Reviewed by Graeme Crawford

Output from the Swedish veterans has been sporadic in recent years, but band leader Ulf Christiansson has resumed the band for this latest release. With an album clocking in at 70 minutes of music in 13 tracks, the band appears to be trying to make up for their absence. Sticking with their more recent melodic rock style, rather than reverting to their original harder edged leanings. Opener "Calling On" begins proceedings in the vein of The Who, while "Come On" is probably the heaviest track on the album, and the most passionate that Christiansson gets after an uninspiring lyrical start (line one - "Come on" x5, line two - "Come on" x4 "yeah"). After this the pace drops, and the songs become less easy to distinguish. Despite this the band settle into some grooves on tracks like "Suddenly" and "Amos 5", and this is where they appear to be happiest. The title track tries to be sweeping and epic, but falls a bit flat. Lyrically the band are more focussed on spiritual matters than they have been on previous records - "You are mine, I called you for a purpose", "make me holy, like you're holy" (Crown The King), "We're not ashamed of the King" (Come On). Despite sounding quite like U2 on too many sections, this is a return that should receive a warm response from those who recognise Jerusalem's massive contribution to Christian rock down the years.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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