Reviewed by Andrew Segal

Future Worship is the fourth album by singer/guitarist and lay minister Trevor Howard, and the second under the t'Revorlution banner. During this concept album (has Christian prog rock finally become a legitimate genre?), the listener is taken on an imaginary 61-minute worship session set 16 years in the future. But as opposed to the traditional prog trademarks of 20-minute guitar solos, odd time signatures and more Mellotron keyboards than you can shake a Rick Wakeman at, a diverse selection of musical ideas is put together. Starting off with the extremely dance-music influenced "Gospel Train 2020", elements of reggae, rap, funk, country, experimental ideas and an intriguing reworking of "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross" sit alongside synthesiser pop and World music-influenced tunes. There are also some very tasteful bass guitar moments courtesy of Vera Rodworth, particularly during the tracks "Future Praise" and "Hero". But while there are some promising tunes, including the previously mentioned "Gospel Train" and stand-out instrumental piece "Waiting For The King of Glory", a lot of the music is having to fight quite heavily with the vocals, which sound as if they have been jaggedly stuck on top of things having been recorded down a pipe and not necessarily always in tune. While this could be a production problem, it detracts from many of the lyrics and affects some musical passages that could have been allowed to breathe a little more. 

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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