below is something of a review

The Raven Age

The Rave Age is an English metalcore band formed in London in 2009 by guitarists Dan Wright and George Harris, and if that last name sounds familiar it's because he's the son of Iron Maiden's Bassist. they supported Iron Maiden on their book of souls tour and have just released their first album.

as someone who doesn't really listen to Iron Maiden or follow their news I stumbled upon this band purely by accident, and all I can say is WOW, it's rare for me to come across a band that I'm instantly hooked on, metal or not, Sabaton and Alestorm are the only two that come to my mind. Listening to the album as a whole the songs of TRA seem to have certain christian influences whilst not being "praise the lord etc."-in your face about it. they also seem to have picked up some of the Historical influences in Iron Maiden with the song "Salem's Fate", which is about the infamous salem Witch Trials, whilst not trying to directly rip off Iron Maiden. not tomention the kickass and catchy riff to Promised Land. if you like 5 minute + long songs then this band is for you as well, as most songs are around the 5 or 6 minute mark

in summary I'd suggest at least giving the above songs a listen to and going from there (the whole album can be found on Spotify), and for a first album "Darkness Will Rise" is of exceptionally high quality, especially when I found out that they are actually an unsigned band meaning they produced the album themselves (though I get the feeling that Iron Maiden may have helped out). needless to say I'll be keeping a close eye on future albums from them.

P.S. the thread title was somewhat in jest, though honestly there are few metalcore bands that have interested me in the past

5876288 Good band. Definitely a really cool sound; it's got some grooves, for sure. Kickass vocals too, reminds me of power metal a little bit.

I can agree with you that not being all in-your-face about their religious themes; that's one of the reasons I don't listen to Fit For A King. So many of their songs are clearly just about "We're Christian and anyone who is not Christian is a delusional sinner and objectively worse than Christian people. If you aren't a Christian and happen to be listening to this, I advise you admit defeat and convert." Don't get me wrong; I have no automatic or inherent problem with Christians or Christian music, nor do I think the band should stop what they're doing, but it just never sat right with me.

On a side note, I'm not sure I understand how your PS justifies the instigative nature of the title. Melodeath music doesn't pique my interest, for example, but just because I don't particularly get hyped when listening to it doesn't mean I think it's not good music, and in the event I do find an interesting melodeath band, I'm not going to say, "Huh! A melodeath band that actually sounds good for once!"

"Uninteresting" and "bad" are not synonyms. Just because a genre doesn't grab your attention doesn't make it inherently poor quality, and likewise, a certain genre may sound just fine but just not be your cup of tea.