i try to turn as many people as i can onto Wovenhand.
it's musically much much more than "hard rock" though there are strong elements of the genre in most of their albums, blending folk, rock, blues and native rhythms with a whole bag of other eclectica. you're going to find a heck of a lot more scripture references and allusions in this than you will in Skillet or Fireflight. just look at the lyrics below and try to piece out where in the Bible these things are coming from -- almost every line. for example, the title is a direct reference to Zechariah 10:8
that kind of reflection on the Word is really just not present in the bands you mentioned, and this together with what i consider to be really excellent and superior musicianship is why i try to turn Christians on to it.
"the threshing floor" and "long horn" may be the best albums to start with, but here's a pretty "rocking" song from a more recent album:
[video=youtube;a5mqzksBXcY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5mqzksBXcY[/video]
Lord of hosts
Exalted in judgement
The lambs feed after their manner
God is holy
All the strangers come in
Sit down and eat
Woe unto them
Vanity's unbelieving
In the judgement seat
Them that say
Let Him make speed
And hasten to His work
That we may see it
Woe unto them
Their light for darkness
Their bitter for sweet
Hiss
Hiss
Who justifies and frees the guilty
For a bribe
As the tongue devours the stubble
As the dry grass sinks down
In the flame and dies
As the bees are hissed
From out their hives
Look, He lifts up a signal
To the hostiles from agar
He will hiss for them
From the ends of the earth
Behold they come
They come swiftly
Swiftly
None is weary
Or stumbles among them
None slumbers or sleeps
Arrows sharp
All bows are bent
Their horses' hooves look like flint
Their whirring wheels
Like a whirlwind wild
From afar the roaring sea child
Like a churning of the foaming sea
That's the way it looks to me
That's the way it looks to me
Darkness and distress
Woe unto them
Their light for darkness
Woe unto them
This bitter for sweet