Sent by Ravens — Great Music, Great Band

I haven’t blogged in a while — haven’t had much to talk about besides gearing up for my last semester in college (at least for the moment) — and while I usually write about various movie and television shows (and the occasional tech/tech issue piece), for this particular article I’m changing it up a bit.  It’s still entertainment related I suppose, just not my traditional work.

So why break the norm, you may ask?  Well there’s this band, you see, and they’ve been around for several years now and I’ve been listening to them almost religiously for the last year and a half.

They’re a rock band by the name of Sent by Ravens.  You may not have heard of them yet but I have a feeling that if you’re a music lover — and especially prone to the rock genre — you will soon.  Up until about a week or so ago they were just a fairly popular Southeast local band, unsigned.  I was turned on to them by two of my best friends, one who grew up and is friends with SBR singer, Zach Riner; the other who has become pals with Riner more recently, and is the one that introduced me to Riner as well as SBR’s debut EP, The Effects of Fashion and Prayer.  It only has six songs but every one of them I’ve almost immediately fell in love with upon hearing for the first time.

I won’t bullshit you, though, their music has many religious themes and the band members are a pretty religious group of guys.  I tell you this because I understand that “Christian rock” isn’t necessarily many people’s thing — and it sure as hell isn’t really my thing, either.  But if there was ever a band that could bring respect to that genre it’s Sent by Ravens — it’s also worth mentioning that all of the band members are extremely nice guys as well.

Musically, they’re brilliant, and Riner has a way of writing lyrics that honestly seem like they were MADE for, and only for, that music.  That’s something I really don’t think I’ve been able to say since probably Finch’s What It Is To Burn album (though, to clarify, the two bands are nothing alike).

By now you may (or may not) have guessed why I’ve been going on about all of this.  Roughly a week ago Sent by Ravens announced on their MySpace page that they have been officially signed to independent label, Tooth & Nail Records, and my friends and I couldn’t be happier!  These guys have earned it.

They have also recently recorded their first full-length album which is set to be released early next year, and have posted their music video to their song “Trailer Vs. Tornado” as well.

Hopefully you’ll check out their music — all of their songs are currently available for free listening on their MySpace page and available for download on iTunes and Amazon.com.

Happy listening.