Are you a hard rock purist? Do you like loud, crunching, mindlessly heavy guitar riffs and tortured screaming? Do you abhor melody at all costs?

Well, if you are then, I'm sorry, I can't help you there. Because that just isn't me.

But you know what is me? (Other than poor grammar, of course.) Rock bands that mix and match styles. Rock bands that experiment. Ultimately, rock bands that have some sort of a melodic component, even if they're a bit on the heavy side. I'm cool with heavy riffs. I can enjoy screaming when the situation calls for it. And I don't need a radio-ready hook to enjoy a song. But without melody on your side, it can be far too easy to fall into the trap of all of your songs sounding the same. And that's a trap that the Swedish band Blindside has wisely sidestepped on their fourth album, About a Burning Fire.

Now, that's not to say that Blindside had no clue what melody was on their earlier albums. Heck, I can't even speak to the first two discs that they did before breaking out into the mainstream, so while I've heard that they were much heavier than their current album or the transitional record Silence, I can't just go assuming that there was no melody to it, no experimentation, and nothing that would've gotten its hooks in me. What I do know is that I've probably listened to Silence, their first record after being signed to a new label created by their fellow Christian rockers P.O.D., more times than it would normally take an album to fully grow on me, and that album hasn't done it yet. I fell in love with a few of the singles from that record, admiring the blend of screaming and melodic rocking that characterized "Caught a Glimpse" and "Pitiful", and also the more straightforward rock song "Cute Boring Love". But beyond that, so much of that album blurred together. I could tell that the time signatures were tricky in places, that the lyrics were well-written, and that the band was altogether quite creative. But I just couldn't get into it without my attention wandering off.

Fortunately, the band's follow-up, About a Burning Fire, refuses to let my attention wander. This album accomplishes something that few albums by "harder" rock bands have been able to provide for me - diversity of sound. Sure, there's a fair amount of power chord thrashing and raw-throated screaming. But it's counterbalanced by a wider range of tones, rhythms, and instrumental approaches, and augmented at times by electronic tweaking, supplemental instruments, an acoustic turn in one place, and heck, even a little bit of Swedish yodeling. It doesn't sound like all of this would fit together in even a remotely coherent way, and to be honest, there are times when I'm tempted to say that it doesn't. But since the band has shown some ingenuity in terms of not being satisfied with their core sound, and they've got a lot of quotable lyrical moments that stick in my brain long after most of the ridiculous "hard rock" imitators of the Christian music world have faded into the land of the forgotten.

Long story short - Blindside's just a bit more daring than a lot of those other bands. Like P.O.D., they probably don't want to be boxed in by the phrase "Christian rock", since to most of the audience outside of that world, the phrase connotes simplistic, repetitive praise choruses, and there are so many more things for Christians (like anyone else who follows any other religion or none at all) to observe and sing about in this line of work. I might not have been a huge fan before, but I can definitely say that this time around, they've gotten my attention and they won't let it go.

But I'll warn you - this disc sounded like an absolute mess the first two or three times I listened to it. With that said, we'll get underway.

Eye of the Storm
Love is in the air tonight, so just breathe
You made sure the atmosphere was thick tonight...
Fasten your seatbelts, folks. We're in for a rough ride. You'll get about two seconds to adjust to the sudden opening of this song before lead singer Christian Lindskog abruptly shifts from singing to screaming - "I think I've stayed for the last time, good-BYE!!!!!" So this track goes, working itself into a frenzy as it slams along on its 3/4 beat, squeezing more life than most of us thought was left out of the good old soft-loud dynamic. It's a fitting dynamic given the subject of the song, which seems to be a feeling of distance from God, and a longing to be pulled out of chaos and into peace - however temporary that peace in the "eye of the storm" may be. The screaming fits the desperate mood, and as much as I had a tough time getting used to this song, it's become one of my favorites on the disc. Guitarist Simon Gernehed shows a good deal of control over his instrument as the band lets up for just a few seconds between chorus and verse so that he can insert some quiet harmonic notes. Much like the hurricane it describes, it feels like a furious mess at first, but after careful observation, a circular pattern can be detected.

