Christian heavy rock band Spoken formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1996. Initially, the trio of friends -- Matt Baird on vocals, Scoop Roberts on guitar, and Isaiah Perez on drums -- had a nu-metal sound, which they debuted in 1997 on their first album, On Your Feet (Metro 1 Music). Second LP ...What Remains, was similar, but it wasn't until their third (and final) record for Metro 1, Echoes of the Spirit Still Dwell, that they began to get much heavier. Metro 1 released a Greatest Hits collection in 2001 before the band signed with Tooth & Nail. They released three albums for the Christian label, each time evolving their style further: first with a screamo/pop-punk vibe (2003's A Moment of Imperfect Clarity) and then to melodic hard rock (2005's Last Chance to Breathe), until going full Linkin Park for 2007's self-titled release. After leaving Tooth & Nail, they re-released Echoes in 2008 and emerged from a short hiatus in 2013 for Illusion (E1 Music), their first album of new material in six years. A successful Kickstarter campaign in 2015 helped the band release their eighth album, Breathe Again, on Artery Records. In early 2017 the band dropped a pair of singles, "I Will Not Fade" and "Stronger" in anticipation of the release of their aptly named ninth full-length, IX, which arrived later that September. ~ Neil Z. Yeung
