Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby

You can almost feel nostalgic as you reflect on Disciple's long career. They have been together since 1992, in which time we have seen the rise and fall of grunge, nu-metal and hardcore. In 2006 'Scars Remain' saw them enter into a whole new audience on shows like NFL and WWE. This time around Kevin Young, Tim Barrett and Brad Noah are joined by guitarist Andrew Welch (Capital Lights), guitarist Micah Sannan (Falling Up) and bassist Israel Beachy (Staple). It's still hard rock, but with a gritty Southern influence. They open with a slow bluesy riff as Kevin wails along, before the double bass drum kicks it all off. The lead single "321" is widely predicted to be a huge stadium anthem like "Game On". There are loads of Bible references on the lyric sheet and they are not afraid to be controversial. The liner notes for "Liar" explain, "When I wrote this song I was struggling with forgiveness and wrote the line, 'I will forgive you, but it's gonna take some time.' This was an honest evaluation of where my heart was at the time. But it is God's will for us to forgive immediately. Sometimes it is hard to do that. As followers of Christ, we are called to forgive at all costs. In light of Matthew 18:21-35, it is very clear that God has forgiven all of us of a multitude of sins, and that he expects us to forgive just as he has forgiven us." The theme in "Right There" is of someone always being there to watch over you, with acoustic guitar backed by electric. Towards the end, they slow down for "Lay My Burdens", which is a hands-in-the-air '80s rock ballad with a searing guitar solo. Says Young, "Things now are coming back around. Games like Guitar Hero have made it cool to play guitar again. Brad is playing guitar solos in nearly every song. I don't mean mamby-pamby little things. I mean he's wearin' it out. If you're a guitar player, this will definitely be your favourite Disciple record."

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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