Follow You Down
I'm armed, but the gun's not loaded
I guess I could find my way out of this
But it's like you found a way inside
And I hate that I suspect you're right...
The band comes slamming in with fine form on this second track, throwing the listener off a bit with a rhythm that sounds like it should be 4/4 but misses a beat every now and then. This didn't work for me at first, and it still feels like they've overextended their liberties with the rhythm during the verses, but it kind of allows the main guitar riff to come across as more ragged and frenzied than it otherwise would have. The band has fully embraced the dichotomy of screaming and more melodic vocals here, and Christian purposefully blurs the lines, allowing his cries to morph into distinct notes as he sort of sings and sort of scream his way through the chorus. (John Cooper from Skillet takes a similar approach, though I think Skillet is a more melodic and structured band overall.) Someone else in the band is even singing a counter-melody behind him at one point, and it gives the song a full sound that packs a real wallop. The lyrics here are a bit of a doozy - it sounds like Christian is addressing someone who wants to drag him down, perhaps into the darkness and chaos that he was just pleading to be set free from, and he's basically saying he's wise to the trick and he's not gonna go there. It does seem a bit odd to hear him screaming that he's fallen "in love with the sound of silence", and it's even stranger when he repeatedly shouts "It's not easy but I'm biting my tongue off!", blurring his words more and more to the point where you start to wonder if he's actually done it. (The lyrics actually reminds me of Incubus's "Blood on the Ground", though I'd say this song is a little more potent.) The best moment of this song is probably the abrupt ending, where Christian's screams get just a bit cocky as he interjects, "Yeah, uh UH! Uh, uh, YEAH!" It's pointless, but amusing.

All of Us
I've felt a loss for some time
I slipped, stumbled, but fell face first straight into your hand
Then I hit my head on your palm
And waking up to the smell of tears drying up in the sand...
Honestly, I'm not sure what they were thinking when they released this track as the album's lead single. I mean, it's not a bad track, but it shifts the album into more of a mid-tempo groove and it just doesn't seem to have as much of a hook to it as a lot of the other tracks. It's not a particularly hard song, so perhaps it got chosen by default because it wasn't as abrasive or weird as some of the other songs... yeah, this isn't gonna be a big "radio" album. The guitar riffs here are picked out in more of a dry fashion, bringing the full force in only for the chorus and some brief blasts during the verses. It's more of a muddy sound, one that I can't immediately compare to another band, but that I'm not terribly excited about either. The lyrics are somewhat interesting, since they hint at a sense of unity, an "open arm" that "all of us are searching for", but Christian seems to be scolding himself for not wanting to talk openly about that. I think it's a veiled way of saying that he's allowed himself to camouflage his faith, and that he's tired of doing that. It warrants delving into - I'm just not a big fan of his vocal delivery on this one.

Shekina
Water black as the moon is full
Warm nightbreeze whispers
I'm naked and new...
This is, by far, the most unique song on the album, and probably a daring thing to place so early on in a harder-edge disc like this one. It's an immediately engrossing track that shows off Blindside's more meditative side, and the moody, after-hours musical mood is punctuated by the prominent use of a rather high-pitched female vocal who yodels in Swedish. (No clue what she's saying, though at one point it sounds like she's singing "CD two... CD two...") Christian also sings in Swedish for part of each verse, his voice drenched in some sort of reverb, and then he switches to English. You probably wouldn't notice if you weren't listening carefully, because either way the words are hard to make out until he reaches the chorus, which uses a subtle key change and a violin for dramatic effect as he reverently sings, "I know You're always throwing kisses from the sky, well tonight I caught one." It sounds like an autobiographical account of meeting God in a foreign and dark place, looking out over the dark water and realizing that you're not really alone. It's a mesmerizing track, and it's actually my favorite on this album, but it probably could have been moved around to fit better with its surroundings.

Hooray, It's L.A.
I've been traveling at the speed of gasoline
And stopped by the color of electricity...
An abrupt change of pace rudely ushers us out of the sanctuary of the last track and transplants us right in the middle of a busy, gaudy cityscape. The strangely bending guitar riffs, almost taunting vocals, and stuttered words that show up here and there are a good aural portrait of a city that never sleeps, and while the first picture that comes to mind it actually Las Vegas, the major metropolitan area that I call home works just fine as well. Los Angeles is one of those cities that one just loves to hate at times, and whatever happened to Christian there, he's none too happy about it as he gives his cynical shout out, sneering "My spirit is melting to ice in this heat!" (I'd probably feel that way if I came from Sweden and had to deal with the smog and nasty summer heat here too.) Once again, the song sounds like a mess due to its stuttering nature, but once you get used to it, it's actually extremely catchy. Two things conspire to make this song infamous even among some people who haven't even heard it - one being that former Smashing Pumpkins/Zwan frontman Billy Corgan played guitar on this track (knowing nothing about his style, I can't differentiate between him and Simon - sorry), and the other being that Blindside, a Christian band, dares to say the word "damned" in this song. The line in question is "It's a damned cold night", and I think it's an appropriate, even Biblical, usage of the word - it's a night in which sin took place that Christian feels condemned for. (Strangely enough, the first iteration of that line actually just says "It's a dark cold night", and when I first heard the song, I thought I had gotten a censored version that said "darn".) We'll chalk the whole "damned" debacle one up to language and cultural barriers, I guess. American Christian audiences can be rather fussy, can't they? As for Billy Corgan, great idea to collaborate with these guys, but he really needed to make himself stand out more. Moving on...

