OK, I’m not as wholesome as my wife, who is a Christian. I like down and dirty metal that riles up the crowd sometimes… curse words, drinking and sex seems synonymous with metal but on the contrary, I recent saw DECYFER DOWN, a Christian Rock band and they can bring the goods too. See the term “Christian rock” throws people off; sounding like they are getting the Tabernacle Choir and music having no balls but man was I wrong.

DECYFER DOWN recently released their latest CD “Crash” and the good people at Them Media Collective were kind enough to send the CD for review. I liked the bands image on stage and the singer TJ Harris really releases the power and in doing some research these boys have had at least six #1 songs on The Christian charts, with three of them coming off “Crash”. “Crash”, "Fading", and "Desperate" being those songs and so I want to hear for myself what the draw towards the band was.

“Crash” starts things off and now instantly I hear why fans adore DECYFER DOWN, they not only play heavy they have amazing lyrics coupled with volatile musicianship. I would call this the heavy side of alternative and with dual guitarists and slicing solos it makes these boys stand out.

Yeah they can measure up with SEVENDUST and SALIVIA and others in that category but I would put DECYFER DOWN a notch above all those bands. Check out “Fading” one of their # 1 chartbusters… It’s totally killer!!! I first thought the track was a ballad with acoustics strumming but all hell breaks loose in the DISTRUBED mode. TJ Harris is truly a new icon that should no doubt catch the wave of stardom. This is a complete unit with upstanding personal. I like the direction of heaviness yet they can be sensitive at times also and you can hear that on the ballad “Best I Can”.

So many great tracks but the song that maybe touches me the most is “Wasting Away”, For me, it starts off in a MOTLEY CRUE vibe but the lyrics are so meaningful and the way Harris projects the vocals is amazing as the song mellows out. The guitars by Clonts and Mills are phenomenal on this one and that sets the song to be a real winner.

The more and more I listen to DECYFER DOWN I hear they have a lot in comment with NIRVANA minus the grungy sound. The songs are written well, innovating and just plain special. They can belt out the heavy tunes with power and yet the mellow tracks still bring a sense of excitement too. From the softness of “Moving On” to the semi-rocker “The Life” to the riveting last track “Forever With You”. I can’t but think that many of the people out there are missing how special DECYFER DOWN is because of the words Christian rock being associated with them. Don’t be narrow-minded; if you like good music that kicks into high gear and at the same time brings a tear to your eye then check out DECYFER DOWN. You will not be sorry.