If I got my info correct, this Arlington (Washington DC area) based Christian Metal quartet was put together by lead singer/ guitarist/ keyboardist Frank Clifton Herring, who sought out the correct people for two years prior to the Summer of 2008, when veteran bassist Roy Richardson completed the line-up then also already including lead guitarist Vlad Gurin and drummer Tim “TNT” Tieff.
The band released its debut album I'm Talking To You before the end of that same year, and later (exact date completely unknown) followed that up with the CD and DVD On Delivery (Live). The band has since sold hundreds of its CDs and DVDs, found airplay for its songs on Internet and broadcast radio stations in America, Australia, The UK, Cyprus and Greece. The band's own website (www.) messengermetal.com has had tens of thousands of views in the past 4 years, as has the band's MySpace page (hum...it that really so much, I wonder?). During its many shows (which include playing at the '09 Marine Corps Marathon, several Christian Rock festivals, the largest Virginia County fairs, as well as performances at church groups, coffee houses, and secular nightclubs), the band has had the occasion to open for the likes of Extreme, Kix, and W.A.S.P.! Pre-production on the new album began in Summer 2011 as a band collaborative work, which allowed Vlad to put in more of his own in the songwriting than before. Following some tracking at Vlad's own Studio Vovka in Springfield, VA, he also co-produced the album with Frank, after which Paris Hollins (whom had also been recording engineer & producer on the first album) mixed and mastered the material at Studio House North, in Churchton, MD.
Musically, the band switches between a clean Progressive Metal and a more straightforward mixture of Hard Rock and Blues, with undercurrent progressive elements. Of course, the lyrical side is what's most important to a band like Messenger, and you can be sure that with each song that message will be shoved into the mind of the unaware listener...sorry about that negative note, guess that's prejudice talking against a religious group of people whom only half a century ago declared Rock to be the music of the Devil! If there's one thing I hàve to confess, it's that Messenger puts its message in quite an appealing package, and that's something you can convince yourselves of when listening to the songs posted at either (www.) myspace.com/messengerdc, (www.) reverbnation.com/messengermetal, or (www.) facebook.com/AAAConcerts (same songs posted in the last two cases). Also, when you log onto the band's own (www.) messengermetal.com, you'll find song samples (some of which recorded live in high quality) playing automatically on the home page.
My rating goes in against my aversion of Christian mind-numbing tactics, and relates only to the high-quality of both vocal and instrumental delivery (yes, I dó review music in as much an objective way as possible!). By the way, following the album's release, Roy retired from the band (and from music altogether...I mean, he was old enough to yearn for retirement altogether!), and after several months of search, the band announced one Richard Sandoval as his worthy replacement.