New Horizons

 Flyleaf will release their third studio album at the end of this month but with the bittersweet news that this will be the last album featuring singer Lacey Sturm . Sturm will depart from the band as they begin touring for their latest release, New Horizons. Stepping in for the singer will be Kristen May (Vedera). So how does it sound?

Despite this being the good-bye album for Sturm it is also a great album for her and the band as they depart. The band infuses their blend of hard rock and metal with slight pop sensibilities to maximum overdrive making for an album that feels and sounds diverse enough for several passes, which is fantastic because lyrically the band has a lot to say, forcing you to make the ultimate choice of just letting yourself flow with the music or concentrating on the words. Don’t worry eventually the entire album will come together and you’ll get the best of both worlds.

On that note it felt refreshing to finally come across an album from a band fronted by a female singer that wasn’t completely saturated with generic love songs geared towards top 40 radio. Flyleaf rips down idols, talks about their spirituality, attacks flaws in the system, and just offers up an album that breaks from the norm while still carrying an accessible sound that flirts with being either or when it comes to the potency of their metal edge. Good stuff.