Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

Matthew is the teaching and worship pastor of Roswell Community Church, Georgia and this CD consists of songs he's written over the last few years along with a couple of re-worked traditional hymns. The title 'In The Winepress' hints at the honesty and earthiness of the songs; no praise clichés in sight. These songs are first and foremost about Jesus, his everlasting love and how he went through the winepress for us, and secondly about the real Christian life, with its highs and lows, attributing difficult times to God's winepress - "the divine pressure that God lays on our backs and our souls that feels like it will kill us but actually unleashes our potential. . . the winepress is the redemption story of humanity. A thing dies and then is reborn into something far more powerful, beautiful, complex." The songs cover times of elation, anger, reflection, intimacy, vulnerability, praise and thanksgiving and are thoroughly refreshing. Both musically and lyrically the style is very much a slightly electrified Fernando Ortega, and the musicianship, engineering and production is excellent, with an attractive sonic clarity. It's hard to pick out highlights as there is not a single duff track, but "Our God Is Alive" is particularly good, covering the fall, restoration and future of man all in one, and "Waiting" has some well crafted imagery from the prodigal son parable - "Run to me, cause I cannot run to you, hurry please, I am too ashamed to speak or move" and a poignant ending, "Take my dreams and fill my heart with yours. . . and you are gentle as a kiss and violent as a sword."

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