Reviewed by Jeremy Chalmers

"Ever-growing!" is a good way to describe the impact and influence of the house band who minister at the annual Melbourne youth culture event. Previously compared to the raw, passionate sounds of the worshipful stadium rockers Sonicflood, the musicians here have produced another truly passionate reflection. Kicking off with the punk rock declaration "Always And Forever", an exciting and up-beat song, this album starts as it means to go on with honest and hungry lyrics (written mainly by Henry Seeley and Mike Guglielmucci) backed by a heavy electric guitar sound and loud, pulsating and victorious sounding drum beat. As well as "Always And Forever" this album is full of songs that suit the stadium, with tracks like "See You", "Not Ashamed" and "Great And Mighty". However, recognising there is a time for everything this album also offers slower, more intimate sounding songs, with vocals sounding much like Hillsong United's Marty Sampson's in songs like "Don't Pass Me By". One striking feature of this album however is how it ends, having been led through the loud and quiet times of worship with this album I found it up-lifting and inspiring to finish on a song as cross-focused as "Cry Holy".

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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