| Name | Artist | Time | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
A Tower of Ashes | Theocracy | 4:44 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
2 |
On Eagles' Wings | Theocracy | 4:11 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
3 |
Laying the Demon to Rest | Theocracy | 9:37 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
4 |
Bethlehem | Theocracy | 5:51 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
5 |
Absolution Day | Theocracy | 6:46 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
6 |
The Writing In the Sand | Theocracy | 6:43 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
7 |
Martyr | Theocracy | 7:39 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
8 |
Mirror of Souls | Theocracy | 22:26 | Album Only | View In iTunes |
| Total: 8 Songs |
Customer Reviews
Best album of '08. Essential power metal, even for non-Christians.
A little background: I'm a believer, but at least 95% of my music collection is secular. While I listen to a variety of stuff, I'm primarily a metalhead, with the bulk of my collection consisting of classic/progressive/power/thrash metal; I hate the screamy/growly stuff - good metal has a tune (when I say I like thrash, that doesn't include, among others, Slayer and their acolytes). My favorite bands include, but are not limited to, Sabbath, Priest, Maiden, Savatage, Queensryche, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Iced Earth, Blind Guardian, Megadeth, Anthrax (with Belladonna), Edguy, Avantasia, Pyramaze, and so on. I wish I had more Christian stuff in my collection, but the sad fact is that most of it simply doesn't appeal to me; Christian metal bands tend to go in one of two directions I despise, either pumping out horrible radio-friendly nu-metal or going as extreme as possible and making the afforementioned tuneless screamy/growly death metal junk. Enter Theocracy. I discovered this band completely by accident. I listened to the samples and I loved it; after listening to the full version of On Eagles' Wings on their Myspace page, I knew I needed this album in my collection immediately. Since that day a couple of months ago, I've listened to it more times than I can count, and there isn't a track on here that I haven't gotten stuck in my head numerous times. I've gotten both my parents and numerous friends (most of whom aren't particularly into metal) hooked on it; I have yet to find someone who didn't love it once they heard it. This is not only my favorite album of 2008, it may just be my favorite album I own (and this is coming from someone with close to 500 albums in his iTunes library). One of this album's greatest strengths is the lyrics. Every song explores a different aspect of faith; Tower of Ashes is about the dangers of pride, On Eagles' Wings about the healing power of God, Laying the Demon to Rest about temptation and spiritual warfare, etc. This all culminates in the stunning title track, a wonderful allegorical tale of such quality that I could easily see it performed as a play. This, of course, is not to downplay the quality of the music itself, which matches the lyrics turn for turn. Every emotion and action portrayed in the lyrics can be felt in the instrumentation and vocal delivery. Laying the Demon to Rest and Mirror of Souls are the best examples of this, though I can't really get any more specific because the feeling is so constant throughout the album and particularly those tracks. Bottom line: if you're a metal fan, Christian or not, you need to own this album (though if you're not Christian, be aware that the lyrics most definitely are). If you're not a metal fan, check out the samples anyway; as I said, I've already gotten a number of people hooked on this album, most of whom aren't really into the genre. If I had to recommend a specific track to buy, I'd have to say Mirror of Souls is my favorite, but that's basically the same thing as saying "get the whole album," since that's the only way to pick up the song. Do it, it's more than worth it.
Even though I gave it 5 stars, it doesn't deserve that...
