Some things in life are certain: We are in desperate need of salvation, and there is a sovereign Lord who offers life. While these ideas are hardly new to Christian rock, they are infused with fresh, poetic life on Absolutes, a dark and brilliant manifesto of Christian faith. With Stavesacre, though, you can be assured that, while their latest is a work of art, it is as if someone took the painting and smashed you over the head with it. With the passion and fury of muscular hard rock, Stavesacre blows through like a force of nature: the drums roll by like thunder; the bass rumbles with the inevitability of an oncoming storm; the guitars shoot and slice like random lightning bolts; the lead vocal shouts against the wind, which tears at whatever isn't bolted down. Cloaked in the discordant pop are lyrics that encourage leaving behind the sin nature and pursuing the Christian life: Yes, we are saved by grace through faith, but there is still a responsibility for us to follow through (Romans 7:14-8:17). More than once, the lyrics use the image of a desert snake shedding its skin, most notably in "Shiv" and "Wither"; the ongoing struggle with the flesh and the importance of turning back to God come through in "Sand Dollar" and "Two Heavens"; the joy of the new life in Christ is celebrated in "Ascend." The centerpiece is "Colt .45," a religious debate: I thought about what you said/ and I'm not sorry for a thing, the lead vocalist opines. He defends his position (cannot discard this as emotional/ this is not a passing stage) before drawing from Ecclesiastes (vanity of vanities/ each breath you breathe is grasping at the wind). Although it is a hard response, it is also one that is fair. Maybe Absolutes was created out of real life conversations, maybe it's simply academic. Whichever it is, Stavesacre has made an artistic and spiritual statement, a resource for loud apologetic discussion.