Kutless

Hailing from Portland, Ore., Kutless bears many of the features of neighboring Seattle bands, but with a distinguishing birthmark of faith. Their highly melodic modern rock conjures up the sounds of Nickleback and Puddle of Mudd, filling a need in the Christian industry for less-hard hard rock. Without losing any intensity, they stop shy of rapcore or metal, cutting out the screaming (or keeping it to a minimum). Delivering the good stuff -- emotional vocals, ambitious guitars -- on a more temperate platform makes their CD more palatable and has landed them on a wider variety of radio playlists as well as a bigger range of fans.