Carefully intertwining a pristine affinity for heavy metal production and melodic design, with a Faith-driven backdrop of story and sentiments chosen to inspire and uplift audiences, Craig Bannerman introduces the passion and purpose of his music, with the compelling new single For God So Loved.
Featuring the dramatic tumble of drums and a clever change from acoustic finger-picking to intensely distorted electric guitar, For God So Loved is musically enthralling in itself, and later brings through a vocal depth of character and confidence that naturally holds your attention.
With lyrical subject matter directly shaped by prayer and bible passages, the music unites a cinematic heavy metal progression with changing stages of vocal performance. From a spoken dramatic monologue to the closing briefness of a calming choir, For God So Loved is an impassioned and creatively pure composition, captivating and evocative for both its stylistic and conceptual value – as well as for the artistically unpredictable nature of its structure and set-up.
While there’s undeniable delicacy and warmth to this former track, we can clearly note the distinct switch to intensity and pace, as A Hopeful Requiem takes the wheel.
A more traditional heavy metal arrangement, with soaring drums, up-tempo guitars and riffs, and yet still that distant choir of voices injects something of an angelic contrast to the apparent weight of the music.
Another near-six-minute instrumental, A Hopeful Requiem is powerful and complex, forever evolving with that emotionally loaded sense of compositional depth and cinematic power – so much so that the track’s latter half is near euphoric at its celebratory peaks. The accompanying stock visuals also seem finely chosen to help reinforce the emotions and epic story at the heart of the music.
Finally, the most recent track set to emerge – Ha Satan – The Covering Cherub’s Judgment is a decidedly more vast electronic production. We’re welcomed by what initially sound like synths – 8Dio: 1 Tuba and 4 Horns, in marcato – and scenes that cover a broad landscape of imaginative ideas, and slowly but surely the layers grow and intensify – before the sheer tempo and tenacity of the guitar, bass and drums combo brings back that iconic heavy metal thread of creative expression.
Extensive as ever, Ha-Satan captivates with an entirely instrumental first half, later switching things up as that beautifully deep vocal tone again guides us through bible passages and prayers – to help gift the music a shared sense of direction and passionate intention.
A sensational soundscape, the sort that provides an immense hit of escapism but also quickly intrigues in terms of the live show potential. Craig has crafted these works from a place of unbreakable devotion to Faith, sound, and feeling, and that’s precisely what the listener gets to experience in return; once they dive whole-heartedly into the centre of each track.
Find Craig Bannerman on YouTube.
