Egads! This album is 77 minutes long! Are they trying to be Saviour Machine? Actually, the music from this trio has never sounded more metal. While their breakout debut, My Daddy Can Whip Your Daddy, conjured images of Rage Against The Machine with its well placed guitar snippets and rap vocals, this band has steadily reminded its listeners that their roots and allegiance remain in the heavy side of things. In fact, the guitar tones in the lead-off and title track remind me of old school heroes Barren Cross. This is the first Disciple record where I think it feels like the instrumentation is more important than the vocals. "Not Rock Stars," which I hear is going to be the album's first video, sounds like a This Means War era Petra song, accompanied by big BGV chants (and way crunchier guitars, of course).
"God Of Elijah" acts as a Sunday School song for the new millennium, and features some of the very few rap vocal deliveries (but you can still hear scratches in the intro to the ode to 80's metal -- "You Rock My Socks Off"). "Blow The House Down" is almost a sequel to This Might Sting A Little's "Big Bad Wolf" -- both musically and lyrically. The chugga-chugging in this song and the mighty riffage in tunes like "Coal" and "You Are Here" are indicative of an experienced band with good, thick, and full production.
The rockin' "I Hate Your Guts," which begins with a soulful preaching sound byte, crystallizes the Disciple sound pretty well -- a wide, breathing sound with crunchy guitars, start/stop rhythms, and rapid-fire vocals. You'd think, with 22 tracks, that this band would get boring, but that's not the case. These guys do a good job of keeping the interest and energy levels high for 77 minutes.
I like the worshipful "You Are Here," with lines like, "You are holy," that are sung with a natural quality that sounds believable (an important ingredient for a song to invite the listener to enter in), and equally worshipful (albeit slower) "A Thousand Things." The Fletch inspired title "Not Since Breakfast," which talks about spending time with God, makes me wish that this was my prayer ("I've been waiting for this time all day long..."). In case you've never heard of Disciple, they're not only a Christian band, they're a no-apologies ministry band. This is their second release in a row that includes a bonus EP disc to give away to a non-believing friend, including an altar call-type invitation. Metal and ministry -- By God, these guys are into it!
Other coverage for this album
Art for the Ears 2001Reviewed by Marco PovervestDisciple's third full-length is By God. Their music is a heavy mix of groovy metal and rap-like vocals. It's not at all like rapcore. The foundation this band lays down is a metallic one. It's groovy. And besides rapping there is also a lot of normal singing, like in Can't Breathe. Disciple is also a band on a mission. Their lyrics are plain and there are even short liner notes telling what each…Dead Zine 2001Reviewed by NecRoSarXIf their last CD only stung a little, then By God would be like wandering into a whole slew of hornet nests over and over again. After taking in the whole CD, I felt drained. It's basically This Might Sting a Little cranked up to about eleven (if I can steal a line from This Is Spinal Tap): hard, slamming, intensified rhythms, thick and meaty (not to mention hook-laden) guitar riffs, and vocals…Dead Zine 2001Reviewed by the ProjectOk By God by Disciple is pretty much like This Might Sting a Little. Only this album has twenty-two tracks. It actually got a little harder and it worked more with me. Some tunes got a little punk/core with all that groove I know you love. This disk has something else. MORE EDGE! It dropped a lot of the glam Guardian stuff I hate. I liked this album a lot better than the other. The bass and…Similar sounding releases
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