Reviewed by Elliot Rose

Spiritual Plague has been on the Christian hard rock scene for nearly a decade now and in its time has gigged with some impressive names including Avenged Sevenfold and Van Halen. 'Volume 1' is the debut album (although it's more of an anthology) by the Vancouver-based four piece family band and features more or less their whole back catalogue of digitally released singles from the last two years. Working from their home studio, they have built a solid hard rock sound similar to bands such as Creed and Within Temptation but with inspiring Christian lyrical twists - "Should've Been" discusses the emptiness of unforgiveness, whereas "Transparency" revolves around the issue of divorce - but the same cannot always be said about the music. The new song and opening track "Hearts" does boast arguably the most melodic songwriting and competent arranging on the album, however for many of the tracks Lyndon's stodgy guitars often do little more than grind the lower frequencies, and Keith's keyboards on occasion sound more like a simple MIDI file than a rich orchestra. Although Preston's voice suffices, it's certainly Garrett's intricate and precise drumming that carries the album through its eight tracks.

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