Drum Dynasty is a fourpiece group of musicians who specialize in percussion and world music. The musical backdrop ranges from Egyptian to Middle Eastern to African, with Kevin Christensen at the helm. The rest is a mixture of percussion and electronic drum pads. Now, given the name Drum Dynasty, one would probably expect the drums to be the main focal point of all of the tracks. However, the musical score actually seems to play a bigger role all throughout. And while that's not necessarily a bad thing, the score sounds like any other similar project (which there are many of). While that doesn't automatically make it a bad project, it's still rather disappointing to hear Drum Dynasty playing drums that just really aren't anything spectacular. It does have its moments of great drum playing for sure, but those times are hindered by too much repetition. Then there was a moment with an excellent display of drumming in "Khodomodumo," but it lasted for about forty-five seconds, ending way too soon. All the other tracks felt much too short, even the five-minute plus tracks, mainly due to the fact that they weren't engaging or even entertaining, having very little capability to hold the listener's attention. The only real interesting thing in the entire box set was the sampling of The Cross Movement's "When I Flow (It's Gospel)" in "Mystic Sunrise," but that's really all that this set has going for it. Admittedly, I see a lot of potential for greater things in the future from these guys, but they have a little work to do.

- Review date: 10/19/09, written by Scott Fryberger of Jesusfreakhideout.com