Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Just when the outlook may appear to be festering, perhaps wallowing in some self imposed drudgery, along comes a group capable of shaking the apathy and laziness that had crept into all corners of an American once legendary genre, out and delivering a sermon on the Rock mount decrying the dangers of letting it be lost to a generation.

Saviours can come in all guises, the manner of their delivery is what sets them apart from the banal rhetoric and altogether all-too predictable commonplace that has muscled into where angels used to, not just fear to tred, but cross themselves in anguish and carry their membership card to the A.A. just in case of breakdown. In the case of Skillet and their brand new album Vital Signs, something important has been unleashed onto the world that needs no secret Code or understanding of how a lost cipher works, all that is needed is the ability to go with the flow and rock the heart out, one dripping red blood vessel at a time.

For John L. Cooper, Korey Cooper, the supreme Jen Ledger and Seth Morrison, this is a moment in time lovingly captured and one, that like an untamed beast, snarls and rampages across the void, the hot steaming breath buoyant in the darkness, falling into the shadows but destroying the darkness that envelopes it. It is the musical equivalent of an oil rig striking black gold in an seemingly empty desert, of David beating Goliath in an arm wrestling match before the main event or the destruction wrought by a fertile mind and aided by a cacophony of abundant noise, Vital Signs is proof of life.

The twinning of vocals from John L. Cooper and Jen Ledger is one to revel in and with the power of Ms. Ledger’s fantastic drumming throughout the album’s songs resonate like a jack hammer through 100 year old cement, the sturdiness and relentless pounding finally cracking and demolishing what has been laid before.

From the apt Rebirthing and Monster, through the brilliant havoc of Whispers In The Dark, past the bounty of Comatose and the unforgiving but tremendously exciting Sick Of It and Rise, Skillet pound and smash their way past ignorance and indifference, and set sail through the gloom of past Rock dependency in search of music gold. Their target true and pulsating, navigated by a single unremitting desire, to set the record straight of a countries genre that has begun to show a spark of life once more.

Ian D. Hall