8th October, 2009

JUSTIN MICHAEL

Album: Rain

Artist: Sons of Korah

Year: 2008
Label: wordsong artists
Web: www.sonsofkorah.com

In A Word: Brilliant

Somewhere between your world music collection and your small group Bible study, you'll find Sons Of Korah, an absolutely unique band that has no peer. 'Sons' are like a band that created a concept album and then decided to keep the concept running for the next dozen years! One gets the feeling that it's all a lot more deliberate than that though.

There are 12 new tracks on rain that use psalms of exultation, prayer and lamentation. Matt Jacoby, Rod Gear, Rod Wilson, Mike McCarthy and Mike Avery once again bring together their collective brilliant musicianship to create soundscapes and melodies that bring these ancient writings to life.

Again, there is a fantastic amount of light and shade in Rain. Stand out tracks include Psalm 42 (Streams of Water) a simple, dark, contemplative prayer of the soul. Psalm 103 has one of the most intriguing folky melodies that is coloured by Gear's double bass and dissipates just as you think it's going to take off.

Still, the highlight of the album has to be Psalm 3, a fantastic building epic in two parts that gives musical shape to one of the more soul stirring psalms that seeks for God's deliverance from David's enemies - "I will not be afraid or ten thousand men / drawn up on every side / You are my shield / arise Lord / Deliver me".

I challenge you to find another album, other than perhaps a metal album of some sort that uses the refrain "strike all my enemies on the jaw / break the teeth of the wicked one"! Yes, it's amazing what the holy Bible contains, and equally amazing how this team of minstrels continue to help us hear it.

Mostly soothing, always layered in musical excellence and unique for so many good reasons, Rain will have you wanting rainy days to show up more often.