February 13, 2013 The Swinging Bridge
Arts & Entertainment 7
ABEL
Bringing Rock Back
L
Jonathan Wolf STUDENT WRITER
ook out, Cain! Abel’s here, and they’re ready to share their sound with the world. Abel is the combined effort of four friends and their passion for hard-hitting, heavy rock and honest, introspective lyrics. The band released their debut album, “Lesser Men”, in 2010, and their sophomore album, “Make It Right”, in 2012. There is a growing idea amongst music lovers today that rock is a dying genre of music. Abel proves this theory wrong by utilizing an effective mix of new and unexpected rock elements infused with lyrics about faith, failure, and becoming a better person that is both interesting to the brain and pleasing to the ear. Their sound is characterized by harder rock guitar riffs, driving and crashing drum beats, and a dark ambiance that persists from one song to the next. Lead singer Kevin Kneifel sings his heart out in each track, moving seamlessly from smooth vocal melodies to earth shattering yells and screams that compliment the messages within their cleverly sculpted songs. On Abel’s website, Kneifel states, “[Our music is] about coming to terms with failures and unfulfilled expectations...I think that’s a really universal feeling, and I hope that people who hear these songs will be reminded that they’re not alone—and that those times can
challenge us to become better people.” This idea pervades through their album “Make It Right”, and really acts as fuel for the passion and excitement found in its instrumentation. The album opens on a frantic note with “I’ll Be Waiting”. The song moves from a very dark and sporadic sound to a smooth buildup in the verse, all before plunging back into a tilt-a-whirl of raging electric sound signaled by Kneifel’s call, “I’ll be waiting for you!” On their track “Daughter”, Kevin Kneifel admits he’s “just a man with a ghost” amongst a steady drum beat and blaring guitars. A 3/4 rhythm drives “Fifteen Years” as the band promises to not let the Lord down, quoting 1 Thessalonians 5:2: “...for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” The first single from the album, “Fire Walk With Me”, features gang vocals yelling, “Oh, the devil wants to drag my soul... down to the lake of fire” before catapulting into a rocky and beatdriven exclamation of the errancy in trying to achieve holiness on one’s own. With their clever instrumentation, thoughtful lyrics, and catchy music, it’s possible to think that even the devil himself would be a fan.
Provided by Student Activites Board
Look at where Messiah stood on its dancing policy in this article published in 1982!