son of the morning
Only cowards keep dormant their sleeping strength, and soon you’ll find,/only the fearless will reach their potential’s peak.” – Breathing Blood
Here’s where the Christian metal-core nerd laying dormant inside me wakes to the release of ’s new album ‘Son of the Morning’ tomorrow. I will preface this by saying, I’m… so sorry. It’s mostly a nostalgic attachment to music that saw it’s peak in my formative years, and also something that will most likely delight our friend Andrea who champions loud music as a still living, breathing (and screaming) genre. She also has far more credibility than I do in those circles. Anyway, I loved ‘When I Am God’ so much so that I included a dissection of one of the tracks ‘Building the Nations’ in my college thesis paper. This genre of music is owed much more attention and affirmation than it receives, but the poeticism in the lyrics is mostly overlooked because of it’s metal-core affiliation. But the lyrics are brilliant. They, much like their labelmates [(RIP) can we talk about their demise someday? Man…] have pioneered a movement of missionaries, spreading the gospel in a radical, and countercultural way. More on this movement below.
First off, Son of the Morning’s album artwork is a broken pentagram signifying the final battle between the devil and God, as the final song ‘The Finisher’ ends with “I’ll cut off your horns”. This album is straight forward, illustrating the biblical theme of God’s wrath over the devil. This band continues to maintain it’s relevancy because of the context in which it presents each album, there is a transcendent depth to each track that finds its way sifting and emerging through the sometimes rather dull monotony of metal/hardcore/punk music. Please don’t hate me for saying that.
…So much rage:
But mark my words/because if that tree keeps them from seeing me/I will burn off your limbs and you will never shade again./You will bow at my feet or I’ll rip out your knees/and make of your face all the carnage you crave./I am the Finisher and I am Forever./I will sing to the world your storm is capturing/and the angels will join me…/We will sing to a world reborn from suffering./From the armories the angels sing. You will see them end this suffering./From the armories the angels sing. You will fear them when they lift their wings./They will sing to a world reborn./They will sing as I cut off your horns./I’ll cut off your horns. The Finisher
Oh Sleeper- Son of the Morning
Oh Sleeper- The Finisher
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Oh Sleeper got me thinking about music as a movement, and my thoughts immediately jumped to some of the best dudes I know: Chad, Graham and Russ, who recently started a non profit called Come & Live built around those principals. Graham has been a good friend of mine for a few years, and taught me about compassion and integrity within the industry, and continues to be one of the most legit dudes I know. Over the past year his heart for social justice led him to collaborate with Chad Johnson who worked for Tooth & Nail for nearly a decade and is the kind of dude that exudes a great love for all people.
I had the pleasure of showing the both of them around the Invisible Children offices this past spring, and immediately believed in Chad’s mission. Russ, also apart of the C&L team remains on my list favorite dudes as well. These guys emit an extraordinary humility that’s rare, if not dead, within the music industry. Come & Live has birthed a community of people who have faith in this generation’s artists, in their ability to challenge us to be radical.
There philosophy remains to: support, train, equip and mentor artists with the goal of living as missionaries to a generation of desperate youth. With 100% of the profits being willingly and cheerfully given to the needs of others throughout the world. [They] are a ministry that preaches and teaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ as taught in the Holy Bible.
To learn more, go to and sign up for their weekly newsletter.
Then tell Chad how unreal you think he is.
And then tell Graham to grow his beard back.