by @brandonspeck

If an album has ever been able to tattoo your ear drums, this is it. 

I first heard the We As Human single “Fly” more than a year ago and immediately fell in love. It was a long wait for an EP, then another wait for the band’s full-length.

But boy was it worth the wait for a band primed to take over the rock charts very soon. Two songs that helped the band onto the map are on the 10-track self-title, including “Dead Man,” a story of Jesus’ pulling the old self out in place of the new self. 

The disc riffs you in with its first single, “Strike Back,” with lead singer Justin Cordle drawing you in with vocals suited only for a rock band. “Bring To Life” sensibly follows. Skillet buddy and tour-mate John Cooper lays his raspy vocal mark on the album with “Zombie,” another piece of the puzzle that sees a “Dead Man” rising to new life. Cordle and Cooper plead you to wake your Christian zombie.

Cooper’s guest appearance is stellar and is at the least equaled by former Flyleaf first lady Lacey Sturm, whose screams only add to Cordle’s on the very heavy “Take The Bullets Away” for arguably the best song on the disc. 

That title is tough to decipher though and is in a tight race with “Zombie” and “I Stand.” “I Stand” is the album’s closer and it will be a crying shame if it isn’t soon a walk-out tune to any given player in Major League Baseball.  The song is an honest head-banger dedicated to the open Christian beliefs of the band. If there were ever a song made for mosh pits, this is it. And the lyrics – inclusive of the truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection and God’s stance against abortion – only add to one of the most substance-filled metal songs you’ll hear this year.

I’d have paid the full album price for “I Stand.” But don’t drive or operate heavy machinery while listening to the song. It tends to make you lose all self-control of the gas pedal and your neck. 

We As Human seems to have found the perfect blend of boys for a near-flawless debut. Catch them on the Carnival of Madness Tour, but bring your neck brace for the ride home. 

bwspeck@gmail.com