Believer by Kutless

Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby

This worship set was produced for the CCM hitmakers by Dave Lubben (who is also a co-writer on seven songs) and Christopher Stevens and David Garcia (Sanctus Real, Toby Mac). There is a strong opener in the stadium sized rocker "If It Ends Today" with its strident riffing. The anthemic "Carry On" is tempered with short bursts of softer melody. However, it's the passionate worship of "Even If" that strikes a resonance with "Even if the healing doesn't come/And life falls apart/And dreams are still undone/You are God, You are good/Forever faithful one/Even if the healing/Even if the healing doesn't come". There are several typical worship tracks before they unleash another up-tempo rocker in "Need" and a thoughtful clarion call to prodigal sons (and daughters) in "Come Back Home". Towards the end they launch a full-on declaration of faith in "Believer" with "I'm a believer/That he's strong enough to hold you now where you are/I'm a believer/In the One who's always reaching out to your heart/He understands you/There's not a greater love that you'll find in this life/I'm a believer in Christ". They finish with the heartfelt worship of "Carry Me To The Cross", which was released as the first single and peaked at number 15 in the Billboard Christian Songs chart. This is their seventh full length album and after their big selling but weak sounding 'Strong Tower' Kutless finally appear to be comfortable with the direction they have chosen.