It deserves much more than 5 stars. This album is incredible. The musicianship is good and strong, the vocals are seriously my favorite singing vocals (I'm working on becoming an extreme metal drummer) and some of my favorite vocals overall, and the lyrics hurt me in a good way. The Writing In The Sand is a powerful song that talks about hypocrisy and looking to God to see that we are wrong for judging other people. It refers to a story in Scripture that deals with Christ writing on the sand when people were about to stone a woman. His response was "Let he who has no sin cast the first stone." One by one, the people left, leaving only Himself and the woman there. Christ took her hand, told her to live her life right, and let her live. It's an amazing tale of power and love, wisdom and righteousness. I can't find a song I don't enjoy on this album, aside from Bethlehem, which I do like (As stated earlier, I'm working on becoming an extreme metal drummer. Therefore, I like heavier songs.) to a good degree. The thing that really gets me about this album is the sincerity. The musicianship is not that amazing to be praised so heavily or to make me feel so humbled in the Lord's presence-it's the fact that these guys are doing it for the right reason that really makes this my favorite album and my favorite band. Don't get me wrong-the musicianship is great, but it's not technical on multiple levels. Then again, for a good power metal band, this is all that's needed. The guys of this band don't overdo it and they don't force things in your face-the lyrics talk about loving God and the rewards of doing so, not being harsh toward nonbelievers. My favorite tracks on here are Absolution Day, The Writing In The Sand, Laying The Demon To Rest, and Mirror Of Souls. Absolution Day has the most powerful line I've ever heard in a song. It has such a simple meaning but it means so much... and the emotion I feel when I hear that line with the music is just incredible. It builds up to that point, making the line the top of the mountain, the thing we all strive to achieve. "For Christ alone is worthy to pay the price to set all sinners free, for even me..." is beautifully true. The Writing In The Sand was mentioned earlier and it just humbles me. Laying The Demon To Rest is fast, and it has a blastbeat (which I didn't expect from Power metal) or two, but the main hook is the humbling part of the song, where the singer asks God to fight for him today when he can't move on. Mirror of Souls is the title track, and it's an insanely long 22 minutes and 26 seconds, but it's worth it. It's more like a story than a song-it tells of a dream and goes into detail about it rather than just skimming through the idea. It never gets boring-it never remains the same. There's always something exciting about the song that makes me feel like it's only 4 or 5 minutes long-it flows so well that it's hard to tell that it's one song aside from the lyrics. I've heard EPs that are shorter than that one song, which makes the song that much more beautiful-it's a 22 minute declaration of God's love. Read the next-to-last section of Mirror of Souls and tell me that you won't like the CD if you're a Christian- "I have seen my soul in the mirror and it has broken me I have seen myself so much clearer than I had ever seen "Can't you take away all this sickness from my soul and set me free? You can save me...I believe" And then He said, "Arise, My child your faith has made you reconciled Now gaze into the Mirror once again" We walked together through the door And I looked in the glass once more But the only one reflected back was Him Somehow the only one in the mirror saw was Him" God sees us as we are in His eyes-His children. The mirror of souls saw only Christ because Christ is in our souls. This song is a beautiful illustration that Christ is always with us. For people who don't believe in Christ, the music is indeniably good and intense. It's beautifully made and gentle, yet firm and powerful. The emotion is real, make no mistake-there's nothing in this album but purity. It's beautiful at every level and has definitely earned the top place in my favorite artists and favorite albums lists. For the reasons listed above, there is no number that could even begin to rate this album-as far as I can tell, it's made for God and for God alone, which deserves so much more than a simple number can give. I am by no means worshipping the album-I'm just saying that if this is what worship songs felt like, especially in songs like Bethlehem, I have a feeling there would be more healing and revival from God to us.
PHENOMENAL album.
This is an incredible release. Sophomore slump? Hardly!! Matt and the boys take everything that was great about the self-titled debut and turn it up a notch: amazing production, awesome energy (thanks largely to the new band members), legendary melodies, and the same quality of songwriting you've come to expect from these guys. The title track is simply a MASTERPIECE. If you don't believe me, just read the crazy praise this thing is getting in all its online and magazine reviews! Can't go wrong with this one!!
Biography
Formed: 2002 in Athens, GA
Genre: Rock
Years Active: '00s, '10s
Top Albums and Songs By Theocracy
| Name | Album | Time | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Wages of Sin | Wages of Sin - Single | 3:26 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
2 |
On Eagles' Wings | Mirror of Souls | 4:11 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
3 |
Laying the Demon to Rest | Mirror of Souls | 9:37 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
4 |
Martyr | Mirror of Souls | 7:39 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
5 |
Absolution Day | Mirror of Souls | 6:46 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
6 |
A Tower of Ashes | Mirror of Souls | 4:44 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
7 |
Bethlehem | Mirror of Souls | 5:51 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
8 |
The Writing In the Sand | Mirror of Souls | 6:43 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
9 |
Mirror of Souls | Mirror of Souls | 22:26 | Album Only | View In iTunes |
