One of the recent additions to VSR Music Group, the Phoenix, Arizona natives, Echoes The Fall, are ready to break onto a crowded rock scene. Formed in 2005 by brothers Mitch and Mike Gable, Echoes The Fall has been seen sharing the stage with artists like Skillet, Project 86, and Seventh Day Slumber. Their debut project, Bloodline, has been toted as rock album which is full of chemistry, maturity, and the band's raw power.

Actually, the only thing that will really 'wow' fans about Echoes The Fall is how much they sound like Decyfer Down and Pillar and rely on generic rock sounds. For example, the first song and single, "Break Away," features grinding guitars, bellowing riffs, and Dave Mackey's rough lead vocals (which would fit perfectly on Decyfer Down's album Crash). The album continues with "Here To Stay," a lighter rock tune which has elements of Pillar and Day of Fire only without the charm. The next six tracks that follow offer no surprises or cutting-edge rock stanzas though the title track is a solid rock tune. Not surprisingly, Echoes The Fall's cover of Survivor's "Eye Of The Tiger" is one of the better tracks on the album because of the clean beat which stands out from the rest of the album. This really should signal that the band shouldn't necessarily aim for being a riff-defined band.

For the most part, Echoes The Fall is lyrically straight forward as they offer their need for a savior on "Here to Stay" ("I need this light to keep me from feeling so dead inside"), while also tackling issues such the salvation for the wicked and those who are afflicted ("Dirty Water"). For better or for worse, Echoes The Fall doesn't use a lot of undecipherable, creative angst-based songs, though on "Things Will Change," the singer asks, "Have you made your peace now with the ones you've killed/or will you wait here to die?". Ironically the acoustic version of the song is the best on the album because of the rare melodic piano-fused tune.

As I listened to the updated Rocky 3 theme song, "Eye Of Tiger," I thought about the similarities of the first four Rocky movies. The films always begin in close proximity to a boxing match, before shifting to the long, drawn-out depressing bulk of the story. However, when the Rocky theme music shows up and Sylvester Stallone trains to be the fiercest boxer, he then, at least, defends his dignity if not the title. Sadly, like the Rocky films, Echoes The Fall also follows the traditional Christian rock formula of big guitars and rough vocals which make for a loud stereo-burner, but dooms Bloodline as no more than a generic rock release.

- Review date: 9/23/09, written by Nathaniel Schexnayder of Jesusfreakhideout.com