The RevelifeRocks Artist of the Week is
As Cities Burn.
It was seven years ago when As Cities Burn was first formed in Mandeville, Louisiana. They remained unsigned for two years and released two EPs. In 2004, Solid State Records decided to sign them and they began touring with big names such as The Chariot and Showbread. In the following year, they released their first full-length album called
Son, I Loved You At Your Darkest. At these early stages, they were considered a hardcore/post-hardcore band. However, it’s hard to label a band that could flawlessly combine harsh screaming with soft, gentle melodies, something that you never hear from other hardcore bands.
Despite the acclaim that their first album received and the huge following they obtained after touring, As Cities Burn planned to end it all in 2006. Luckily their fans persuaded them to stay together, and stay together they did. After their supposed farewell tour, As Cities Burn decided to get back into the studio to churn out another album. Before the official release, they uploaded a demo from the new album, but their fans did not hear what they had expected to hear. The screaming that was such a big part of the debut album was gone. As Cities Burn’s original lead singer decided to leave the band to focus more on his family and was replaced by the band’s guitarist.
Although the new album
Come Now Sleep was obviously very different from the first, they still did not disappoint. The vocals had changed, but the powerful lyrics remained, which is what As Cities Burn has always been known for. They’ve never sacrificed honesty and depth in order to stay within the boundaries that some musicians feel like they can’t cross. The songs of As Cities Burn blatantly touch upon extremely difficult topics. They go straight to the soul and break your heart.
In April of this year, ACB released the highly-anticipated
Hell or High Water. With this album they decided to once again make changes to their musical style, but brought back some of the old as well. Their original lead singer T.J. and his screaming make a short appearance in the first track, and the last is a recording of a song ACB has ended shows with for several years. Another solid release from one of the best Christian rock bands out there.
Check out the video for their single "
Empire."
Comments (10)
Ah, As Cities Burn is a great band, and Hell or High Water is my personal favorite of theirs.
Well worth checking out for any who haven't.
Can a song get any more boring? Overly repetitive and emotionless. He tried to throw some emotion in there with some "screams" but the instrumentals didn't support the change in vocals and it ultimately fell short.
I actually liked As Cities Burn, although Christian heavy rock doesn't show up often on my playlist. Where were you Raquel?? the last time I saw one of these posts was several months ago.
What art should be or what we truly should call art! Great band....love all their cds!!!
glad As Cities Burn gets a mention on revelife! They're definitely worth looking into :D
I love the song Empire!
I hung out with cody when he was recording Hell or High Water, and I can honestly say that there isn't a band I would want to support more.
i'm not exaggerating to say greatest band i've ever heard. God used them to get me through so much and i pray that he continues to do so for many others. :)
they sound really interesting I'll take a shot at them.
@nyclegodesi24@xanga - I was actually right here! Haha. I wrote this like a month ago. Which is funny because As Cities Burn has broken up AGAIN in the last couple weeks.
The thing is that I don't post these personally. I send them to my friend who is one of the editors here and he posts them for me. I guess he was really busy and stuff, but yeah I'm REALLY sorry it took over a month to get one of these up :/
And I'm really appreciative of your awesome comments. You guys are great (: