000s rise; Beckley and Henson continued with replacement musicians. Pillar entered an unofficial hiatus after the 2009 album Confessions. In 2012, the earlier four-member lineup reunited, and the restored group issued One Love Revolution independently in 2015. Pillar announced reunion dates in 2023 for shows in 2024, then returned to live performance again in 2025.
4 releases reviewed
Original Superman
Fireproof
Where Do We Go From Here