For Today
Prevailer
Ryan Leitru – Lead Guitar, Clean Vocals
Brandon Leitru – Bass Guitar
Mattie Montgomery – Lead Vocals
David Puckett – Drums
Sam Penner – Rhythm Guitar
A Christian
metalcore band, what exactly is that? Do those two things even go together? Well for For Today they do. The Iowa band formed
in 2005 and has released four full length albums and a couple of EPs. The first album arrived in 2008 with the second and
third coming in consecutive years (09 and 10). 2012 seen their four album, Immortal
arrive but they weren’t done with that. The guys just released a new EP/DVD Prevailer.
The five track album includes a DVD of live band footage and a documentary of the band’s history. Let’s dive into
the EP portion as it gets going with “From Zion. It has a cool little intro before the vocals and the bulk of
the music comes flying in. Multiple vocals come in from every direction while the drums hammer out some huge strikes. The
guitars fly around as well, but they really are secondary to the vocals and drums. It’s an okay tune, but you need to
like the screaming vocals style. “Crown of Thorns” opens with another cool intro. This one really draws you in
for the meat of the track. The vocals are slow and deliberate while they offer up their meaning in screams in growls. They
do add in some clean vocals that are a nice change of pace. The end of the track does repeat a lot and if you weren’t
into the track at that point this will definitely turn you off. “Flesh of Blood” wastes no time getting the main
course served. The vocals come flying at you right off the bat while the drums again hammer like a jackhammer. The guitars
get to play around some as well, but it’s the multiple vocal styles that really get this track going. The track sounds
solid, but it’s the lyrics that people will hang onto. “Open Heaven” rips through its time with huge guitars
and pounding drums while the vocals growl nearly the entire time. It has a few moments where they place in an effect and the
soft spot in the track it great sounding. It adds a lot to the track with a simple 45 seconds (give or take). I think this
is my favorite on the album. “Fearless (Acoustic)” wraps up the album side of the duel album. The acoustic side
of things really changes the perspective of the tune. It calms everything down and you can hear and feel more of the passion
that the band has and offers up. It changes your view point a lot on them. The track itself will give you chills. The lyrics
are great and the vocals are so calm and soothing. It’s a great song in this version. The DVD holds you attention very
well. You get to the know band and see the history instead of reading it. They show video from the early days as well as just
a year or two ago. It offers up behind the scenes footage as well as interviews with band members and associated people. It
sheds light on where the band comes from, the meaning behind them, and their inspiration. The hour plus DVD will really strike
you and stick with you. If you are a fan of the band…100% you should have it. If you are a casual fan you need to at
least look at it.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Track List:
- From Zion
- Crown of Thorns
- Flesh of Blood
- Open Heaven
- Bonus Track:
Fearless (Acoustic)
Website (s): www.fortodayband.com