Swallow
Been wanted for thinking slow
Now you've been longing for an open window
Get out, throw out, you're thirsty, no doubt...
There's not much to this song - just a verse that flies by at the speed of light over a quick but monotonous guitar riff, and an insanely repetitive chorus of "Taste and swallow, swallow..." Since it's the shortest song on the album, I don't mind that so much - it's kind of fun to just listen to the song as it comes careening through the speakers, only to stop suddenly at about two and a half minutes. It may have something to say about how we (the music industry, the church, America, whoever) just take whatever we're fed and swallow it even if it's complete trash, but there aren't really enough lyrics to make a strong point here. Next!

Die Buying
In these streets we live, in these streets we die
Fear is expensive and freedom is so free that it's hard to buy...
Alright, I'll get this out of the way since everybody and their lawyer has mentioned it by now. Yes, the opening riff of this song sounds like Switchfoot's "Meant to Live". It fooled me at first, too. But it's really just those first three notes and the overall tone of the guitar that are the same - it becomes its own thing easily enough. However, one thing this song has in common with Switchfoot is definite crossover potential. It's one of the most immediately catchy tunes on the album, it's fast-paced, and it condemns commercialism. We all love it when the CD's we buy condemn commercialism, right? Sarcasm aside, I do enjoy this song, even if its bitterness is a tad cliché. In some ways it seems to be a rebuttal to those who assumed shopping would solve all of our post-9/11 problems by magically fixing the economy - "You can't buy this freedom with another gadget, with another lie." Blindside would prefer for people to latch onto something a little more lasting than their latest purchase.

Across Waters Again
My thoughts are on an airplane home
While my feet are still on the ground...
Apparently Blindside has an older song called "Across Waters", which is about missing someone while traveling overseas, and this song is a continuation of that one. I'm assuming that the music is different since Blindside has evolved a bit since then, but I don't really know. What I do know is that this is another one of those musically tricky songs - I think the verse is in 7/8 or 14/16 or something of that nature, but figuring that out requires tuning out the lyrics and listening to Marcus Dahlstrom's precise drumming - this guy's pretty good when it comes to nailing down an unorthodox groove or adding additional oomph and thickness to a more straight-ahead rocker, which this song kind of morphs into during its jubilant chorus. Christians sings (and screams a little bit) about it being "one of those days when you learn to fly with broken wings), and while that's a bit of a cliché sentiment, it's forgivable, because you just feel for the guy, what with his wife being so far away for so long. Yeah, it's one of those "tour songs", and it's a love song too, and it's loud and brash and everything you wouldn't expect such a song to be. Christian's visuals are great here as he describes the things he misses about his life with her back in Sweden (or wherever she is), and he's unashamed to proclaim that one of the things he longs for is "making love in the Sunday afternoon sunlight". GASP! Did a Christian singer just refer to having sex with his wife? How shocking! (Actually, in all seriousness, how necessary. I get tired of my fellow Christians being so squeamish about all that stuff.) The song eventually unwinds into a slow but thrashing and twisting jam session that repeats a few times before a final, resolute guitar chord finishes things off.

After You're Gone
I could not lie
Even though dead skin like stone makes me ugly
It still pounds inside and it's red
And it's slipping through the grey cracks...
More tricky rhythmic stuff lies ahead - this song practically comes stumbling in over a rolling rhythm formed out of complicated guitar appregio and drum triplets. Definitely not a typical approach for a "hard rock" band, but it makes the song stand out in a major way, and the band isn't afraid to give it a little time to simmer before breaking out into a guitar-slashing frenzy. The lyrics are some of the most cryptic ones to be found on this record - Christian seems to be singing about some sort of a conflict again, and saying that "I'm just a stone right after you're gone." That one line has a lot of possible implications based on different usages of the word "stone" in Scripture - my best guess is that this song is similar to "All of Us" in terms of Christian being ashamed of himself for being a bad example. Perhaps he feels like he's worthy of having a millstone tied to him and being dropped into the ocean. But that's just a random guess - it could mean a million things, and personally, I like songs that do that while still using intriguing lyrical imagery.

Where the Sun Never Dies
I think I saw a place in the distance
We've always known it was there
When I have breathed for the last time
I'll walk out to the end of that pier...
If it's a straight-ahead, four-on-the-floor, rocking good time that you're looking for, give that skip button a rest on track 10, because this one's a relentlessly driving anthem to a sub-Arctic summer paradise that takes off running and doesn't let up until its curious ending. Blindside is clearly drawing on the imagery they know best to make an allegory for Heaven, and I couldn't think of a better way to do that than with a celebrative song such as this. For all of its rocking power, it's actually one of the most structured and clean songs on the disc, with minimal screaming and a little bit of vocal layering on the chorus. It's probably one of the band's most overtly religious songs even though there's no direct mention of God (God is probably the "you" in the song), but if Switchfoot can make it onto mainstream radio with overtly faith-based songs, then I don't see why a song like this wouldn't stand a chance. Oh wait, maybe I do. Near the end of the song, some more relaxed drum-and-bass interplay slowly melts into a bizarre but tasty techno-fest, as if the band just decided to drop their instruments and go clubbing Never mind that it probably won't get dark outside until like 1 in the morning, we've got some partying to do!

