Review

I must admit, when I gave this disc it initial spin, it didn't overtake me or set me back in my chair. "Holy Vine" is a studio recording from a band called Remnant out of Canada. According to their website, they are a collection of people sharing their belief and experiences of God with us the listener, through song. I am a very critical listener and being a musician the production quality seemed fairly raw although some of the sounds are pretty good on the disc some of the production glitches did stick out a bit to me. There are a number of slight mistakes in the playing that should have been re-tracked and take away a bit from the overall listening experience. The arrangements are pretty simple and as I said in the first listening seemed even a bit "campy" to me.

Having said that, I must say that some of the songs have really begun to grow on me during subsequent listenings. In fact the overall tone and simplistic nature of the arrangements really started to show the heart behind the music and the very songs themselves. The more I listened to the disc, the more the small mistakes and idiosyncrasies actually added charm and character to this project much the way the nicks and dents on an old guitar reveal the story of life in an instrument.

From the looks of the cover the musicians who make up Remnant are fairly young but their music is more mature than it may seem at first. So many of the new CD's that are currently being offered in the slough of worship projects, are simply a regurgitation of the same ideas lyrically. This project is very refreshing in its use of new ideas and new lyrical lines to express our need for and dependence upon God. There are also some great melody lines in some of these songs. In hearing this music you get a sense that these songs are truly coming from writers that are penning them from an overflow from the heart and not simply to meet a production deadline.

The title track, "Holy Vine" is one of songs that jumped out to me at first in such a way that I wanted to fast forward past it after the first ten seconds. It has actually become one of my favorite songs on the disc, it has an almost Appalachian Mountain song quality to it with all kinds of extraneous vocals going on in the back ground and a really heavy bass line of I and V going on throughout the entire song giving the "old country song" feel.

Track number five, "Song About Goodness" is another strong song. Led by the sweet vocals of Racheal Bateman, it has a really peaceful and serene vibe to it. The song "Lord You Deserve" is a very honest song based on a great melodic idea. There are plenty of straight ahead guitar driven rocking songs on the disc as well. I think that there is something on this project for every listener. There are plenty of music styles though throughout the entire disc. The word that comes to mind is eclectic and a project that defies pigeon-holing. Suffice it to say this is not your average worship album from Hillsongs or Passion. It is different, cool and just a little bit left of center. I would definitely recommend adding it to your collection, but spin it several times and let it grow on you.

Review by Bryan Bloom