Reviewed by Tracy Davies-Minta

Recorded in March at the Acer Arena in Sydney, this is well up to the prosperous mega church's high standards. Due to Hillsong's impressive catalogue of worship albums there is always the tendency for their music to become somewhat formulaic. 'Saviour King' manages to avoid this while clearly retaining its ability to draw people into worship. The main focus of the album's lyrics is gratitude for the sacrifice of Christ. The title track aptly expresses this: "You asked your Son to carry this/The heavy cross our weight of sin/So I love you Lord." Even though Hillsong have gifted songwriters on their team, their lyrics are unadorned (critics would say simplistic) which for me brings much of the material an atmosphere of humility. Intriguingly, included in this album are songs from Hillsong United's chart topping studio album 'All Of The Above' with the radical song "Break Free" adding a new dimension to Hillsong's worship with its pulsating, rhythmic approach. Though this song may seem to exude a more young blood rock approach in comparison to Hillsong's more MOR territory, it can still appeal to Hillsong's older listeners. In a group statement Hillsong say they aspire to make music that inspires "worship in spirit and truth." I believe this is demonstrated on this album.

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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