Reviewed by Keith Singleton

This is the first full "proper" album from this Ohio hard rock trio. This They have been described as somewhere in between Alice In Chains and Pink Floyd. I can certainly relate to the Pink Floyd similarity in parts but this can be misleading as the majority of the album is full-on adrenaline-packed industrial strength metal. The theme of the album is the story in the book of Daniel, of the three men who wouldn't bow down to the king’s statue and got thrown into the fiery furnace for standing up for their faith, and the whole album is laced with Scripture references. A couple of the tracks start with "hellfire" preaching but just add to the passion demonstrated throughout. All three members of the band demonstrate very capable musicianship, with very nice fret work from axeman Mars Alan and a wonderful bass intro (okay, so I'm biased!) on "Supernatural". On "Digital Disciple" we have a Rolling Stonesque intro but it somehow works! The track “The Way Home” finishes the album with a more mellow moment but this is very much the exception. This band are to be respected in the arena of hard music as it is a genre that so often has very dark and sinister overtones but just as P.O.D. have shown, all areas need to be reached with relevant music. If you want a CD to share with your hard rock mates that is uncompromising, you could do a lot worse than check out 'Zealots In The Land Of Nod'.

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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