When I first heard Sonicflood's debut album, I was immediately hooked by the rock sound with the worship lyrics. Their live album Sonicpraise came out, and I gobbled that up. Then frontman Jeff Deyo left, then the rest of the band, and a totally new collective of Sonicflood members released Resonate. You can safely say that Resonate was one of my least favorite albums. The electronic sound was dismissable as was the album in its entirety. I filed it away in my collection to be forgotten. Now, in 2003, Sonicflood sheds most of the electronic sound and offers a solid worship album with Cry Holy.

"Cry Holy," the first track, opens the album with an acoustic rock feel to it. I have one gripe about the chorus as it sounds like they ripped off the chorus to "Resonate" and merely changed the words. "Shelter" is a cry out to God, expressing a joy that He is our refuge. Next up is "Everyday" which serves as a cross between Sonicflood's original feel and their alternate Resonate sound, with an annoying echo to the vocals, but amended by great lyrics. One of my favorite songs, "Here I Am to Worship," follows next. I first heard Chris Tomlin do this song last year, and Sonicflood's go at it achieves a good sound overall. "Unconditional" is a song that sounds very much like "Shelter" or "Everyday" and is followed by a Tomlin original, "Famous One." Sonicflood takes a good stab at the sound, but prehaps in trying to give it their own flavor, lost the climatic sound that Tomlin achieved on the chorus. "Rushing In" sings about how "there is nothing I can do to end Your love." "God is Great" follows, and takes an edgier approach, but feels somewhat incomplete in the end. However, I really enjoyed "I Will Exalt the One," a softer worshipful song that expresses the desire to exalt "a father like You." "Satisfied" has a rock flavor with muted power chords throughout the song with the exception of the climatic chorus near the end. "Love of My Life" is a cry out to God and asks Him to help us surrender all that we are to Him. "Everything to Me" starts out with a string loop over a beat, builds with acoustic guitars and bass on the verse, and then blasts to a full sound for the chorus. Finally, the ballad "I Will" leaves the focus on God as the album comes to an end.

Overall, Cry Holy was a good worship album. Better than Resonate, Sonicflood redeems themselves after awful previous release. One of the things I liked about this that reminded me of their first album is the fact that they were not afraid to bring other artists' songs in. Cry Holy is not as good as their debut, but the band has changed since then, and I really think it was one of the best things they could have done to release this album. Give it a listen whether you're a fan of their old style or their new style. You may just be impressed with where the Flood is rushing to.

- Review date: 1/3/03, written by Colin Ake of Jesusfreakhideout.com