Skillet – Comatose Review

Website: Skillet

Skillet, for lack of a better descriptor, is a “Creed band”. You know what I mean: they started out their career as a worship band, then someone along the chain of command realized the band had enough talent to go mainstream, so they ditched the worship music, but still retain that following. So that we’re clear on this: there’s a thin veneer of “Stealth Jesus” to the product, and if this bothers you, you’re best served avoiding it.

For the rest of you out there, well, I’m not sure I can give you much better of a recommendation.

Skillet produces something that sounds like one part nu-metal, one part pop-punk, and one part cheesy love songs, and to a certain extent, it works. “Rebirthing”, “Falling Inside the Black” and the title track show a distinct direction that works well enough, as well as some depth and substance. “Whispers in the Dark” does so as well, and while it’s a bit over the top in a lot of respects, it’s a fun, amusing song that shows Skillet has some talent to work with.

The problem is, for all of the promise in the aforementioned songs, the band falls back on a lot of stereotypes. “Yours to Hold” is the stereotypical “acoustic track” that every nu-metal band seems to make anymore, and many of the songs, including “The Last Night” and “Those Nights” are written with your typical teenage angst backdrop, even though lead vocalist John Cooper is over thirty. Hearing lyrics about how someone’s parents don’t understand them from someone older than me is vaguely embarrassing, honestly. Indeed, while the music on Comatose is largely solid, the lyrical content could use some distinct polish; it’s fairly amateurish, and sounds less like something that a band would release and more like it came from a teenage composition book.

There are more good songs than bad on Comatose, and Skillet does show distinct talent, but even so, it’s hard to give this a solid recommendation. Some time spent focusing on their lyrical content would benefit Skillet greatly, as they do have a somewhat distinct sound that’s quite pleasing, when they focus on that sound instead of falling back to conventions.