A NOTABLE 7TH-OR-HIGHER RELEASE 2006 Award Winner! 
Also Winning A 2006 Notable 7th-Or-Higher Release: Skillet (Comatose).
Runners-Up: NONE.
Interestingly enough, this album— Disciple’s seventh release— has both a bit more Melodic and a much more heavy feel to it this time around, the two aspects perfectly mixed; and the disc as a whole is even more coherent than before.
“Regime Change”, the opening track of Scars Remain, showcases their new musical mix perfectly. The bass and guitars are even more heavy and full, and even the vocals are heavier.
“Love Hate (On And On)” is a heavy, melodic, and powerful song that lyrically describes the stark blend of love and hate, good and evil, present in this life.
“My Hell” contains interesting guitars and more great vocals.
Title track “Scars Remain” has a great, synchronized bass/guitar/drum intro. And while the vocals stay within the limits of Hard Rock (albeit on the heavy end), the music on this particular track surprisingly dips into Metal territory at its close. (Indeed, this is easily the second-heaviest track on the disc.)
“Game On”, an excellent, energetic tribute to all the men and women serving in our Armed Forces, has great lyrics that are done somewhat Raprock-style. (Plus, the powerful bridge gave us goosebumps. Wow.)
“Someone” begins with a fast-moving, quite heavy, and nicely distorted bass/guitar line that fades down for the verses and back up for the chorus; the song’s vocals are similar to those on their previous release. It finishes with a quick, excellent guitar riff.
“After The World” opens with an acoustic guitar, yet somehow seems to keep pace. It moves into straight-up Rock during the chorus.
“Dive” slides right back into fast-moving Hard Rock. This track is rhythmic, driving, and exuberant.
“Fight For Love”, a lyrical rally cry, slams in suddenly with heavy vocals, and the equally heavy music pounds gleefully in a few moments later. This is the disc’s heaviest track.
“Purpose To Melody” is a rhythmic, excellent, and very appealing Hard Rock track.
And the final, somewhat intriguing track “No End At All” is slower-paced with medium Rock music.
Special Edition CD Bonus Content:
Scars Remain‘s Special Edition CD comes with five extra tracks. The first extra track is the regular version of “Things Left Unsaid” (which can also be found on the Limited Edition of their previous album, Disciple). Next come bonus, freshly-recorded acoustic renderings of four tracks:
The acoustic “Love Hate (On And On)” is an interesting, darkly driven version, with an acoustic guitar, electric bass, and full drums. The vocals, of course, are not screamed but instead entirely sung; yet, as usual, Kevin Young’s voice carries it with great power anyway.
The acoustic “After The World” is an even more stripped-down version musically, featuring just acoustic guitar (which is quite good, actually). Its vocals are sung, yet they are also powerful and quite a bit more emotional.
The acoustic “My Hell” features acoustic guitar/electric bass/full drums and sung vocals. Its new music is different from anything else they’ve done, and it’s very good.
Finally, the acoustic “Things Left Unsaid” features mostly dark piano, with occasional acoustic guitar fills, orchestration, and percussion well in the background. The power of Kevin’s vocals in this emotional song are a bit of a contrast to the new music underneath.
Special Edition DVD Bonus Content:
The Special Edition also comes with a DVD, featuring two of their music videos (“After The World” and “Scars Remain”).
In total, Disciple has delivered another excellent album, certainly worthy of a Notable 7th-or-Higher Release Award.
Our rating for Scars Remain: 5 & 1/2 Stars. 