Sent By Ravens delivers
exceptionally catchy melodic rock n'
roll with moments of heaviness and an
overall message of hope. Their
debut album, Our Graceful Words, abounds
with deliciously
memorable songs bringing to mind
the brightest moments of bands like
Emery, whose own Matt
Carter helped craft the South
Carolina group's debut album with
producer Aaron Sprinkle.
There is
punk rock passion, melodic pop skill
and joyful, soulful intelligence
throughout
and the soaringly smooth voice
of Zach
Riner. Guitarists Andy O'Neal
and JJ Leonard
weave hard-charging guitars
together with
fluid hooks overtop the solid
rhythm of
drummer Dane Anderson.
The young
band has created a record beyond their
years,
with decidedly mature and
starkly honest examinations of a
renewing faith in the face
of fears. Our Graceful Words is a record
one of the strongest debut
albums in recent memory,
from a band whose story is
just beginning to unfold.
"Trailer Vs. Tornado" references
a time when the
group all lived in a trailer
together.
"It's about
being faithful and being strong," Riner
explains.
"It's a metaphor
for us being against the world
without being
scared." Meanwhile, a track like "Salt
and the Light"
is a worship song, with an overall
theme of love.
"Beautiful List" is a love
letter of sorts from Riner to
his wife. "She was praying with
her friends when she
was 18. She was writing down a
list of things she
wanted in the guy she married.
She told me after we
were married that she got her
'list.' That song is me
saying I
did, too."
Zach was singing for a band in
Georgia when an early incarnation of the
band, which
included O'Neal, contacted him
over the Internet and invited him to
move to South
Carolina and join. After some
prayer, he decided to take a chance and
relocate. The
group reached out to Anderson --
who was living in Hawaii -- after seeing
a video of
him playing an Underoath song on
YouTube. "We sent him a message and he
asked
us if we needed a second guitar
player, his buddy, JJ [Leonard]" Riner
recalls.
By the fall of 2008, Sent By Ravens was
together and playing shows.
The band was already able to
headline the House Of Blues in Myrtle
Beach before
signing with a record label,
booking agency or management firm.
Through hard
touring and sharing stages with
bands like Every Time I Die, Family
Force 5 and
Stain'd, they were able to build
a grassroots following. Their
self-financed and selfreleased
EP, The Effect of Fashion and
Prayer, caught the attention of Tooth &
Nail
Records, who quickly signed them
to a worldwide deal.
In scripture, the Biblical
prophet Elijah was fed by ravens in the
wilderness. God sent
these unclean, often frowned
upon birds to do His work. It was with
this in mind that
South Carolina's Sent By Ravens
chose their name. "It parallels with how
we're all
sinful people but we can still
carry God's word to people," explains
Riner. "This whole
album -- we've gotten closer
with God, together, as a band. 'New
Fire,' for example,
is about having a new fire lit
in your heart. There's a big love theme
through the
whole album. We want to put this
fire and this message for God in our
hearts -- we
want to share that with people. We want
to share that God is real."
