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The Glorious Unseen [The Hope That Lies In You]

Kevin R. Davis | Perkasie, PA | 08/25/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Like so many college students have during the course of their studies, The Glorious Unseen's frontman Ben Crist also struggled with that one big question while attending Nashville's Belmont University: What am I supposed to do with my life? After college Ben starting meeting in a living room with 10-15 people, and the experience certainly wasn't church as usual. In fact, because of that little Sunday night community of believers, Crist wound up becoming a worship leader by accident.



As Ben grew in confidence as a worship leader, he began penning his own praise songs. Ben's music wasn't about to have a small audience for long, however. Once a representative from Tooth & Nail Records stumbled upon a recording of Ben's original songs he knew this was worship music that would resonate with a unique audience. Now as the band The Glorious Unseen, Ben and his band, which includes guitarist Ryan Stubbs, bassist Ben Harms, drummer Jon Todryk and pianist Patrick Copeland, have written a new collection of authentic reflections on the ups and downs of the Christian life.



"The Hope That Lies in You" is the second full-length album by The Glorious Unseen, following up 2007's "Tonight The Stars Speak", which featured "Hear Our Prayers" and "Close To Your Heart". First song "All Around" is a poignant reminder that even when everything around us may seem like it's crashing down, we're still alive in God. "There are times in our lives when He's the only one we can lean on," Ben shares. "When we're not allowed to rely on anything else, this is when we grow closer to Him." That theme of looking for purpose in the midst of struggles continues with "Take What's Left Of Me" and "How He Loves". "We Can Be Renewed" features a great crying out "it's falling apart, what can we do, after all that we've been through...here's hoping that we can be renewed".



Also serving as an anthem to the questioning soul is "Heavyhearted," the album's first single that mixes a happy, melodic sound with pensive, thought-provoking lyrics. Summing up the theme of the album is the hopeful title track, "The Hope That Lies in You." Serving as a battle cry of optimism in our increasingly pessimistic world, Ben wants to encourage listeners to not to live in fear and isolation--even when the media is saying everything is a disaster.



This is one of the most worshipful and introspective albums I've heard this year. If you like fellow BEC Recordings band Telecast and the worship albums "Take Everything" by Seventh Day Slumber and "Strong Tower" by Kutless, then you should enjoy The Glorious Unseen. The sound is very ambient and reflective. I find myself in a state of deep reflection and prayer every time I listen to this great worship album. Musically, this album will appeal to fans of Ruth, Copeland and Coldplay.



For me, the standout songs are "All Around", "Take What's Left Of Me", `We Can Be Renewed", "Heavyhearted", "Falling Into You" and title track "The Hope That Lies In You". Whether as an album to set the mood for reflection and worship or for personal times of devotion, I rate "The Hope That Lies In You" highly for fans of ambient worship.

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Excellent Follow-Up - Not Your Typical Worship Music

Matthew Robbins | Ohio | 08/25/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Following up on the success on their debut, Tonight The Stars Speak, The Glorious Unseen returns with a stellar follow-up in the form of The Hope That Lies In You. Technically classified as a worship album, lead singer Ben Crist as his band mates really defy the label, as this is not typical Chris Tomlin, Passion, or Hillsong United-type music. While the songs could, at times, fit into that general category of music stylistically, the lyrics here are far too poetic, far too honest, and lacking enough clichés to be thrust into the box people typically label "worship." This is not music designed to sing in church, nor is it necessarily evangelistic in nature; instead, taking a cue from the Psalms, it is simply the pouring out of a heart to God in prayer set to music.



Fans of The Glorious Unseen will recognize 3 tracks from the EP the band released back in July: "All Around," "How He Loves," and "Heavy Hearted." The lyrics on "Heavy Hearted" are spectacular, as Crist sings, "What is the meaning of grace / When it speaks to my darkest place? / Why do I always feel like I'm Your disgrace / I'm sick of saving face." The songs from the EP are also 3 of the best songs on the album, but they are not alone.



"Falling Into You" reveals Crist once again singing of struggling to accept the grace of God because of sin. He sings, "Why do I medicate? / Why do I go back to the things I hate? / You call me as Your friend / As I drop these nails again / I'm falling into You." About halfway through, there's a stop for meditation and communion with God on the solid instrumental song, "Come, Heaven," before the standout track, "Sustain," which flat out questions why God allows certain things to happen in this world. It balances these questions with reminders of God's character and the hope we have because of that. The most upbeat song is the title track, which climbs to a soaring climax of hope.



Again, this is not really church music. For many churches, it's simply too honest about the relationship we have with God sometimes. Like the Psalmist affirms, we don't always feel God's presence and understand our circumstances. Crist states, "I have to sing what's honest to me, and that's exactly how I write the lyrics. I'm not trying to write corporate worship songs - just my honest thoughts to God, and somehow when that comes out, it's worshipful."



This is not music to listen to casually; it's experiential, lyrically-driven music. It's for honest people struggling to accept the gift of God's grace through Jesus amidst their failures and fears. The music really serves as a backdrop for that, creating the mood for the lyrics to be layered on top. Musically, the band may still have room for growth and diversity, but lyrically, I don't know that it gets much more honest than this.

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