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Jan31
Review: One Sonic Society, Forever Reign
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One Sonic Society is Paul Mabury, Jason Ingram and Stu Garrard. © One Sonic Society photo.
Honestly, I have tried really, really hard to find something exceptional in One Sonic Society’s full-length debut, Forever Reign.
With modern worship acts such as Delirious and the David Crowder Band closing up in the past few years, I have wanted to hear new worship with creativity and urgency.
And One Sonic Society was reason for excitement with a Delirious pedigree: guitarist Stu Garrard, who was in the group until its dissolution in 2009. This worship supergroup is rounded out by Austrailian Paul Mabury, whose resume includes Hillsong, and West Virginian Jason Ingram, who has enjoyed a solo career and time fronting The Longing.Mabury and Ingram are maybe best known as producers, and on repeated listens, it sunk in that this could be both a strength and weakness for One Sonic. The sound is gorgeous. The production is spacious and nuanced, a sort of sound that lifts the listener. It is that sound that stays with you, but do any of the songs?
For me, not really.
The album, culled from three prior EPs, includes several songs that have had notable releases from other artists including the title track recorded by Hillsong and Almighty God recorded by Rebecca St. James. The band sounds solid. Jason Ingram’s singing is strong, Stu G’s guitar playing is, as usual, rousing and the production really highlights Mabury’s powerful drumming.
If you want to add a contemporary worship album of mostly vertical songs in the sort of Hillsong/Passion style to your collection, Forever Reign is a fine choice.
But therein lies one of the chief problems with this album. Given all of the talents that have gone into the project, Forever Reign sounds like something we have heard before.
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