After gaining some popularity on Rise records, putting out their album We All Have Demons, The Color Morale continued on for two years and finally put out My Devil in Your Eyes. These guys from Rockford, Illinois sure know their post-hardcore, so if you're a fan of the genre, get ready for 36 minutes of pure awesomeness.

"Nerve Endings" kicks off the album right away; none of that boring minute long intro stuff for these guys. It's a solid post-hardcore song - nothing special, but good. The vocals in the sung chorus remind me of Sent By Ravens' Zach Riner. Following is "Human(s) Being," which is another solid, fast-paced song in the typical grunt, sing, grunt, sing style that post-hardcore is known for; it keeps the listener interested in what's coming up next. The third track is "The Dying Hymn," which has the good message of keeping strong in your faith, as found in the lines: "Losing the fight is getting knocked down, and staying there" and "the world can't make you faithless, when faith is first. Where is your faith."

"The Longing Always" continues on in the same pattern. It's nothing groundbreaking but it gives some more thought-provoking lyrics, or at least some encouraging ones in some cases ("We all fail, but we are not all failures"). They're not corny lyrics, but fairly straightforward and well-done. "Walkers," again, continues the pattern, with he straightforward yet thought-provoking lyrics ("We are not useless, just used").

Now, for the heavy song; "Demon Teeth" is definitely the hardest hitting song on the whole album, as it has virtually no singing, just screaming, and keeps the tempo up throughout its duration. It's my personal favorite on the album, and you can feel the intensity and raw passion in parts like, "That's my problem, I've had the devil on both sides, with God at the bottom! Ugggh! CHIN UP! CHIN UP! He doesn't pick where he stands; I pick where I place him!." "Demon Teeth" is an incredible song, quickly becoming one of my most played songs. It's followed by the much more peaceful "Falling Awake." This track is not slowing things down, but lighting them up. It has very little screaming compared to the rest of the songs, but once again, falls into the post-hardcore mold. "Quote On Quote" is just another decent post-hardcore song to add to the mix.

"This Lost Song Is Yours" features no screaming and relies on the typically great vocals found in a lot of post-hardcore music and features some more interesting lyrics, "No one makes it out of life alive." It also slows down near the end and then proceeds to finish off nicely. "Fill; Avoid" also has no screaming, but is rather slow and uninteresting during its entire play. It's a typical attempt at creating a beautiful, peaceful song, but a failed one.

My Devil in Your Eyes is a very typical post-hardcore album. It's very well done, but it probably won't be remembered as one of the best albums of its genre. And although I enjoyed most of the lyrics, "Nerve Endings" contains the lyrics: "It's not one damned thing after another, it's one damned thing over and over," and "Quote On Quote" contains: "Are you a teacher or a bastard." Now, I know those have legitimate, non-offensive uses, but I felt unclear about whether they threw those lyrics in with the non-offensive meanings implied, to sound passionate, to sound mainstream, or to just create controversy. Regardless of its intentions, I was a little turned off by that because I'd been looking for some good God-loving Christian music and got a tiny surprise there. Aside from that, the length of the record is only 36 minutes and 10 songs, which seems a little short to me. But My Devil in Your Eyes is a good album, and everytime I start listening to it I'm satisfied with my purchase. I'd recommend it to fans of Sent By Ravens, I Am Alpha And Omega, Blessthefall, Ballast, and all that good post-hardcore stuff.

Review date: 4/25/11, written by Mark Mauer for Jesusfreakhideout.com