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I just got DOMINATED by this record and I totally wasn't expecting it. I was looking for new Christian hard rock. I had just about exhausted everything I thought I'd like, but I was really jonesin' of something I hadn't played a hundred times. I heard one Project 86 song I liked from a free sampler. It wasn't what I'd think of as my usual bag - I'm a Skillet, Thousand Foot Krutch guy - but I took a chance. Freakin' wow! It's painfully good. The guitars are like long, thick needles in your brain and eyes, but I like it! I get vicariously winded listening to the vocals that scream with passion but are still melodic, not like screamo or cookie-monster. I particularly like the overall message, which is defiantly triumphant over death and the shallow, fleeting things of this world that people make so important, and refuses to belong to anything other than The Creator. I think my favorite song is Dark Angel Dragnet, which flippantly, shameless screams to, "cancel my ticket booked to fire..." "and say hello to death for me." Raw passion, perpetual energy, unstoppable force. Go with it or get out of the way!
I have been an 86 fan since the beginning and this album does not disappoint...But let me say this, listen to it a couple times through before you decide..When I first heard it I would of rated it 4 stars...After a couple times through I liked it more and more..This album is just intense..And they added a metal edge to the music they've never really done before..And the lyrics...That was really pushed it to the top charts for me..INCREDIBLE lyrics..I'm so glad this band stayed unground..Going mainstream seems to destroy bands..Take POD and Skillet..They got weaker as they went on..But 86 keeps pushing the level higher...GREAT ALBUM...WORTH THE MONEY...
Unlike many others here, this was my first P86 CD purchased. After hearing them live at JoshuaFest last year, I was hooked and became an instant fan. At 52 you'd think I would have outgrown metal, but Christian metal with a message like these guys produce is a complete blessing to an old rocker like me. Excellent production work, thought provoking lyrics and gifted musicians combine to rattle my windows and my mind. I thank our Lord Jesus for the ministry of P86. I'm off to buy some past releases.
I always enjoy P86. From their first album, I've been an absolute fan. I can't get enough of their solid musicianship, lyrics, and production values. They have a certain sing-along feel to almost every song. Unlike other bands, there are very few even slightly forgettable tunes. This album is no exception. If you enjoy heavy rock music with catchy concepts, this is the band to follow.
Thirteen years and seven albums later, you could say Project 86 has gained some experience doing what they're doing. And with that experience most often comes maturity. Project's latest, Picket Fence Cartel, goes to show how far they've come, and how much respect they really are deserving of. But they've made it very clear with the theme of this album. With fame comes power. And with power comes corruption. And they are in no way ready to give in to this corruption. The eighth track on the album, "Two Glass Eyes," puts it best--"Fame is infamy."
While not all songs carry this theme, an idea spawned off of this one does carry on throughout the album. As Project 86 explains it, our society is so driven to get fame in one way or another. But once someone gets what they've wanted (power), they end up being controlled by it, to where it is their sole obsession. The question that Project explores in this album is "Who do I belong to?"
Front-man Andrew Shwab's oftentimes genius lyrics help us discover the answer to this topic. Songs like "The Butcher" use powerful lyrics, declaring that "There is no weapon, there is no blade, you'll never kill Him that lives inside of me." The track obviously points out that if we belong to God, "Who can be against us?"
Picket Fence Cartel has some of the most spiritual lyrics to date. Project 86 is, of course, a Christian band, but sometimes oblique lyricism takes away from any meaning to the listener. Most, if not all of the songs on this album can be easily interpreted to have some sort of spiritual meaning. The opener, "Destroyer," tells of the end times, and the demise of Satan--"The lives that you thought that were your to devour, Destroyer, the tables have turned in this hour." "Cement Shoes" is a song that comes across as downright worshipful, screaming "And so we bow it to, bow it to, kneel before You, just like a child here, I'm not ashamed." "Two Glass Eyes" cries out to God to "Rescue me!" "Cyclonus," the following track, opens with a Bible verse, and afterwards commands that "Devastator, Complicator, Bringer of Pain, why won't you fly away." The track following that, "The Black Brigade," reinforces its predecessor, asking God for deliverance from the evil that chases us. But the finale is the strongest, lyrically, and the most worshipful track on the album--maybe even the most worshipful ever to come from Project 86. The track says that "We've lost all our control, our faces fall to the ground, we're powerless to Your voice, surrender to the sound," and after answers the question we've been pondering the entire album. "Who do I belong to? Not earth, not world, not evil, not mortals, not wretches, not horrors. Who do I belong to? Unchanging, Unbreaking, Unfailing, Creator, Immortal, Eternal." It's an extremely powerful song, and even if you're not a fan of Project, it's worth giving a listen to.
I'm vaguely familiar with Project's older work--mainly their singles such as "Spy Hunter" or "Evil (A Chorus of Resistance)." But I have heard the majority of 2007's Rival Factions, and I must say this album is much heavier than the synth-laced style of their last album. While the synths are present in a few songs, such as a little in the background of the chorus of "Dark Angel Dragnet," and predominantly in "A John Hancock With The Safety Off," most of the songs are more metal than their last attempt. With only three members, I'm not sure who they have on the drums, but some of those beats are pretty amazing. The start of "Dark Angel Dragnet" has a very interesting drum piece, and songs like "Cold and Calculated" and "Two Glass Eyes" have intense rhythm that almost come across as catchy. The most interesting part of the album, musically, is halfway though "To Sand We Return," where there is a short acoustic break, accompanied by vocals that will give you goosebumps at one point or another.
So overall, Picket Fence Cartel is a great improvement--musically, lyrically, and spiritually. The theme is fantastic, and the songs help to very well portray it. And it can only be uphill from here, as we watch and see where this band will take us next.
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Very distinctive band. This band just hits some button inside of me and makes me want to put my fist in the air. This CD oozes with a great and catchy sound. Soon you will be singing some of the choruses without realizing it.
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