Jimmy P. Brown II founded Deliverance as a speed metal band
in 1985. They released their self-titled
album in 1989. In 1990 they released
WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE. The video for
the decidedly Christian title track received airplay on MTV. Deliverance’s fourth album STAY OF EXECUTION
leaned more towards progressive metal.
Later, the band would venture into electronic and industrial territory
as well. Jimmy P. Brown II is now
44. He cites Iron Maiden, Queensryche,
and David Bowie as vocal inspirations.
In December of 2013 Deliverance released what is said to be their final
album. HEAR WHAT I SAY! came out on 3
Frogz Records and Roxx Records Brown
performs all the vocals and rhythm guitar, Michael Phillips of Join the Dead
plays lead guitar, Manny Morales plays the 5 string bass, and Jayson Sherlock
of Mortification plays drums and percussion.
Brown cites these words of Jesus as being of great import to him: “You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all
your strength, and with all your mind” and “Your neighbor as yourself” (Luke
10:27).
This final and tenth studio album from Deliverance opens
with a short, quiet instrumental called ‘Liber111’. It is performed and arranged by Olaf
Lieb. Next up is ‘The Annals of
Subterfuge’ which could be translated ‘The Historical Record of
Deception’. Brown and Phillips wrote the
music, while Brown alone wrote the lyrics.
Musically the song is thrash metal.
Lyrically, it expresses discontent with the abuses of religion:
“Lies-spewing out in fury, seeking out the weak/Bold-authoritative stance,
disguised as the meek/Made-to feel less than human, abnormal tendencies/Forced
to surrender life’s will, a lived expectancy/Kraft (strength)-gehorsam
(obediently)/Will we live our lives plagued in guilt?/Or will we live on
freedom promised?/Laws of stone or felt from the heart”.
The third track is ‘Angst’ which is fear or anxiety. This is one of the heaviest songs musically
that Deliverance has recorded in some time.
It is the song of one who is disheartened with how things are:
“Frustrated, perplexed, at the current world view/Maligned, upset, as the
straight becomes askew/Knowledge so vast, yet we dive deeper still/Into the
murk, and we’ve become the mentally ill/OCD¸ADHD quickly has become the
norm/Independent thought, so swiftly to conform/Escape the real, dive into
fantasy/To live with eyes closed, unfurled heresy/Worlds apart, or are you just
like me?/Contempt for all, to be or not be/Or is there hope?/Will we find a
cure?/Paths aligned, trails beyond the blur”.
‘Hope Lies Beyond’ was penned by Rick Mester and originally
performed by Sombrance. This one is an
experimental progressive metal song with Brown singing in his lower
register. It has more tranquil, peaceful
lyrics: “My eyes roll back, and I see You!/You bring me back where I am
stillborn/Just let me supernova, admire me for a moment/A thousand eyes they’re
on me, they flicker in the night/And I become as they”. Brown plays keyboards. ‘Detox’ is a pop-metal track with an opening
guitar solo by Brown. A detox involves
getting rid of poisonous substances in the body. Here are some of the words to the song: “Only
so much one can take of mundane living/How much can one make without a thought
of giving?/The picture is getting clear, but the air is still so thick/I can no
longer shed a tear, it’s all making me sick!/I need to detox!/Unlearn the old
way!/I need to detox!/Hear what I say!”
Brown says that the next song ‘Nude’ embodies where he is at
spiritually and mentally with the whole concept of religion and God and our
personal relationships with God. This
terrific melodic metal song is about spiritual growth and dying to self: “There
has to be some way to crawl away from the mundane/To start again, be born
again/And dare to live without compromise or conform.../Fly into the center of
the Universe/And find the meaning behind your ‘self’/Watch it die, then watch
it reborn/Stumble on this darkened path/The answers are there, reach in and
see/Death is not the end, but a start/A chance/To live as if you were
nude/Nothing to hide/Only as nude”.
‘Passing’ begins by reflecting on our mortality: “I’m tired
of hearing and seeing death counts/The passing of another friend/The clock is
ticking, the pendulum swinging/Worried hearts wonder for their end/They’re
running to Doctors or the Medicine Men/Looking for the wonder cure``. The song also talks of how we can easily turn
into the living dead nowadays: “We hide from families, the neighbors and
pets/And make friends with the computer/We Twit and Facebook our lives on a
screen/Past friends and memories relived/I would hate to come to the end of my
life/And realize I had not lived”.
Michael Phillips wrote ‘A Perfect Sky’ himself and plays all acoustic
guitars and solos on it. It is a pensive
ballad: “Drifting, a thousand thoughts begin to cross my mind/The door keeps
getting farther back behind/Stories and memories, a strong urge to obey/A call
to act, a call to pray.../Caught up inside a peaceful bliss, a taste of Heaven
upon my lips/Beauty abounding, tranquil feelings I surmise/Hoping I will not
open my eyes”.
‘Where Eagles Dare’ is an Iron Maiden cover. It was the opening track on their 1983 PIECE
OF MIND album. Brown says he enlisted
the help of Ken Tamplin’s vocal academy so he could hit the high notes. This pounding heavy metal number is over six
minutes long. It is set in World War 2:
“It’s snowing outside, the rumbling sound/Of engines roar in the night/The
mission is clear, the confident men/Are waiting to drop from the sky/The
blizzard goes on but still they must fly/No one should go where eagles
dare/Bavarian alps that lay all around/They seem to stare from below/The enemy
lines a long time passed/Are lying deep in the snow/Into the night they fall
through the sky/No one should fly where eagles dare”. Last up is a German language version of
‘Detox’ called ‘Entgiftung’. Brown has
ancestry in Germany and lower Bavaria and has a lot of German fans.
2013 really was a stellar year for Christian metal fans with
new albums from Stryper, Bloodgood, and Deliverance. HEAR WHAT I SAY! is a standout album! Deliverance has finished off at the top of
their game! In the CD booklet Brown
thanks Rabbi Ahyh and The Church of YHWH “for always challenging and helping me
find the light switch!” In a recent
interview with ‘Beyond the Riff’ Brown revealed that there are a few songs that
did not get finished on time for this last album and that they will see the
light of day. Also, he is working on new
Jupiter VI material. I’m rating HEAR
WHAT I SAY! 95%. For more info visit: www.deliverancerocks.com, www.3frogzstudio.com, and www.roxxproductions.com.