Why do I enjoy cover
artists? There are so many reasons, one of them I love to see different interpretations
of songs that I know but also on a more deeper meaning it let me discover new
musicians and vocalists over a period of time and see how they develop, my
finding over the years with Caleb Hyles has been one of the most interesting
cases because 11 years ago I wouldn’t imagine in my life that was it was a
silly channel between two brothers eventually it would evolve into one of the
most popular content creators.
Conquer a Tribute to Skillet is a really cool product, a different reinterpretation of some of the songs but
at the same time it does keep the essence, is a cool album because if you are a
listener that is looking for new vocalist and musicians you can have a six
degrees of separation and find new talents such as Aruvn, Lollia, Jonathan
Young (who is already well established) and SixteeninMono who form part of the line-up.
A fantastic thing about
the album is that even if you as a listener are not in to Christian Rock, you
can still enjoy it, it goes on the same vein as Evanescence that has an appeal
to the masses on a pop culture level because of the hard beats sounds but
lyrics that can reach a general public; now that I mentioned that I didn’t had
a clue who Skillet were until about six years ago, when people at work used to
describe me who was Skillet I thought they were talking about a brand of
cooking appliances until by random effects of the destiny they are a band.
The production of the
album is quite fantastic, gorgeous and energetic and melancholic, it’s almost
as a spiritual journey through life and pain, to find there is room to growth and
find comfort in the hands of the Lord. There is always something I noticed
within years of following different indie artists through the years, each one of
them has their own unique sound, not only on their voices on instruments, is
almost as a trademark where you can identify the artist by the selection of background
instrumentalization but also due vocal techniques.
Let’s just focus on this
album, the album has a reflection of Caleb’s sounds on instrumentalization,
sounds that reflect his concerts that are filled with high energy routines but
also melodic and more mellow themes, concerts that can make you unite with the
other public and join the Hyles Hype Crew; but is not only the high energy of
the instrument, the different collaborations there are in the album with
Jonathan Young that add an incredible dose of Metal and brotherly bond, it’s
not only a one or two songs they are two acts that have such an amazing
chemistry together that even with their own personal accomplishments they
create synergy to bring two fandoms into one.
There are so many little
things on the album that reflect Caleb personal journey into the world of entertainment
but also his grown as an artist, you have to understand this is a journey and
an evolution of more than 10 years, from the Rock Band days, to the silly
videos he and his brother Josh created on their parents living room along with
other friends, to the first anime covers such as Vampire Knight, to the fan
dubs of different anime’s with several of their friends to eventually becoming
his own channel with CalebCovers, From the Dark to As Eyes Go Blind and eventually the Peace, Love and Metal Community.
Is a process, that has
turned him in to a brand of his own and I do not believe this is the culmination
but rather a beginning of one of the superstars of the world of music, if you want
to purchase the album hit here and it will redirect you to his iTunes store
page that will redirect you to the Conquer: A Skillet Tribute Album.