Reviewed by Peter Bate

This Florida foursome have been knocking around since 1995 but this is their first major label album (their third in all) on a major label. Distributed by Warners into the mainstream, it is climbing America's CMJ (college music) chart as I write, apparently impacting beyond the Christian bookshop circuit. Mentioned in the same breath as The Juliana Theory and Starflyer 59 by US critics, Brits will also detect shades of The Cure or Idlewild, mainly due to the goth-influenced vocals of Eric Collins. There's no mucking around as the band dive into dense, guitar-layered rock with Collins' passionate melodies regularly surfacing for air. They wait until the penultimate track, "Keep It Cool", to calm things a little, the singer begging Christ to unlock the secret of enemy loving. But that's before the band move up a gear for the seven-minute rock crescendo of "Psalm 148". Falling somewhere between power pop and metal, Denison Marrs squeeze every ounce of energy into this CD as if their life depends on it. Now could be their time.


Peter Bate, a newspaper reporter hailing from Staffordshire, supports West Ham and enjoys The Vigilantes Of Love and all things alt country.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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