Paying Homage to Battery

If there’s one thing I regret as a music fan, it’s failing to buy an album by the Filipino metal band Battery back in 2000. The trio’s musicianship was superb, like a hybrid of Black Sabbath and Rush. Their lyrics were a reflection of guitarist/vocalist Mike Turner’s faith in Jesus Christ. They were evidence that explicitly Christian bands can be very amazing. The reason why I regret this now is that their album was out of print.

Battery was one of the few Filipino bands that served as an inspiration for the reasons stated above. If you have any doubt of how superb the trio’s musicianship is, just listen to “Toxic Hate” which features a face melting bass solo as an intro, and “Plastic Jesus” that has a middle section in odd meters. Want an inspiring rocker? Listen to “The Words in Red”. It seems to be a reference to some Bible translations e.g. New King James Version that have quotes by the Lord Jesus Christ printed in red. The line in the song that states, “The only peace I can find are the words in red”. Rings very true when you realize how sinful you and I are and the only way out of that situation are the “words in red”. Although such meaning of the song is my own analysis, if you listen to the other songs like “Come to Me” and “Coming Home”, you could arrive at the same conclusion as well.

Sad to say that after struggling in the Philippine music scene, Battery was no more. Battery became one of those bands that was killed off by the Filipino music industry’s promotion of mediocrity. It is mind-boggling that big names in the music industry would not support such talented musicians and instead sign artists who can’t even sing or write their own songs such as _____ (fill in the blank of an artist you think fits the description).

I’ve searched online for a chance to be able to listen to some songs by Battery and fortunately I found this link:

http://www.cristianomusica.com/mp3~battery-king-strange.html

It turns out that you can listen to Battery’s entire album through that link. It became another opportunity for me to listen to those amazing songs after 12 years.

Another thing is that Mike Turner has posted some of Battery’s songs on his MySpace page. You can check them out here:

http://www.myspace.com/michaelturner/music/songs?filter=featured

If there’s any person out there who could sell me that CD by Battery, then by all means please contact me! I’d love to have a copy.

To Mike Turner and the rest of Battery, thank you for your music. It was simply inspiring. God bless you dear sirs and I hope that one day I can get you see you guys play in the Philippines again.

Easy Sleep Music Release of the Day: “Saving Grace”

The good people at a7records have made another easy sleep music piece of mine available for public listening on the Easy Sleep Music YouTube channel. This piece is called “Saving Grace”.

“Saving Grace” is mostly a piano piece with the requisite background synth pad and binaural beat per Easy Sleep Music specifications. Other instruments that play the main theme on various sections of the piece include my new Greg Bennett Concord 3 electric guitar and a virtual instrument that imitates a veena (an Indian stringed instrument similar to a sitar).

There are many reasons one can think of why this piece is called “Saving Grace”. It actually is a reflection of my faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and how much I find comfort in the fact that the Lord had decided to offer up his life to save me and the rest of us from God’s wrath. Now, I know that there are some who read this that may become uncomfortable about my expression of faith. Let me clarify that I am in no way imposing my faith but I’m requesting that you keep an open mind as you read along while I explain the inspiration behind this piece. I leave it up to you whether or not you would decide to believe what I believe. God never forced anybody to believe in him anyway; otherwise we’d all be robots without differences in opinion.

According to Romans 3:20, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” There is nothing that man can do to merit salvation. No amount of prayers, devotionals, offerings, money, indulgence, service or good works could make us justifiable before God. Romans 6:23 even goes on to state, “For the wages of sin is death….” As we are tainted by our sinful nature, God sense of justice demands exact payment, and death is what we we deserve.

Romans 6:23 doesn’t end there. It continues as, “…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The fact is that though we deserve to be separated eternally from God,  he provided a way back to him through his son Jesus Christ, God who became man, the perfect sacrifice. I’m sure many people would argue otherwise but here we find the beauty in believing in Jesus Christ. Unlike all other religions of the world where  people have to continuously work their way towards salvation/deification/etc. without any form of assurance, Yeshua Hamaschiah proves he is a just and loving God through his sacrifice for you and me.

My personal faith has a lot to do with this piece called  “Saving Grace”. Many people want to sleep at night feeling secure and loved. That is how I want to feel exactly when I go to bed each night. “Saving Grace” as sleep music would remind me how much God loves all of us that he willingly became human, sacrificed his own human life and then conquer death in order to cleanse us free of our debts. If you truly believe in your heart and trust that Jesus alone has done so, then He will bestow upon you that saving grace (John 3:16,  John 14:6, Acts 4:12, Ephesians 2:8). You no longer have to go through all the steps and rituals to buy your way into heaven as Jesus has already done that for you. If you think about it this way, it would be easy for you to do good and become at peace and relaxed at night or any time of the day. I hope to share such an experience with all of you and I pray that you get that well deserved rest and feel that assurance you would find only in Jesus Christ as you listen to my music.