Christian Rock is an interesting genre. Usually content to focus solely on lyrics, records in this category often contain the same generic guitar riffs and song constructions we heard ten years ago, refusing to add anything new or unique to the already overcrowded sphere of popular music. So when artists actually break out that seem to have an interest in playing music as well as crooning about their personal lord and savior, things get interesting.

Perhaps the first group to accomplish this was P.O.D., the California-bred quartet known for songs like “Southtown” and “Youth of the Nation.” But they’ve recently fallen off the map and lost all musical talent whatsoever, leaving the torch to Nashville, Tennessee’s Red. Formed in 2004, the group broke onto the scene in 2006 with End of Silence, a meaty slice of mainstream rock, and one that let the band focus not only on their Christian influences, but their desire to be musicians as well.

A few years later, and the band has returned with Innocence & Instinct, an album that remains content to stick with the conventions the band established in their first release, making the record one that sounds eerily similar to things we’ve heard before. Most songs start with a quiet piano or strings-heavy melody, quickly segueing into a distorted guitar riff before settling back down for the verse. The same format is used for each song, but the band is able to get away with it for a while because of their stellar ability to write hooks. All but two songs feature extremely well-written and catchy choruses, an element that remains the largest part of the battle in mainstream music today. “Start Again” and “Shadows” establish themselves as the best tracks on the album, but most tunes have their merits.

All in all, the group sounds like a Christian band, as evidenced by the apocalyptic feel of most of the album, with minor chord-laden melodies and an always-present group of strings playing end of the world doomsday music in the background. At times the group gets a little reliant on the world of pop music, as in “Ordinary World” and “Never Be The Same,” but in general the slower ballads are their bread and butter. This isn’t an album that will break new ground by any means, but it will at the very least entertain. Listen to “Fight Inside” below and check out a full track-by-track breakdown after the jump.

Red – Innocence & Instinct

1. Fight Inside – Features a very generic riff, but evolves into a pretty good hook in the chorus. There’s also a nice little piano-heavy pop melody in the verses. The bridge is awful, and simply rehashes the boring opening riff with a bit of screaming added in. The strings in the background keep it interesting at least.

2. Death of Me – Features a better riff than “Fight Inside,” but the focus remains too much on the hook in the chorus, leaving the verses to sound like filler.

3. Mystery of You – Features the exact same opening structure as the other two songs. The verses actually have some effort put into them, featuring quickly sung lines exploding into swelling sustained notes. Another great chorus.

4. Start Again – Nice verse, centering on a piano in the background that plays until the drums enter, resulting in a beautiful melody. The chorus is once again great. It’s these slower ballads that are the best.

5. Never Be The Same – A bit too much on the poppy side, like a new David Cook song or something. Even has whoa-oh-oh-oh-ohs at the end, which ruin anything the song had going for it.

6. Confession (What’s Inside My Head) – Very apocalyptic sounding, kind of like what you’d expect to be playing when the world ends.

7. Shadows – This is a fierce hook. Like, seriously fierce. The breakdown here is great, with a wonderful rapid-fire riff supplemented by howling strings.

8. Ordinary World – Boring. This is the band’s typical contemporary Christian song, featuring way too many major chords and an uber-generic chorus.

9. Out from Under – Starts with a bit of industrial synthesizer stuff, kind of like a Marilyn Manson song. There’s screaming in the verses that just solidifies my point that the slower stuff is much better. This is the first song on the record that doesn’t actually have an interesting hook

10. Take It All Away – The first four minutes are unbearably boring, and the song just plods along with a slow piano melody and acoustic guitar, plus some uninteresting vocals. It picks up at the four minute mark, with a distorted guitar chord breaking in and the strings taking over again, but it’s still a very, very bad song.