Any time I'm listening to a disc from an independent or an unsigned band, I try to give them as much leniency as possible and not come off as sounding like a crusty old stodger. Take Joey Shaker, for example. While I am not the biggest fan of contemporary Christian music, I kept listening to their album Mankind to find just one more bright spot I might have missed. In the end, it worked, to a point. Mankind does have some serious flaws, but this quartet does dare to approach religion in songs by not hitting the listener over the head with the message.
Mankind seems to be a religious album that is willing to meet listeners half-way.
And even there, with rare exception, Joey Shaker doesn't try to shove their dogma down your throat. Mankind , however, shows that Joey Shaker has three main areas they have to work on. First, Santora is not the strongest lead singer in the business - and something tells me that he would agree with me in this regard. Granted, the more you listen to the disc, the more Santora seems to fit with the music, but it's a long time before you get accustomed to his hoarse delivery. For well over half the album, the instrument I found myself connecting with most was the bass guitar, and while Zaage's playing is good, I should have found myself focusing in on the guitar.