Barnabas
Little Foxes
Reviewed by Doug Van Pelt
It's tried our patience and aroused our curiosity. Time and time again we'd lose hope and then we'd hear a rumor that said it'd be soon. It has finally happened after almost three years: Barnabas has released Little Foxes. For Barnabas fans, this album holds no disappointments. Right from the start this album rips and snorts its way into the metal genre. It is consistently more metal, song for song, than any previous Barnabas effort. This is due, of course, to guitarist Brian Belew. He dishes out a full helping of crunch chords on this album. His leads are impressive, but it's his distorted rhythms that give this album its metal manhood. The only drawback with this vinyl may be the reaction of some ears to Nancy Jo Mann's voice. She doesn't seem to compliment the heavy sound of the rhythm section, but she comes grittily close in songs like "Little Foxes" and "Destroy After Use," where she lets it r-r-r-i-p-p! The music's got much more of a live feel than their other albums, which used more keys. This album crunches along like no other in all of Christian metal. It's not heavier than Saint or Leviticus, but the guitars here chop, dice and split like most of the hot secular bands do. Brian Belew plays with no apologies, reminding us how powerful the basic rock chords can be. The title track gets Gary Mann rockin' on his bass, while Nancy Jo exposes the deceptive work of the "Little foxes" in Satan's kingdom. "Destroy After Use," probably the album's best cut, bluntly tells us the truth about the devil's strategy and how he feels about the people he uses. He hates his followers and he hates you and he hates me. He hates everyone. He hates and hates and hates. He uses people for his purposes and then he destroys them, or at least tries to. (Read Job 1 & 2) The only hope for someone caught in the devil's game is Jesus. The music has the proper emotions of anger to match the message perfectly. "Auschwitz '87" blazes along at headbanging speed. Brian cuts a real mean lead here that scorches! Recording this song must've worn out two or three of his fingers! The rest of the songs could blend together in one song, almost. "All Alone" is a departure, being somewhat mellow and featuring keyboards. "Suite for the Souls of Our Enemies" is continued from the last album, Feel the Fire. Part one was called "Hammer and Sickle," while part two is called "Lover." Suites are the concept that I thought Barnabas did so well. That's why I'll always prefer songs like "Breathless Wonderment" to their straight ahead rockers. "Breathless Wonderment" is a six-minute, 48-second epic that serves as part three of a trilogy of songs on Feel the Fire: "Prelude"; "The Dream" and "Breathless Wonderment" ("The Dream Becomes Reality"). In conclusion, I'd say, "Check out Little Foxes. Considering the female vocals, it might not be for everybody, but it's good rock."