Oh, Sleeper

Formed in 2006, Oh, Sleeper are back with their second album, Son of the Morning. Creating a sophomore album in the metalcore genre can be quite difficult due to its overly familiar, timeless staples (breakdowns, clean singing, etc) becoming stagnant and repetitive but Son of the Morning has all the pieces of the puzzle properly in place; it pounds, its vocals are wrenching, it mixes technical guitar work with chugging rhythms and, most importantly, it's not boring. Haters of the Christian metalcore scene can go on hating this style of music but what's being overlooked is the type of music Underoath mastered on Define the Great Line. But these two albums aren't one in the same, at least not note for note. Similar sounds graze Son of the Morning ("In All Honesty," Breathing Blood"), however, "World Without A Sun" proves that Oh, Sleeper are shred-worthy, while "The New Breed" brings about an anthemic hardcore feeling that gets paired with pop rhythms, helping this album differ enough to keep it intense. Oh, Sleeper's Son of the Morning isn't going to induce narcolepsy, if anything, Red Bull should be selling this stuff for four bucks a can.