After working long hard hours on new material for Titanic and Final Axe, Bill Menchen offered the Christian music world the birth of his newest incarnation, The Seventh Power. With bass player Rod Reasner and the extraordinary Robert Sweet of Stryper on drums, The Seventh Power recorded their self-titled debut on Retroactive Records in 2006 with very a positive response along the way. The anticipation for another album increased and The Seventh Power released their sophomore album Dominion & Power in 2008. A percentage of Dominion & Power is a concept album concerning the second coming of Christ as described in the book of Revelation.

The title track opens the album perfectly while informing the listener they are in for a heavy ride. Bill Menchen's guitar riffs are excellent and will please fans of Titanic and Final Axe. The lyrics to "Dominion and Power" warn the listener that the second coming of Jesus Christ is very soon, "Sun goes down, Time runs out, Dominion And Power, This is His hour, He comes in power and might." "King Of All Kings" is the most noteworthy track on this release. The song starts off with slow ambient, almost techno sounds for twenty seconds and then Menchen's guitar work comes into place. Lyrically, the words to "King Of All Kings" serve as a summary of Revelation 19:11-21, "His name is called the Word of God, Armies of Heaven in white robes follow Him on white horses, Out of His mouth comes a sword striking the nations, Almighty God, He is God, King of All Kings."

Now, there are other songs on the album that are not about the Second Coming. "Heavy Laden" is Jesus speaking specifically to the listener about setting aside whatever it is that holds us down and coming to Him, "Take my yoke upon you, Learn from me, My yoke is easy, My burden is light, Every man come to me, I'll give you rest, I'll take your sins from the East to the West." Words to "Everlasting Fire" are specifically about the fall of mankind, "Destiny of man, Knowing God, Seems to be complicated to man, How did we go from paradise to darkness, We followed the Father of Lies into the abyss." If you were to compare all of the albums from Final Axe, Titanic and The Seventh Power, you would definitely agree that Dominion & Power is Menchen's best work to date. Bill's guitar riffs are very heavy, Rod's bass lines are perfect, and Robert's drum beats offer a superb performance.

Sadly, Bill's spoken word lyrics hurt the performance of the entire album. Unlike mewithoutYou on Tooth & Nail Records, it seemed like I was listening to the spoken words of a computer rather than the traditional voice of a musician throughout Dominion & Power. The second complaint is with the chorus from "Everlasting Fire." A two-word chorus repeated over and over again becomes annoying quickly. Despite two big problems, Bill Menchen and his band members deserve to be honored for their hard work on Dominion & Power. Highly recommended for fans of Stryper and Titanic.

- Review date: 11/23/08, written by Fred Keel of Jesusfreakhideout.com