Christian Music News: Review | 23 (2024)

Hi there, hello.

Welcome to this review newsletter where I use you as a sounding board for my feelings on music releases. Today we’re looking at Where Light Divides by UnWorthy.

UnWorthy has been floating around my YouTube feed for a while. I may have sampled a single a while back because I distinctly remember being sure they were a Christian band because the T in their name is written with a symbol of the cross, right side up.

That may seem like an arbitrary leap to make but it’s based on my experience. In almost two decades of consuming heavy music, I doubt that I have seen a secular band use the symbol of the cross unless it was upside down. When I got around to listening to the EP, I realized that my assumptions were spot-on.

In a nutshell, this EP is pretty straightforward in its mission. It’s a ruthlessly aggressive deathcore release with lyrics that boldly express the band’s Christian faith. On the intro track, “Statement of Faith”, the first words are:

This sets us up for the kind of lyrical journey that we are about to embark on. Covering topics like the crucifixion of Jesus for our sins in “Led to the Slaughter”, the end times in “The End of All Things is at Hand” and how salvation can only be found in Jesus on the track, “A Decision With Eternal Consequences”.

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Sonically, the songs all stay within the deathcore pocket even though there is a variety to the EP as it’s not just the slow tempo, super down-tuned approach. There is a significant spike or emphasis on technical riffage and guitar solos when compared with the typical chuggy deathcore sounds, which was quite refreshing. The vocals range from low growls to high shrieks and are well-delivered. This is all capped by the production and mixing that is pretty praise-worthy as all the instrumentation sound clean and the vocals don’t feel drowned out by them.

In the end, this is a decent EP and I enjoyed listening to it. While the songs didn’t hit me in a particularly impactful way or give me the ‘I have to listen to this EP again!!’ feeling, I can say that this an objectively good record that does what it set out to do: Glorify God and thank Him for the gift of salvation and it does so with ruthless aggression.

Genre(s): Deathcore

RATING: 3.7/5

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