The Easter Edition: Personal Recommendations for Holy Week
Happy Easter to you.
Hi Pal,
I think I have written a version of this newsletter every year since 2023, and it’s important to me that you get the chance to have musical companionship for this Holy Week, which does a good job of faithfully communicating the significance of this season while providing the musical variety that we have come to love and enjoy.
OF MAN by COOL HAND LUKE
Genre: Progressive Indie Rock, Experimental
Of Man is a concept album focusing on the final earthly days of Jesus Christ. The band takes creative liberties to explore this narrative from varied perspectives, as heard on the piano-driven indie rock track “Are You Coming?” This song depicts someone expecting a miracle for a family member, unaware that Jesus has already been arrested. Another example is the progressive rock ballad “The Confusion of Simon Peter,” which explores Peter’s emotional turmoil after Christ’s death.
While these creative interpretations may not resonate with all listeners, the band's intention is clear. The project is a deeply reverent album that captures the spirit of the season with tracks like “Not the End, Not the End,” while also conveying the event's despair and tragedy through songs such as “Goodbye for Now” and “The Last Supper.”
THE RESURRECTION LETTERS ANTHOLOGY by ANDREW PETERSON
Genre: Singer-songwriter, Folk
This is a combination of three projects: The Prologue (EP), Volume 1 (2018), and Volume 2, which came out ten years earlier in 2008. I love this collection, and I regard it as the quintessential release for the Easter Season, especially in the folk and singer-songwriter genre. Andrew Peterson’s creative choices are built on a commitment to be faithful to the scriptural narrative, and it is evident in tracks like “Well Done, Good and Faithful” and “Risen Indeed”.
Even the songs that are not really approached from the resurrection narrative and still inspired by its event, whether it is in songs of praise like “Invisible God” or storytelling pieces like “Rocket”, there is a very impressive and surprisingly refreshing consistency, especially for a collection of tunes created within ten years.
FAMILIAR WITH PAIN by MEADOWS
Genre: Melodic Hardcore, Post-Hardcore
Two years ago, on Good Friday, Meadows released an album inspired by the final week of Christ’s life before death, and it is still one of the best melodic hardcore albums of the 2020s. A number of these songs feature lyrics taken directly from the scriptures. For example, on “Old Friends, New Leaf” where they sing, ‘...greater love has no man than this, than to lay down his life for his friends’.
I’ve always maintained that there are some visceral emotions that heavy music excels at capturing in ways that many other genres seem to fall short. I’ve heard many songs and hymns that speak about the experience of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and his prayer. Yet, none of them hit the way “Heavy Eyes” does, and this is all thanks to the visceral and palpable intensity that metal and its subgenres can convey.
Notably, “Life & Death By The Sword” and “Barabbas (Silence of Innocence)” stand out as incredible tracks. These pieces are based on pivotal moments in the Gospel: Christ’s instruction to Peter after the soldier’s ear is severed, and Christ’s defense before Pilate. The album is well-crafted with passion and grit, making it appealing to most fans of the genre.
That’s it for today.
Catch you at the next one!