Two-years since their ground-breaking debut, Sonicflood returns with their new album Resonate. While the name of the band has stayed the same, not much else has. There are no returning members from their self-titled first album. So if you're expecting a similar album to their first you'll be in for a little bit of a surprise. Having a new lead singer especially changes the sound of an album. Rick Heil, formerly the bassist from Big Tent Revival, has a voice drastically different from former frontman Jeff Deyo.

One thing that hasn't changed too drastically in this new album is their style. They are still basically a modern worship band with various rock/pop and many other elements too numerous to mention.

The album stars off on an upbeat note with "Lord of the Dance." The beginning is a little different in that it starts off with little children from Africa singing blended a message spoken layered over top of that. But that quickly changes and is replaced by a mix of techno, pop and modern worship. The next song, "You are the Holy One," with its lyrics derived from Isaiah 12, is more of the same, style-wise, but starts off with a quote from JFK before proceeding right into the song.

One of the more powerful worship songs on the album is the song "Fuel." It's one of the more mellow songs, but is very deep lyrically and instrumentally has a really nice melody.

Overall, I would say that this was a good first album for all the new members. It's hard to look at the record as being a sophomore project with everyone having been replaced. The songs flow together well without them all sounding exactly alike. Many of the elements of their musical style need some work, which comes with time, but they do have very strong lyrics (as they did in the previous album). When you're quoting scripture in your lyrics you can't go wrong. The main negative I have with this album is that it's very similar to other modern worship albums already out there.

Usually most bands have a more mature sound after their first album but with all new members that can be a little tough to do. It will be very interesting to see how they approach their next album since they will have a chance to be together over a longer period of time.

- Review date: 3/29/02, written by Jim Preslar