| It is hard to be unbiased with this group concerning the original and newer lineup. I write this thinking of the newer Sonicflood as a totally different group with only one previous release.
I bought the CD the day it came out, excited at the thought of one of my all time favorites creating a new and (hopefully) better CD. I shouldn't have. Cry Holy is a far cry from Resonate's original sounds and creative lyrics.
There were several disapointing things that I will point out. First is the lack of new material. As mentioned in the above reviews, very few songs were actually written by the band. For a band that was known for its great original songs coupled with older classics, this is disapointing.
Second is the instrumentals though this point may not be taken as seriously by some. I have played various instruments since I was in Kindergarten, and this has drastically influenced my musical preferences. One of the things I want out of a group is creative instrumentals - Cry Holy suffers from a serious lack thereof. With the exception of a few nice licks tossed in here and there, the guitar playing is extremely basic consisting of mostly basic strumming and picking that sounded like it was made up during the recording. Keyboards never really stand out (even though their keyboardist is extremely talented) Drums could have come from a drum machine.
Last is the vocals. In the Resonate CD Rick Heil sounded very strong and emotional. In Cry Holy his voice sounds thin and almost robotic. I get the impression that he doesn't believe what he is singing.
Overall I think Cry Holy was released well before it should have been. It sounds like the band was tossing together something to get back into the worship music trend. Considering Sonicflood's incredible history, I expected much more.
__________________ Guitars: Burtone Telecaster, Duesenberg Starplayer DTV, Carvin Contour 66, Rettler OM Acoustic
Amp/Effects: Fractal Audio Axe-Fx II, QSC K10 Amp |