Skillet: John L. Cooper (vocals, piano, bass guitar); Korey Cooper (vocals, keyboards, programming); Ben Kasica (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Lori Peters (drums).

Personnel: Brian Howes (vocals, guitar); Paul Buckmaster (strings).

Audio Mixers: Chris Lord-Alge; David Bottrill.

Recording information: Chicago Recording Company, Chicago, IL.

Photographer: Jeff Gros.

On their seventh full-length album, this Wisconsin-based quartet continues to pursue their heavy, hooky vision of what Christian music can be. Explosive drumming, molasses-thick guitar, and bewitching prog-metal melodies create a highly charged emotional atmosphere from which their lyrical meditations take flight. Even with a lyric sheet, it's hard to distinguish this from good old-fashioned devil's music, as the band probes topics like alienation, longing, and addiction without providing any pat sermons or answers. This is mature and heady stuff for a musical genre that is still finding its identity in the secular world.