Corpus ChristiI've heard very little about this band before receiving this album for review a few weeks back. After a Google search and reading up on the band, I learn they are from Cincinnati. So why would a band from Ohio name itself after a city on the Texas Gulf Coast? Corpus Christi translates from Latin to "the body of Christ". So, put two-and-two together and we realize we are dealing with a Christian metal band. And I thought they put the old fashioned church, complete with steeple, on the cover because it just looked cool with the interplay of dark and light clouds engulfing it. To be honest, I've been listening to this record for a couple weeks now and I never would've picked up on the fact that they were a Christian band.
I'm actually glad that I didn't know that they root themselves in Christianity. I tend to react negatively to that title since I feel most Christian bands push a particular message on the listener and in my experience I have honestly not crossed too many good, let-alone decent, bands that dub themselves 'Christian'. That all has changed with 'The Darker Shades Of White'. Corpus Christi has released a very good album that delivers a positive message and outlook on the negative landscapes within their songs. This CD isn't great, by any means, but I am highly impressed with it. I'll talk about my complaints with this record shortly, however, let me try and describe the style or genre that Corpus Christi brings to the table.
Every periodical I found online describes the band as metal and in essence they are, although that term has come to define such an array of music, as has 'punk' or even 'rock'. Would I classify these tunes as metal? Metalcore? Hardcore? Post-hardcore? There are so many subgenres these days; it makes this writer dizzy, yet I understand their necessity. Unfortunately most bands don't fit neatly into one subgenre, so we will continue to call them a metal band even though they do exhibit characteristics from all of the aforementioned subgenres as well as one or two I probably missed.
Vocalist Will Henry has a great voice that crosses between a rock singer, hardcore vocalist and a metal screamer. In fact, my only complaint with his vocals are that there is too much metal screaming that sounds out of place most of the time. If he stuck to his excellent hardcore approach and melodic singing, I feel this album would be twice as strong. Most of the time the screams are accompanied by the guitar breakdowns that appear too frequently here. Whereas most breakdowns are used to chug a song along or to gain it momentum…they interfere with this record's flow most of the time. This young band needs to remember that there is such a thing as unnecessary breakdowns or that there is too many. With that said, most of the guitar work is exceptional. Some nice and consistent metal-noodling with a continuous spray of machine gun bullets from the rhythm section really keep this CD fresh in between the tiresome and redundant breakdowns. This band showcases some crazy-good skills on this album; I just hope they can ignore the blueprints that most metalcore bands before them have so diligently followed. Some of these songs could have been classics had they focused on leaving them to what they truly are…excellent metal songs with well sung, melodic hardcore vocals. Lonely, 15 year old boys may need breakdowns to think a song is 'cool', but they will realize when they get a little older what a well written song truly is and Corpus Christi are straddling that fine line of great songwriting.
Rating: 4/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: "Until The Day", "I Will Never Forget" & "Marilyn"
Synopsis: Metalcore from Cincinnati that is as equally well written as it is well played. They are Christian but the lyrics are open enough to allow many broad interpretations from each listener. The message is predominately positive without trying too hard. This band has already reached a crossroads after one album. Where do they head from here? They can either go the route of flavor-of-the-month metalcore band that relies on dumbed-down breakdowns and drop tuning or refine their songwriting process and deliver some great metal songs. This latter road may not lead to sold-out shows but I guarantee it leads to a more fulfilling career.