Love & Worship

Love & Worship finds Seventh Day Slumber applying its burly, emotive sound to a batch of worship music favorites, with a few lesser-known and previously unrecorded tunes added as well. From its inception in the mid-‘90s, the Dallas-based punk band has retained its street cred, delivering a fiery Christian message with a survivor’s urgency. This approach serves the group well as it infuses tunes like Hillsong United’s “Desert Song” and “Your Name High” with a ferocity that strengthens the exalted lyrical content. Chris Tomlin’s “Our God” and “White Flag” particularly benefit from Joseph Rojas’ bruised sincerity as a vocalist. The ascending instrumental arc of One Sonic Society’s “Forever Reign” and the simmering guitar grandeur of Matt Redman’s “Never Let Go” match rock grit with spiritual conviction. “I Am Not the Same” (an anthem of rebirth cowritten by SDS with Redman) and “Here with You” (a fervent retelling of Christ’s Passion first released in acoustic form on 2001’s Freedom from Human Regulation) fit in well with the more familiar material.