Oftentimes when listening to music we get too caught up in the idea that it has fits into the genre we fancy ourselves a fan of. A factor no one is immune to, how many good songs are we really missing out on because of these limitations? Considering this, when many within the Metal world heard that Godhead’s Jason Charles Miller was going Country… heads turned.
A story that is fifteen years old at this point, Miller first stepped back from his work in Godhead following the release of their 2008 album At the Edge of the World to try his hand at something a bit different. Not at all abandoning his Industrial Rock and Alternative Metal side, but more branching off in a different direction to spark inspiration, the experiment resulted in his 2009 debut Country Rock EP Last to Go Home. Going quite well, he continued on with the 2011 full-length Uncountry, as well as 2012’s Natural Born Killer, and over the last decade plus has consistently written, recorded, and produced music very much embedded inside the Southern and Country Rock realm.
Only expanding on his repertoire, while Godhead has not released any music in over a decade (the last new song being 2014’s “The Heal”), Miller has still kept this part of himself alive. In fact, he created a relatively new project called RezoDrone with (Jamison Boaz) which offers some compelling dark electronic music; which also resulted in the really cool Metal album Gods of Metal: Ragnarock soundtrack from 2023. Nonetheless, Miller has been anything but lazy over time, and now returns in 2024 with his brand-new solo album Knives in the Dark.
Coming a little over a year after his 2023 album Cards on the Table (which featured a must-listen rendition of Iron Maiden’s “Wasted Years”), Knives in the Dark arrived on August 16th through One Opportunity Records. What is Miller’s fifth overall studio album, this far into the game he opted to let the songs flow naturally, opposed to having a notion of where they should fit in terms of a genre. What this means is that going into the writing/recording of the material there was an attempt to keep a clear mind, let the music go where it may, and see where everything landed. A great way to approach things to be honest, when the dust settled Miller put together an album well worth listening to.
Consisting of ten songs, Knives in the Dark is passionate and really quite diverse. Absolutely along the lines of Southern Rock, there are also heavy Blues and Hard Rock influences sprinkled throughout, plenty of heavy guitars, but also some really soulful guitar solos. Something that will appeal to fans of Blackstone Cherry, Texas Hippie Coalition, or Blackberry Smoke, there is also enough Country twang in-between the cracks that will satisfy others as well.
Truly lively, some of the big moments on this one would have to include the fantastic opening of “I Need A Rescue” (featuring Ellis Hall), the title-track, and “The Enemy.” This is while more stripped back moments like “Run The Road,” where Cristina Vee wonderfully compliments Miller in a duet, as well as “Blood And Bone,” where Miller really bares his heart, offer you plenty more.
In all, Jason Charles Miller has seemed to find the right balance with Knives in the Dark. This is not to say any of his prior solo works were off balance, but it is to say that letting his guard down a bit during the conception of these new songs has paid dividends. That is why Cryptic Rock recommends anyone from fans of Southern Hard Rock to Country Rock to check out Knives in the Dark, giving it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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