Skillet is awesome

Skillet is a Christian rock band that has stepped back from their electronic approach of old and is now leaning more towards metal. Their album Comatose, released in 2006, contains hugely detuned guitars, majestic strings, captivating vocals and huge choruses. Skillet's skill has set them apart from the pack. Their lead guitarist Ben Kasica has really impressed me with his solos. They aren't lame like half of Christian rock, and they aren't mindless shredding. They have a female drummer, Jen Ledger. She's not incredible, but does her job well. The keyboardist/rhythm guitarist Korey Cooper relies on a string trio on tour to replicate many of her parts while she backs up Ben.
John Cooper, Korey's husband, is the singer and bassist. He really is an awesome singer, with gritty intensity. Although I applaud him for remaining steadfast against the pick, his bass plays almost no role. The only time I've actually heard it is during a trio of slides for a brief second in the intro to "Savior," their popular 2005 release. In an interview in the one-time only magazine Christian Guitarist/Bassist, he said that he only likes GMC basses, a rather ugly purple beast reminiscent of a Les Paul with green sparkly flames. In recent years, however, he has played a Traben Pheonix. This bass company, promoted by the great Bootsy Collins, prides itself in cool designs and huge metal bridges that supposedly increase tone. John has a five-string because the guitars are tuned to drop B. Anyway, he randomly stops playing in the middle of the song in favor of waving his arms- I don't think his bass is even on.
Honestly though, he really has a cool voice, and he writes sweet songs too. In the CD I got from the library that prompted this post (Comatose Comes Alive) his voice got really tired around "Those Nights," one of the ony major songs on there. He began it with the whooping that can be found later on in the song, but failed miserably. For that song, Caleb Oliver played bass while John walked around. Caleb is the former bassist and lead singer of Decyfer Down, a parallel Christian rock band. I see no point in having aother bass player stand up there, but it happened.
Anyway, this band is making honest, thought-provoking, and intense music that is definetly worth checking out. Yup.