Reviewed by Trevor Kirk

A debut release from a band from Pennsylvania who formed in the autumn of 1999, featuring 10 self-composed songs in Caedmon's Call/Jars Of Clay style. At first listen, you would be forgiven for thinking that it WAS Caedmon's, particularly when Aimee Hauenstein gets involved with some cool vocal work, but whilst acoustic rock is the preferred style of many bands, these guys are a cut above the average. Rich D'Adamo is the main songwriter, he also plays lead guitar, Matt Ralph takes lead vocals and rhythm guitar, with Chris Bechtler on bass and Don Holocher on drums, and on some tracks there's the added bonus of producer Keith Mohr on keyboards. The songs that Rich has crafted are strong, Scriptural, and cliché-free and at nearly 45 minutes for 10 tracks, this is a promising debut and well worth seeking out. Now let's hope that Obstacle Illusion will be able to build on this and avoid any accusations of clone-ism.

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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