The members of Seventh Day Slumber have lived through it all, and each of them has a story to tell of a dark, terrible past, and how embracing God's love redeemed them. Now, SDS is on a mission to reach the unreachable, the kids who today are just like what they used to be -- the kids who live on the streets or have abusive parents or are ready to swallow a bunch of pills to escape it all. That's something that most of Christian Music can never do, because it's not accepted by those kids as applicable to their lives. But Seventh Day Slumber is different in this regard -- they know what they're talking about and they're not ashamed to talk about it. And they take their message to the places where those kids exist and need to hear it.

Picking Up the Pieces, a delicious little slice of grungy modern rock, hits on all of those hard life issues -- suicide, depression, addiction, and more -- never shying away from topics that many would never touch. The guitar-heavy production ranges from crunchy, stuff to more melodic modern rock -- either way, rock & roll fans will be in heaven, while the entire band shows off major-league skills with their respective instruments and vocals. Equally impressive are the artistic flourishes displayed with their lyrical pen; instead of simply stating the obvious, they always go for more poetic notions.

Picking Up the Pieces is a solid trip through the harshest slices of life, delivered over an appropriately gritty rock & roll soundtrack.