''Children of Fire'' is the third album made by the American

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

band,

Oh, Sleeper Oh, Sleeper is an American metalcore band from Fort Worth, Texas that formed in 2006 with former members of Terminal. In over a decade's span, Oh, Sleeper has released four full-length albums, two EPs, and toured worldwide as an opening act. Af ...

. It was released on September 6, 2011, in the United States through

Solid State Records Solid State Records is a Christian metalcore record label, an imprint of Tooth & Nail Records. Unlike Tooth & Nail, Solid State signs hardcore punk and heavy metal bands. Like Tooth & Nail, Solid State is primarily a Christian label. However, ...

.Solid State Records , Artist
Produced by Andreas Magnusson, the first and only single was "Endseekers" released on September 6, 2011, available on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

and the official music video is available on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. The album cover features the band logo, the broken pentagram with a child inside of it. It is the band's last album for almost eight years, with their next album, ''Bloodied/Unbowed'', being released in 2019.

Concept

The concept of the album mainly focuses on the aftermath of the battle between

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

and

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

. It begins by continuing from the end of "The Finisher," which is the last track on their previous album

Son of the Morning ''Son of the Morning'' is the second studio album by American metalcore band Oh, Sleeper. It was released on August 25, 2009, through Solid State Records. Background and concept ''Son of the Morning'' was recorded in 2009 at Planet Red Studios i ...

. "The Finisher" describes the final battle between God and Satan, and it ends in God severing the horns of Satan. Now, as the starting of the aftermath in this album, Satan's horns have fallen to the ground, and both God and Satan vanish. Now all of humanity is left wondering what happened, so the first half of the album describes everyone coming to the general consensus that God and Satan are both dead and that they have killed each other in battle; thus, now there is no fear of

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

or reward of

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

. The album also follows two characters, one being an overzealous religious type who feels betrayed that he had devoted his life to God and that God has abandoned him. This drives his faith to unfurl, and it reveals that he had a shallow understanding of God. The other character is his daughter, who was a profound atheist, but became proven wrong after witnessing the battle between God and Satan. This delays her questioning of Christians and why they read God and Satan in different, less violent ways than she has just seen them. Towards the end of the album, she finds a group of believers who give her all the answers to her questions. The album ends with the destruction of the world, which occurs due to everything that has happened.

Historical tracks

Oh, Sleeper wrote two songs that are based on past murders. The fourth track, "Hush Yael," narrates the

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

Samir Kuntar Samir Kuntar ( ar, سمير القنطار, also transcribed ''Sameer'', ''Kantar'', ''Quntar'', ''Qantar''; 20 July 1962 – 19 December 2015) was a Lebanese Druze member of the Palestine Liberation Front and Hezbollah. He was convicted of terr ...

and the murders that he committed at the age of 16. The sixth track, "Dealers of Fame," is a

first-person narrative A first-person narrative is a mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from their own point of view using the first person It may be narrated by a first-person protagonist (or other focal character), first-person re-teller, ...

telling of the

Dnepropetrovsk maniacs , victims = 21 , country = Ukraine , beginyear = 25 June 2007 , endyear = 16 July 2007 , apprehended = 23 July 2007 , states = Dnipropetrovsk Oblast , conviction = Premeditated murder and animal cruelty (Sayenko and Suprunyuk) and robbery ...

, who are infamous for their leaked online video that depicts their torture of an elderly man in a forest.

Track listing

Chart performance

Personnel

Oh, Sleeper *Micah Kinard - lead vocals, programming *Shane Blay - lead guitar, clean vocals *James Erwin - rhythm guitar *Nate Grady - bass guitar *Zac Mayfield - drums, percussion Production *Andreas Lars Magnusson - producer *Scott Bradford - legal counsel * Ryan Clark - design *Chris Dowen - production assistant *Troy Glessner - mastering *Jerad Knudson - photography *

Machine A machine is a physical system using Power (physics), power to apply Force, forces and control Motion, movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to na ...

- mixing *Brandon Day - A&R

References

{{Authority control 2011 albums Oh, Sleeper albums Solid State Records albums Concept albums