Son of the Morning

Oh, Sleeper's sophomore release is a concept album of sorts, its metallic track list detailing the final battle between God and the Devil. Accordingly, the band gives itself carte blanche to delve into all the grisly imagery of doom metal -- maggots feasting on flesh, damned mortals, bleeding body parts, and the like -- while remaining within the Christian fold. The result is an extremely aggressive album, with vocalist Micah Kinard often assuming the role of the Devil as he screams atop distorted guitars and double kick drum percussion (supplied by newcomer Matt Davis). Shane Blay offers his own vocal counterpoint, and the songs that feature the singers' melodic voices -- most notably "In All Honesty" and the harmony-filled "Reveries of Flight" -- are some of the album's strongest. Elsewhere, Son of the Morning concerns itself with creating some of the angriest, loudest Christian metal of 2009, which it largely succeeds in doing.