Roads
Now this paralyzing cold always comes crawling back
I think it's time to sober up and live...
If you liked the fragile title track from Silence, then this one will probably be up your alley, as long as you don't mind that it has a slightly jazzy touch. This acoustic ballad is like one of those tunes that you'd hear in a bar/coffeehouse after leaving the club at 2 AM, going home, realizing you can't sleep because the dang sun's still out, and deciding to go out again for a drink. Naturally, the sharp acoustic tone and light percussion allows for the noise level to back off so that Christian's voice can be heard more clearly, and he's actually quite the versatile crooner, still utilizing a deeper tone, but also showing a good amount of restraint. It's a reflective song about wanting to hold on to the small but beautiful things that he notices in daily life, the little hints of Heaven awaiting him. Admittedly, this is one song where his enunciation could use a little bit of help (the line "Been ridin' in the sunset" sounds like "Bin Ladin in the sunset" every time I hear it), but it's still a beautiful piece, with the violin and muted trumpet offering just a splash of color that complements the song without being overbearing (less experienced mainstream rock bands would let a producer con them into drenching a tune like this in strings).

About a Burning Fire
What a beautiful, what a painful surprise
There is no peace outside if there is nothing within...
Can you say whiplash? There's simply no preparing for the transition between "Roads" and this final skull-crusher of a song, which takes off immediately with Christian's roughest screaming yet (on this record anyway), telling us over and over that "I THOUGHT ABOUT FIRE IN THE SKY!!!!!" I've heard a fair amount of harder rock songs in my day where the vocals are pretty much wall-to-wall screaming, and to be honest, most of 'em sound silly to me. But this song, while not totally my style, is an undeniably intense rush of power that makes the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up, because it's just plain impossible to have on as background music that you're only sort of listening to. Perhaps it's the lyrics (or what I can understand of them as they're being screamed out amidst a bending and twisting rhyrhm) that add that power, since the band seems to be blurring the lines between love and pain here, painting a refreshing picture of God's love as an intense, sometimes even fearful thing that invades the soul and leaves it radically changed. Human nature says that this is sometimes to be scared of and to reject, but like many of the authors of the Bible, Christian is realizing that it's a good and cleansing thing for him. The intensity finally lets up midway through, allowing a piano to come trickling in, much like something Nine Inch Nails might do in the middle of an otherwise dark song. The band keeps the slow rhythm but moves slowly back into heavier territory, like Samson pushing harder and harder against two pillars in a final, desperate attempt to bring the building down around him. And it works, because someone like me who doesn't usually like crazy screaming songs like this just has to admit that it's the satisfying beating he's ever received.

This is one of those albums that really isn't gonna be for everybody, and I can't even predict which niche audiences will really latch onto it. Lyric analyzers might lose patience with the noise and unpredictability, and headbangers will definitely have a time adjusting to the rhythm (though this will probably be child's play if you listen to stuff like Tool). Of course, the average CCM listener will get hung up on "damned", "making love" and some other lyrics that are murky in their meaning, and not really give it the close listen that it deserves. But I appreciate Blindside for not taking the easy way out - even if All Music Guide might tell you otherwise, these guys have not in fact allowed themselves to be "Hoobastanked". Just because a harder rock band uses melody as part of their arsenal doesn't mean that they've sold out or that all of their material is mindless radio-friendly stuff. Sometimes you just have to listen to something, and then listen to it again, and finally a third or fourth or fifth time, before the intent and the impact of it really starts to take hold. And that's what I'd urge you to do if you're inclined to give Blindside a try.

Now where's my copy of Silence? I need to give that one another spin.

ALBUM WORTH:
Eye of the Storm $2
Follow You Down $1
All of Us $.50
Shekina $2
Hooray, It's L.A. $1.50
Swallow $1
Die Buying $1.50
Across Waters Again $1
After You're Gone $1.50
Where the Sun Never Dies $2
Roads $1.50
About a Burning Fire $1.50
TOTAL: $17

CONCLUSION: Worth full price, but if at all possible, listen before you buy. It's one of those albums that everyone's gonna react to differently.

Band Members:
Christian Lindskog: Vocals
Simon Grenehed: Guitar
Marcus Dahlstrom: Drums
Tomas Naslund: Bass

Website: http://www.blindsideonline.com

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Listening