Souls Awakened is a Hard Rock band from Ohio that formed in 2019 by musicians with a strong desire to inspire hope and purpose in people through music. Souls Awakened is comprised of lead vocalist-Rodney Jones, lead guitarist-Jonathan Woodward, bassist-Ricky Jones, and drummer-James Zornes. The group takes the idea for their band's moniker from text found in Ephesians 5:14 "Wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light".
In addition to being musicians, Souls Awakened puts on a live-stream called 'Metal Mondays' where they play different Christian Metal Music from your some of your favorite bands. Metal Mondays also plays anyone's unreleased Christian Metal music allowing for exposure of up-and-coming artists. Listeners simply record and send in their music on mp3 format to [email protected] and they will stream it live on their Monday broadcast.
In 2021 Souls Awakened released their self-titled debut 5-track EP recording on an indie label. This debut release finds the band firing on all cylinder with a hard hittin' solid release. What we have here is straight forward Hard Rock done right with strong vocals, crushing guitars, heavy bass lines, relentless drums, and really good sound production. In addition, this EP features a few tracks where the band shakes things up by wondering into the Technical Hard Rock territory with their arrangements.
Some songs that stand out on this 2021 EP include track-1 "Forgiven", track-2 "War Inside", track-3 "Smoking Gun", and track-5 "The Day Our Savior Died".
The guitar work by Jonathan Woodward is nicely done with a heavy crunchy sound that has a nice
tone to it.
tone to it.
Lyrics are Christ centered and evangelical as one can see in the following excerpts:
"Forgiven"
Forgiven I've made my peace
Forgiven my soul is clear
Forgiven I won't go back
Forgiven I'm letting go
Jesus cried Father forgive them for they know not what they do
Forgiveness to all we must
For God has forgiven us
We must forgive others
God has forgiven you
"Smoking Gun"
You're going to do it again, ain't looking good my friend
Give me just one more sin, it's going to be your end
And when you come undone, where you going to run?
You can't hide the truth, you got the Smoking Gun
The human condition, inherits every-one
Reality is grim, we were born in sin
But the appearing of, the one and only Son
Has brought us close to God, now we are washed by blood
Yeah we are washed by blood
"War Inside"
Only hope is Christ alone
He'll cleanse your mind and make you whole
Battles fought you've overcome
War is Won the Past is Gone
Clear your head from self-defeat
Christ-like mind is victory
Break the chains that have you bound
Hold the truth to wear it's crown
"The Day Our Savior Died"
The cross became a tree of life
When Jesus was the sacrifice
For all the sin the world has known
The day our Savior died
The crowd that looked upon His face
Saw God’s gift of love and grace
Our sin too became His own
The day our Savior died
In triumph He rose
Sin and death have no hold
From tragedy to victory
The day our Savior died
Forgiven I've made my peace
Forgiven my soul is clear
Forgiven I won't go back
Forgiven I'm letting go
Jesus cried Father forgive them for they know not what they do
Forgiveness to all we must
For God has forgiven us
We must forgive others
God has forgiven you
"Smoking Gun"
You're going to do it again, ain't looking good my friend
Give me just one more sin, it's going to be your end
And when you come undone, where you going to run?
You can't hide the truth, you got the Smoking Gun
The human condition, inherits every-one
Reality is grim, we were born in sin
But the appearing of, the one and only Son
Has brought us close to God, now we are washed by blood
Yeah we are washed by blood
"War Inside"
Only hope is Christ alone
He'll cleanse your mind and make you whole
Battles fought you've overcome
War is Won the Past is Gone
Clear your head from self-defeat
Christ-like mind is victory
Break the chains that have you bound
Hold the truth to wear it's crown
"The Day Our Savior Died"
The cross became a tree of life
When Jesus was the sacrifice
For all the sin the world has known
The day our Savior died
The crowd that looked upon His face
Saw God’s gift of love and grace
Our sin too became His own
The day our Savior died
In triumph He rose
Sin and death have no hold
From tragedy to victory
The day our Savior died
If you are looking to add some new solid Hard Rock to your collection, then check out what Souls Awakened has offered up with their self-titled 2021 EP. Help support the band and Christian Hard Rock music by picking up your copy of this band's EP today!
Purchases can be made at any of the following links:
Musicians:
Rodney Jones - Lead Vocals
Jonathan Woodward - Lead Guitars
Jason Harmon - Bass
Rick Jones - Drums
Rodney Jones - Lead Vocals
Jonathan Woodward - Lead Guitars
Jason Harmon - Bass
Rick Jones - Drums