If you have been following CCM news in the past few weeks, you are probably aware of the departure of four-fifths of the members of the band Terminal. Though the remaining member is vocalist Travis Bryant, for all technical purposes, Terminal is, well… terminal. But that does not erase the fact that there is still one excellent debut release entitled How the Lonely Keep that demands attention and respect, long after the band's [probable] demise.

Terminal's music is unique in almost every sense of the word. The closest I can come to describing their sound would be a more aggressive version of The Afters. Indie pop-infused rock is a fitting genre description, with punk/emo twinged vocals courtesy of Bryant. They stretch their sound out on How the Lonely Keep. Never does the music seem repetitive either. Each track has its own sound, while keeping a general tone alive throughout the forty-three minute running time of the disc.

The lyrics drip with regret and remorse, and the music perfectly compliments that tone. Some songs reek of hopelessness, like "City by the Sea," "I wish I had a little more to miss/ Than friends that don't exist/ In a town that felt like scars across my wrists." Other songs are a wee more optimistic, like "Just a Failure," "This time I'll disappoint the past/ Prove repetition wrong/ I'm just a failure feeling better than I ever have/ If this is life, I'm ready to live/ It feels so good to feel again."

More depressing then the CDs tone, however, is the fact that it's the first and last time we'll hear it. Bryant may remain under the moniker "Terminal," but when you lose all of your musical talent in one fleeting moment, things are bound to change. Here's to hoping that somehow, Travis Bryant is able to conjure up another brilliant effort in the aftermath of the beautiful piece of work known as How the Lonely Keep.

- Review date: 9/03/05, written by Josh Taylor