into the desert.

there was a boy who grew up in a small canadian town. as part of a tightly-knit, working-class german subculture, his family taught him early to believe in work - it's necessity, its moral value, and its rewards. leisure and rest were rarely mentioned or modeled. the boy came to view all of life through the window of work. everything, including his self-image, derived its worth from its relationship to work. "working for God" became the premise that shaped his spiritual life. believing that God was always asking him to do more by way of service, his lifestyle became one of highly extroverted, Christian activism. he evaluated spiritual success in terms of quantity of work and productivity - the only criteria he knew.

years passed. "workaholism" remained the reigning pattern of his life. during graduate studies, an interest in Christian history led him to explore Christian origins in the middle east. a series of dialogues with monks who lived in the deserts of egypt and israel arrested him. he was intrigued by the motivations of a particular monk who had lived on the side of the mount of temptation outside of jericho for over forty years. amused by the monks eccentricity and convinced of the irrelevance of his life, the young man engaged the monk in dialogue. he asked, "how does your life fulfill the great commission?" with equal directness, the monk retorted, "how do you follow Jesus into the desert?"

elements of a Christian worldview, compiled and edited by michael d. palmer, general editor stanley m. horton.

how do we follow Jesus into the desert?

marksantistevan.

an ocean between us.

last week or so i purchased as i lay dying's latest album an ocean between us. i have always liked aild's music for a more easy-listening heavy metal sound. they've never really impressed me with excessive creativity or ground-breaking material but they've consistently put solid metal albums together that satisfactorily scratched my itch for heavy distortion, double-bass pedals, grunge vocals (if you can call it vocals), and loads of energy.

an ocean between us did not deviate from this simple message of pure metal. once again a solid expression of heaviness that i can listen to while i drive or whatever. there isn't a whole lot there to sit down and pick apart with critical listening, nothing creative whatsoever in fact. there isn't really anything to complain though. aild did not disappoint or change course at all. there is more of what the current music industrial paradigm would classify as "singing" in this album, which adds a more melodic theme to some of the songs while keeping the energy which i thought was cool.

comparing it with their past two albums i think that an ocean between us is a little bit more musically advanced and talented than frail words collapse but moves on to a less pure, less youthful, less rebellious sound (which gives this genre its beauty) and onto a more sophisticated and refined sound (which is good as well, it's all in what you prefer). shadows are security was my companion for a long time and so i have a personal bias towards it as the best. it is my favorite but an ocean between us did not deviate far from that sound. all three are very similar, but still, some of the best in their style.

so, if you're looking for another easy-listening solid metal album, look no further than an ocean between us. whenever i just feel like putting on some heaviness while i do something, not really paying a whole lot of attention to what i'm hearing as i lay dying is the band (does that sound like an odd compliment? these bands are necessary! and aild IS good!). haste the day or killswitch engage or war of ages also fit that mold well. each one is a little different but good.

anyways, check out an ocean between us if you like that stuff. or even if you don't. 'cause it's good.

blessings.

marks.