The Free Christian Music Blog

CD Review: Awaken, North Wind! – “Doubt”

As I listen to Awaken, North Wind!’s album Doubt, three words come to mind:  Raw, sparse, and chilling.  Listening to Doubt is like the visiting barren, windswept tundras of the far north, bare of trees and any apparent life.  It’s just you, alone, cold, and broken, and the dark begins to set in.

It’s a chilling scene, but it’s one that Awaken, North Wind! paints a little part of on every track.  The music is straightforward, even to the point of simplicity, and the sparseness only intensifies the emotion.  Coupled with Doubt’s raw, brutally honesty lyrics about human brokenness and need, one a whole, the album paints a truly vivid picture.  Thankfully, though shadowed, it’s a picture that’s never completely dark, with Jesus Christ painted as mankind’s only hope.

Stand-out songs include the slowly building “Vultures”, “Intentions”, and the closer “Afraid”, a 11 minute, 29 second epic which tells the story of a unrepentant sinner.  It’s dark, intense, lonely, and even terrifying – indeed, listening to “Afraid” feels more like listening to an audio book of C.S. Lewis then a song.

In end, Doubt is more then just a CD – it’s an experience.  A dark, bleak experience, and not for the faint of heart, but an experience for taking all the same.

For fans of Cool Hand Luke, Ocean Is Theory, Edison Glass, and As Cities Burn.

Tags: Awaken North Wind!

Awaken, North Wind!

Awaken, North Wind!

It’s a very poetic name, isn’t it?  Epic, raw, beautiful, a little chilling?  That’s what  I thought, when I first heard about them.  Now, as I listen to “Grace”, I can see how the name fits.

Awaken, North Wind! is a new independant band I first heard about on Twitter.  Someone asked me if I had heard of them, and since I hadn’t, I looked them up on Google quick.  A while later, and I was listening to some seriously good music.

Turns out, Awaken, North Wind! is a Christian indie rock/post-hardcore band, following in the musical footsteps of As Cities Burn, Ocean is Theory, Edison Glass, Cool Hand Luke, and My Epic.  As their bio says and their name echoes, their music is honest, beautiful, and poetic.

While I was looking the band up, I happened upon a free download on band’s Purevolume profile for the song “Grace”.  It’s from their debut Doubt, and is very, very good.  If you enjoy any of the band listed above, you should definitely grab the song while it’s available.  Excellent song.  I know I’m going to be syncing it to my mp3 player soon.  Anyway, enjoy!

-Awaken, North Wind on Purevolume-

Tags: Awaken North Wind!