By Chris Swindle

JONESBORO — Who says all metal bands are tools of the devil?

A few guys in Northeast Arkansas are quick to disagree.

Immortal Soul, a Jonesboro-based band composed of guitarist and vocalist Jason Goad, bassist Jeff Cline and drummer Jon Goad, is a good example of how Christianity and heavy music can co-exist.

“We’re a melodic metal band that infuses some progressive elements — odd time signatures, complex compositional structures, extended instrumental passages — into our music,” Jon Goad said. “Being Christians, our lyrics often deal with spiritual themes and aspects of the human experience.”

Cline said the group’s music is filled with hope, even though some may not think it sounds that way.

“Many of our songs reference some aspect of spirituality,” Cline said. “For example, many songs comment on the realities of living in a fallen world and how one can retain hope and purpose in life by adopting an eternal perspective.”

Jason Goad said that while Immortal Soul is a Christian band, the players “try to express God’s word through music without being too preachy or holier-than-thou.”

“As Christians, we hope that someone will hear something in the songs that they can connect with, something that can maybe help them through some difficult situation that they’re going through,” Jon Goad added.

Jon Goad said band members are influenced by a number of hard rock and metal bands from the ’80s and ’90s, and he compared some of Immortal Soul’s original work to Megadeth, Metallica, Rush, Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Grip Inc. and Galactic Cowboys.

“Being a metal band, our music seems to appeal largely to the younger crowd — ages 15 to 25,” Jon Goad said. “But we also see a fair number of people in their 30s and 40s, who were really into the hard rock and metal bands of the ’80s and ’90s who seem to like us, too, probably because they can hear the influence of those bands on our music.”

However, the guys don’t want Immortal Soul to be thought of as just another metal band.

“Our band has always been driven by the music as we have not concerned ourselves with image or labels that are often associated with artists who seek to cater to a particular age group or culture,” Cline said.

And they don’t want to be thought of as a cover band either.

“Early on we played some covers of popular hard rock and metal bands of the time,” Jon Goad said. “But after a couple of years we got such a positive reaction to our original songs that we started focusing more and more on the original material until we phased out the covers completely.”

Cline said Immortal Soul’s live shows are always fast-paced fun.

“We have always prided ourselves on putting on an engaging live show by connecting with the audience and playing with a lot of energy,” the bassist said.

“You will see some dancing, but mostly I’d describe it as a fist-pumping, jumping, head-banging kind of thing,” Jon Goad added. “We’ve played at the legendary Vino’s in Little Rock and all over Central and Northeast Arkansas.”

Each member of Immortal Soul has been playing music for more than 10 years, and Jason Goad said that makes the group a big hit among local bands.

Jason Goad said the group tends “to appeal to other musicians that want to hear a band that actually knows how to play their instruments and tries to do some different things in our music.”

Recording history

The group has been playing together since 1996 but only released its debut album, “Lines in the Sand,” in December 2006.

The full-length compact disc has 12 tracks and can be ordered online through the band’s Web site, either as a regular CD that is shipped to customers or as an MP3 download. The CD also is available through the Web site CD Baby and on iTunes, and it can be purchased locally at Hastings or The Storehouse in Jonesboro.

“We’ll continue promoting ‘Lines in the Sand’ throughout 2007 and 2008 and probably begin working on a new album late in 2008,” Jon Goad said.

As far as the future is concerned, the guys in Immortal Soul plan to continue writing, recording and playing live as much as possible.

Jon Goad said that he also is hoping to expand the group’s recording studio.

“Right now we have a computer-based recording studio in a spare bedroom at my house, but I hope to expand and build a more suitable recording and rehearsal space in the near future for us to record our next CD,” the drummer said.

cswindle@jonesborosun.com