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Album Reviews

“Sonic Flood is Jeff Deyo, Jason Halbert, Dwayne Laring, and Aaron Blanton” (taken from the leaflet inside the self-titled album, “SonicFlood”).

Think about that for a second. Now, go check out the credits for Cry Holy (and “Resonate”, for that matter); see where I’m going with this?

I’m sure that you have heard this before in at least one (probably many more) review of SonicFlood’s “Resonate” when it was released two years ago. Well, you’re going to hear it again in this review of “Cry Holy”, because the point cannot be stressed enough that this is NOT the SonicFlood that made the stunning self-titled CD back in ’99. It really pains me to see this happen, because the SonicFlood of today is nothing like the original, in terms of both members and music, and if you ask me, it’s for the worse. If you want an idea of what SonicFlood is now, take the original band that released “SonicFlood”, wash it out, bleach it, and you’ve got the SonicFlood that’s behind the latest release, “Cry Holy”. Can you take a guess as to what I thought of the album?

Let’s start with the vocals. They’re hard to miss, as they will be the grinding, whining sound that is causing all of the glass within earshot to shatter into oblivion. Ok, so that’s a slight over exaggeration, but you see, I have this real pet peeve about nasal singers, and this singer is nasal to the point where I am certain that he is singing out of a hole that has been drilled into the highest point on his skull and then connected to his sinus cavity by some inter-cranial tunnel or synthetic tube. Not only are the vocals nasal to the point of annoyance, but they also have a very distant sound to them, almost as though the singer isn’t using his diaphragm at all but is forcing it from the throat It leaves me wishing for Jeff Deyo’s powerful voice, I’ll tell you that much.

One of the driving forces of the original band was the thundering nature of the music, with rolling base and intense electric guitars. In “Cry Holy”, you get the feeling that that’s what the new SonicFlood was aiming for with this CD, but it falls short of their intent. The electric guitar probably fares the worst, being so far from anything close to intense that it’s laughable at best; like it’s been fed through so much post-production filtering that it’s lost all of its edge. On top of that, the entire album has an odd quality about it as it sounds like the music is being dampened through some sort of muffling device, like you’ve strapped pillows over your speakers or something. The result is a distant, far away sound that lacks any real power.

One thing I will give “Cry Holy” is that its lyrics are good. They’re not great, but they’re good, and do glorify God, so at least that aspect is there.

In all fairness, I’m probably being much more harsh on this release than I should; it comes from being a huge fan of the original band. The problem is not that “Cry Holy” is particularly horrible; it’s just that it is mediocre, being neither bad nor good, and when stacked up against the original band, these new guys just don’t have what it takes to live up to the dizzying heights that were set by the first album. I’m sure that I’ll catch some serious flack from some people for a constant comparison, but as far as I’m concerned, as soon as these new guys stepped up to claim the name of SonicFlood, they had an obligation to keep to the same standard set by their predecessors, and if they can’t hack it, well, they knew the job was dangerous when they took it.

Here’s my advice to you; if you want another nameless and faceless Christian rock/praise album that will act as good background noise, who’s music and vocals won’t be distracting from whatever you’re doing at the time, then pick this up. If you were a fan of the original Sonic Flood and didn’t pick up “Resonate” because you were afraid it would be a disappointment (which it was), then steer clear and avoid “Cry Holy” in the same manner. If you have never heard of SonicFlood, then grab the original self-titled album and avoid any of the new stuff, because as it stands now the only thing that could vault SonicFlood back to the level it started at in ‘99 would be another member switch.

~ Colin Marlow

For that reason, I guess, I wasn't inclined to get their subsequent albums. But I did end up getting "Cry Holy," albeit not with great expectations.

Boy was I surprised! What a difference from the first Sonicflood album! Immediately I liked this one much better! Upon looking at the credits, I discovered Jeff Deyo was gone, and in fact I've heard Jeff Deyo's first solo album, and I didn't like it at all, so as far as I'm concerned, it's just as well that Jeff Deyo left Sonicflood because I like better the direction the band has gone without him. By the way, I've now also heard Jeff Deyo's second album, and although it's a little better than his first album, I still don't care for it. There's a lot of energy there but I cannot relate to it worship-wise, not to mention the musical weaknesses of his albums.

From reading the reviews of others here, I've learned that all of the original members of Sonicflood have departed except for one. It seems some reviewers are perturbed that this band uses the name Sonicflood, when it's not the same band, and they forever miss Jeff Deyo. I suppose if you were a big Jeff Deyo fan, then you're better off buying his solo albums than buying this. As for saying this band does not live up to the name Sonicflood, I don't get it, because I like this far better than Sonicflood's debut. (I haven't heard any other albums besides the debut and this one.)

I like every song on this album. The music is beautiful, repeatedly leading me to a time of intimate communion with God. Song after song dwells on the greatness of God as well as his wonderful love.

Something that I find especially pleasing about this album is the guitar work. The guitars on here add such richness to the songs. There are only two songs on here I had heard before--"Here I Am To Worship" and "Famous One." On both of these, the beautiful guitar embellishments make them my favorite versions of these popular songs. The eloquent guitar sounds add to the worship experience, making beautiful music before our glorious God.

In my growing up days, people in church would find that a particular organ solo would enhance their worship experience. I was never much for organ; I liked electric guitar. These days I go to a church where the electric guitars are very strong and upfront, so I'm used to the ways in which the guitar can add to the beauty of worship. So many worship albums I get, the guitar is so much in the background that the album sounds wimpy and lacks character. This album shines above most worship albums because the guitars are not buried in the background but are a central contributor to the worship experience.

While the guitars on this Sonicflood album are not cruncher-killer, they are upfront and full of beauty. I feel as I worship while listening to this album that I am surrounded by opulent sounds of guitar floating up to the majestic God, or at other times in joyous communion with him, surrounded by beautiful sounds as if in a sonic garden.

There have been some complaints in other reviews about the singer's voice, calling it "whining" and displaying "little heart and emotion." I don't feel this way at all. I think the vocals are very fitting to the overall sound of the band. As I follow the words and engage in worship, I feel full of emotion. If the singing were bad or lacked emotion I would not feel that way.

I like every song on this album, but I would like to mention two highlights. The climax of the album is "God Is Great," which soars in elation and praising of God. "Rushing In" and "Love Of My Life" are two songs that are particularly sweet in their expression of communion with God, experiencing his love.

This album is one of my favorites of 2003, and definitely one of my favorite worship albums. I am certain that I will enjoy this for years to come.

~ J Lee Harshbarger

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