| SYNOPSIS | |
| KLAMPERT: | |
| BYRD: Kerygma Worship is basically an unknown. I love finding new music, in this case it’s particularly interesting because they’re from India. Right off the bat, this project deserves props because this is certainly a resource meant for the local church. They’ve crafted 10 songs for congregation singing and have made the chord charts, background slides, and even ring tones available to be downloaded from their site. What’s interesting is the familiarity found here mixed with some obvious Indian influences. Most noticeably in the instrumentation side of things. On the American side of the coin is the electric guitar and organ, even a little autotone but oddly enough it seems to be stuck in the mid to late 90s style. It’s refreshing to hear the sitar and penny whistle (I imagine) and other instruments pop in there. The melody lines seem to be written with a choral arrangement type feel which suits the various vocalists on the CD and gives them all place even when they’re not leading. | |
| MAHONEY: Snobby American disclosure: I didn’t expect a whole lot from this record. So as I was driving home one night and fired this up on my mp3 player, the first thought that came to me was “Wow… this ain’t bad.” By the third or forth time I’d listened to it, it was sounding pretty good.
The songs have a really nice groove to them, the production is good, and lyrically, this songs hit more marks than they miss. There are several vocalists, all good, but the woman who sings on “O Come” and a little on “Sweet Annointing” has a wonderful voice. My only wish would be that there was a little less compression in the final mixes, as I think these songs would be served by a little more dynamics. I bet these guys are great live. | |
| VANCE: Wow, a worship album from India. That’s a first for The Joint. I feel somewhat more connected with this record than the other guys because I’m half Indian. Well, not really. But my wife is Indian, and since we are married and she is my better half, that makes me half Indian, right? I have a very complex nationality make-up.The musicians are very talented and the songs are sung in English with a style (vineyard) that you will be very comfortable with. The songs themselves are very good lyrically and there are lots of songs that your congregation that will quite happily sing along to.I did ask the founder, Gangai Victor, why they had recorded an album in English. Gangai had this to say,
“We have a large population of English speaking Churches in India, so releasing an album in English is quite common. In fact, local churches sometimes sing contemporary worship songs in English and local language translations in the same session! Sort of makes the worship more inclusive.” I have to say I loved the addition of the sitar and other Indian instruments and influences in most of the tracks. The next time I’m in over visiting my wife’s family in Kerela, I must look these guys up. | |
| BOTTOM LINE | |
| KLAMPERT: | |
BYRD: The project itself deserves a giant HIGH 5! It’s very ambitious and encouraging to see. However, the reality of it is that it doesn’t strike a chord with me. Stylistically, it’s just doesn’t jive for me. There is a bit of a language awkwardness at times. So it’s just hard for me to really dig in. I’m most interested in the progression this group makes on future releases. Keep moving forward!Rating:    | |
| MAHONEY: Once the listener sets aside the idea that every worship record has to sound like Hillsong United or Fee, this becomes a really good record. Having just completed a recording project, I’m very impressed with what was accomplished here. Definitely worth a listen. Rating: | |
| VANCE: You might find it a little strange at the beginning with the Indian accented (and at times, not so good) vocals, but once you get over this it’s a great little record. Rating: | |
| MUST HAVE SONGS | |
| KLAMPERT: | |
| BYRD: Um…”must have”…well I’d start here:
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| MAHONEY:
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| VANCE:
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| SONGS FOR CHURCH | |
| KLAMPERT: | |
| BYRD: These songs follow a particular formula each time around and are all obviously written to be sung in church. They’re all singable and can easily be tackled by a solo guitarist or a full band. | |
| MAHONEY:
As this entire record was conceived as a woship album by a worship team, a list here would simply be a track listing. Any of these songs would work in most churches, and there is something here for any tradition. | |
VANCE: These songs were obviously written with the congregation in mind and used in their church in India. You have a good selection of songs to pick from. Many churches in America like to take a song and play it exactly how it sounds on the CD. The problem is, you will have trouble scheduling a sitar player, so you may have to drop those parts. Don’t worry, it will still sound great!  | |
The Joint gives KERYGMA Worship: Vapour Water Ice Overall Rating:
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