Though the members of Rise Records' Continuance have roots in the Christian hardcore and metal scene, drummer John Saad is quick to point out that the melodic hardcore band lacks a religious bent in any direction. "Continuance isn't a Christian band," Saad said bluntly to Noisecreep. "Although myself, [vocalist] Dylan, and [guitarist] Stephen all claim to be Christians."

Saad's issue with adopting the descriptor is subtle but practical. "When you have that label, you're going to get automatically get put into this box," Saad explained. "And even as a Christian, I don't even think I want to be a part of a Christian band, because the idea is to not be around Christians. It's to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ."

Continuance was birthed after the demise of two bands, Means and Saints Never Surrender, both of which held sway in the Christian market. "Saints was not a Christian band," Saad said, despite the fact that their vocalist wrote some spiritually-tinged lyrics. "As far as Means, [they] were between whether they wanted to be called a Christian band or not. Towards the end of Means, I don't think they wanted to be called a Christian band."

Saad was in neither band, but his musical pursuits prior to Continuance in the band the Closure lead him to eye the religious label with suspicion because of overly-preachy bands. "Everyone up on stage, saying, 'Hey, we just want to let you all know we do this for Jesus Christ. Come talk to us after the show,'" Saad said, imitating the call to religious devotion. "Or, you know, even going further beyond that, [to say] that if people didn't accept Christ, they were going to hell or something like that. We just didn't really want to be a part of that, to be honest. If you want to be in a band that talks about that, or is called that -- a Christian band -- and I don't really see the point of really calling yourself a Christian band instead of just living it."

Instead of focusing on propagating his faith outright, Saad prefers to let the quality of his art be speak about his convictions, having said, "Advent said it best when they said, 'No one will listen to what you have to say when your band sucks.' You know what I mean? [If] the music's not good, what you have to say beyond your music is not really going to stand out. There are bands that didn't say anything from stage about God or about their faith and you could feel something different about that band up on stage."

Continuance will release a full-length album in April.

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