Close Your Eyes frontman Shane Raymond says the band was going for a darker feel to their latest release,
Empty Hands and Heavy Hearts, and boy did they ever pull it off.
I was a big fan of their first release, 2010’s
We Will Overcome. I found the band
![\"\"](\"http://thefrontrowreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/CYE-300x300.png\" "\\"Close")
at Cornerstone earlier this year and was hooked. I had to get their album.
Empty Hands and Heavy Hearts takes the Christian lyrics of the first album and builds on them in a more mature and darker way.
The entire album is immaculate and shows Close Your Eyes digging into the inner depths of their hearts and laying it all on the table for the listener.
When they released “Valleys” a few weeks ago, it really made me excited for the rest of the album to be released and it turns out I loved the entire album.
One of my personal favorites besides “Valleys” is “Empty Hands.” If you liked “Valleys” you will love this one too.
The lyrics are stronger and more mature, the instrumentals are better and it’s an all-around better album than
We Will Overcome.
Empty Hands and Heavy Hearts is the epitome of a new band coming into their own and giving their fans an up-close-and-personal view of their emotions. What I love, though, is that they convey a dark-themed album while still keeping their faith on the forefront of the album, something that is really hard to do sometimes.
Rating: 9.5/10
Release date: October 24, 2011 (Victory Records) 
![\"\"](\"http://thefrontrowreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/CYE.png\" "\\"Close")
at Cornerstone earlier this year and was hooked. I had to get their album.
Empty Hands and Heavy Hearts takes the Christian lyrics of the first album and builds on them in a more mature and darker way.
The entire album is immaculate and shows Close Your Eyes digging into the inner depths of their hearts and laying it all on the table for the listener.
When they released “Valleys” a few weeks ago, it really made me excited for the rest of the album to be released and it turns out I loved the entire album.
One of my personal favorites besides “Valleys” is “Empty Hands.” If you liked “Valleys” you will love this one too.
The lyrics are stronger and more mature, the instrumentals are better and it’s an all-around better album than We Will Overcome.
Empty Hands and Heavy Hearts is the epitome of a new band coming into their own and giving their fans an up-close-and-personal view of their emotions. What I love, though, is that they convey a dark-themed album while still keeping their faith on the forefront of the album, something that is really hard to do sometimes.
Rating: 9.5/10
Release date: October 24, 2011 (Victory Records) 