Short Reviews [AOK - 2018 - "Acts of Kindness"]

I know very little about this band, apart from they are/were from Orlando and comprise Michael Milsap (keyboards, vocals), Dean Harrington (guitars), Sean Hill (drums) and Kevin Kanieski (bass, vocals). This album was released in 2018 and is now available through Bandcamp thanks to MRR, but apart from that I have nothing and neither has the label. So, it’s all about the music then. What we have here is a band who is working in a specific sub-genre of a sub-genre, namely Christian crossover progressive melodic rock. There will be some who won’t even think of this as progressive as it very borderline with melodic, and to be honest it’s a very fine line indeed but there are times when they do let it loosen up a little and there are some strong elements. The most notable of these is the bass, which is obviously being played with a pick, as the note strike is very pronounced indeed, and it is far higher in the mix than one would normally expect. Eagle-eyed readers may well notice the cross within the band logo, and the lyrics are very message driven, with vocals very clear indeed and I get the impression this is so highly focussed at the Christian community that they won’t get much headway with anyone not faith driven. Although I was raised in the Church, that aspect of me has long gone, and these days it takes very strong music indeed for me to get past the vocals (somewhat easier with Satanic bands as it is often impossible for me to fully understand what they are singing!). It is a pleasant lightweight rock album, which if I was a good church goer I would probably appreciate, but it rarely rocks harder than the like of classic Larry Norman. Given the choice between this and bands like Stryper I would have to plump for the latter, but if gentle rock with a Christian message is your thing then check it out.