Reviewed by Tony Cummings

The sad and torturous personnel wrangles which have beset Sonicflood after the sales of their debut album went through the roof in the States are a warning to us all. When unknown praise and worship bands are unexpectedly catapulted to half million plus sales there's likely to be a tension as ministry and idealism meets the less than lovely world of corporate America. When a band as all out Kingdom-driven as Jason Halbert and his fellow rock worshippers are prepared to be so spiritually militant as evidenced in the live preach in the middle of "Spontaneous Worship" ("We don't care what the strongholds are in this city... Devil, we bind you in the name of Jesus"), there is likely to be serious spiritual fallout. And so there was. After this tumultuous live set, recorded at Holland's Flevo Festival, the band fell apart, singers came and went before finally with a completely new band touring under the Sonicflood name, the clamour for another release got so great that 'Sonicpraise' was belatedly released in its original form. Musically, there's much to admire. Jeff Deyo sings with gutsy passion. The guitar work is torrid and the drums kick. Favourites like "Holy One" and "Open The Eyes Of My Heart" and "I Want To Know" still effect as they did in their studio versions, while a rendition of David Ruis' classic "I Will Worship" extends into a spine-tingling, Spirit-lifting 10 minute worship workout before seguing into "Lord I Lift Your Name On High". But don't be fooled by the marketing hype people. There's a sad tale behind the triumphant rock worship here.

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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