Reviewed by Andrew Privett

'Beautiful Loneliness' is Travail's debut album since signing with Metro Vox. Travail? Not particularly. I pretty much enjoyed the whole experience. It seems to me that whenever I get a new hardcore/alternative rock album to listen to, the good ones, in fact, are mostly from the US. In the secular world of alternative rock we rule, don't we? With bands like Radiohead and Headswim, the benchmark for quality seems to reside with us or is that with them? Maybe one reason could be the underground hardcore fanzine (or e-zine) - driven club community which caters to Christians disillusioned with the mainstream. I am enjoying the extremes of this album: its raw, intense, almost primal nature with "Judge Me" through almost ponderous commentary in "Beaten". Check out the website above for MP3 samples. Highly recommended! The enhanced CD comes with Mini Bible Browser Demo.

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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