Kickstarter to the new solo album from Les Carlsen, the voice of Bloodgood

Les has been carrying the Metal Musicianary banner for over 38 years since he surrendered his life to Jesus and was called to reach the youth through a musical genre that had been unheard of in Christian music. This led to him to partner with Michael Bloodgood, the founder of BLOODGOOD, one of the bands that pioneered the Christian heavy metal movement in the early 80's. You can find out more about this on the band's website and through the "Trenches of Rock" documentary.
BLOODGOOD as a band has been retired, but Les feels the need to continue his calling. He's written several songs for his first solo album. His innovative, theatrical style and ability to deliver powerful lyrics and melodies with a dramatic interpretation carry over to this new project. 
Les wrote lyrics and melody for many of the BLOODGOOD classics such as "Messiah", "Crucify", "Seven",  "Top of the Mountain", and "Lamb of God" ... but this is the first time Les has written the music. It is also his debut on guitar!
[size=36]The Players:[/size]
The musicians and co-writers include Paul Jackson (BLOODGOOD), Oz Fox (Stryper, Sin Dizzy), Craig Church (BLOODGOOD, Pamela Moore), David Zaffiro (BLOODGOOD, Crystal City Rockers). These stellar guitarists are versatile, powerful, and uniquely different from each other...
The rhythm section consists of Ricky B Rogers on bass (Bryan Duncan, Bob Carlisle, Kid Rock, Keith Urban...) and Dan Needham on drums (John Elephante, John Schlitt, Michael McDonald...) Together they create monstrous, melodic grooves that add a unique sound to the music. 
[size=36]Les Shares the Process:[/size]
"I have recording gear set up at my house and for the last 2 years my wife, Joyce, and I  have been learning how to navigate Logic X. Most of the songs started with a digital drum track and me playing guitar and bass. Joyce and I both did some experimenting with midi and apple loops. I laid down scratch vocals and then the roughs were sent to Paul Jackson who added to or replaced my guitar tracks, and Craig Church who 'Schecterized' the rhythm tracks. Stems were then sent to Dan Needham for drum tracking and to Ricky B. Rogers for bass parts. 
Paul started "Faith Is Tested" in his studio and sent me the tracks so I could write lyrics and develop the melody. Craig Church did the same with "Scars" and "How Long".
My wife, Joyce, contributed to the song-writing and arrangements as well as engineering for the project. 
We've made a lot of progress so far, but now we need the Pros to mix and master and we need to promote the songs. 

[size=36]Album Tracks:[/size]

• "Judas is Dead", a co-write with Oz Fox who plays all the instruments, produced and mixed the song. "Judas..." is a perfect introduction to the "Crucify", "Messiah", "Seven" trilogy. With heavy guitar and dark lyrics, this song shreds!
  
  
• "I Wanna Know You" has elements of melodic, 70's rock with a lush choral hook. Hard rock worship!
  
  
• "He's Coming" is straight rock and roll with an AC/DC feel.  Written by the Carlsen/Jackson team that has been responsible for many BLOODGOOD favorites. This one features David Zaffiro's soaring guitar solo. 
  
  
• "The Jesus Freak Show" is a unique song that ventures into new territory and shows the diversity of Les's voice.
  
  
• "Scars", a classic metal shredder, and "How Long", modern prog in 3/4+6/8 time were both initiated by Craig Church who tears it up on his Schecter. Ricky makes the bridge section 'sing' with his 5-string bass and string arrangement. 
  
  
• "Faith Is Tested" started with a rough track that Jackson submitted.  With Les's input, it became "arena rock" with a heavy groove and a huge anthem chorus. This is sure to become another Carlsen/Jackson classic.
  
  
• "River" is a haunting ballad with orchestration and symphonic tones. Both Jackson and Zaffiro contribute to the mood of this song with their guitar work. The epic ending is still to be completed and promises to surprise us all.
  
  

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lescarlsen/bloodgood-singer-les-carlsens-solo-project

While I detest Kickstarter campaigns, I will help him with this seeing how well they ran the Blood good one.

I want to help but I’ve been burned too many times. I’ll snap it up when it’s available.

I'm not a fan of Kickstarter campaigns myself... but I'm a big fan of Bloodgood and Les, so I went ahead and pledged.

I'll pick up the download when the official release date arrives.

Here is the cover art for Les Carlsen’s new album titled "He’s Coming”:

Sweet cover!

That’s one sick view of the Manhattan skyline….I don’t think I would be driving my bus into work that day!

There's a couple songs on Spotify and they sound really good.

Who’s heard the album? What did you think?

I've only heard the 2 songs that are on Spotify and did not care for either of them.  
I'd like to check out the rest though when they are available, I'm sure there is some good stuff there.

Initial thoughts:

I really love the first two tracks (especially “Scars”) and the last song. 

I enjoyed most of the other tracks to some degree, but they’re less hooky than Bloodgood, so they might get better with repeated listens.

I did not care for “The Jesus Freak Show” at all. Others might get into it, but I think it’ll be an automatic skip button for me.

Les sounds incredible, as usual.

The lyrics are boldly Christian. Praise the Lord!

The first three songs are great as is The River. Jesus Freak Show is different and I don't hate it but I won't seek it out.

Here is an interview with Les and Joyce Carlson.
You might also get some samples of the songs, as well.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0c1kwNJtznPI4Hn2LVgwFX?si=ee13ee228ba44826

I have been listening to this album quite a bit and it gets better with each listen.
My fav songs are Scars, Judas is dead and Return to the Fire.
He is coming is also very nice, though.

Second Wind wrote:I have been listening to this album quite a bit and it gets better with each listen.
My fav songs are Scars, Judas is dead and Return to the Fire.
He is coming is also very nice, though.

I completely agree.  Judas, River & Return to the Fire are really standing out for me.  Just a really good rock album that I enjoy more with each listen

I’ve tried to listen to this album twice now, and both times I got bored very quickly. I’m glad others are enjoying it, but it’s not my thing.

Follower of Jesus wrote:I’ve tried to listen to this album twice now, and both times I got bored very quickly. I’m glad others are enjoying it, but it’s not my thing.

I need to spend more time with it, but I thought it was kinda hit and miss. Some good tracks, some meh tracks, and one bad track (The Jesus Freak Show).