The Newsboys have been on a roll over the past few years. Coming off the success of their "United" endeavor, the group released Stand last year. It was the first album that the group published in five years without the United label. The ten track outing proved to be another solid addition to their discography, seamlessly integrating their unique branding with accessible pop elements.

Now, the band has produced a Deluxe edition of Stand, adding five numbers to the record. A shortcoming in the original release was that no other artists were featured, leaving listeners with less diversity than expected. On Stand (Deluxe), the band collaborates with some of CCM's most recognizable names on multiple tracks, incorporating some new elements which were not previously present...

Though it is far past its cultural dominance, real rock and roll, the gritty, pulsating slightly unhinged kind, is still a thrilling thing to experience. When the guitars are loud and untreated by too much technology sanding the edges off, and when the vocals and drums sound real in all their imperfections and hiccups, the results are still (to use a term in its most simple form), miraculous. And a real rock and roll band that gets played on Christian radio is something to shout "hallelujah" for as well. Christian music has long had a reputation for sanitizing rock and roll into a more palatable (for all those families listening), greeting card "muzak" version of the form. So when an artist somehow slips through that process and manages to gain an audience over the various platforms out there, it's a cause to celebrate...

Facedown Records, celebrating 25 years as a label this year, continues to discover talented bands. Their newest signing, England's own Confessions of a Traitor has been making waves for some time now, thanks in part to a viral video of them ripping a morning set at a cafe in Romania (while patrons eat their breakfast) and a Ryan Kirby feature on their last album.

Confessions of a Traitor, often shortened to COAT, have set out to make a statement here in 2022 with their Facedown debut, Punishing Myself Before God Does. From the captivating artwork to the onslaught of riffs, thundering drums, empassioned vocals, and memorable lines that fans are sure to shout along with at live shows (such as "I can't do this on my own, weighed down by this heart of stone!", and the...