Techno is a tough genre to separate between the Christian and secular. Many people will say that because much techno doesn't include lyrics, it can't be classified as Christian or secular. However, some newer techno artists are using lyrics over top of driving beats and synths to create a different feel, and that's just what brother/sister duo Free Reign has set out to do on the latest DreamLab project. With their new release Technodelic, the group incorporated some 60s and 70s beats and rhythms into their techno sound, adding worshipful lyrics for a truly "unique" feel.

What Technodelic turns out to be, ultimately, is just a very bizarrely thrown together mix of very blatant (and sometimes very cheesy) worship lyrics mixed with ambient sounds and loops. Using random synth sounds and even more random vocals, the ending result is very shallow and gives no depth to the music at all. Some songs, as evidenced in "Heaven and Earth," are just simple ambient beats over the vocalist singing the words to the Lord's Prayer, and the two do not work together whatsoever. Other songs like "Sunshine" and "Megastar" have a very childish feel to them, with spiritually-heavy lyrics with blatant disregard for any intelligence. Some tracks, however, like "Calling," have a very well done 70s feel beat to it, but the lyrics are what ruin everything about the song. Much of the lyrics tend to keep a feel of the 60s while keeping Christ the center as well. This seems a bit overbearing, to say the least, especially with songs like "Metamorphasize," that seem to be about keeping faith and love at the forefront of our lives. Much of the message is lost within the lack of quality in music and even more so in the awful vocals.

Overall, there will be some who find this release spiritually invigorating and the music just as good. That is likely who this music is made for. The rest of us who are looking for more depth in our music can breathe easy, however, and simply hold out until Andy Hunter's return next month with Colours. Pass this one up and wait a month to be impressed.

- Review date: 3/15/08, written by Justin Mabee of Jesusfreakhideout.com