The Ground Zero Project - Battle Cry

1. Battle Cry (4:21) 2. The Rhythm of Grace (1:35) 3. Watchful Eye/Step Right Up (6:48) 4. New Age is Old Age (8:25) Nightmare Opus: 5. The Stage Is Set (3:24) 6. Don't Get Left Behind (5:47) 7. Mark of the Beast (5:13) 8. Razor's Edge (5:04) 9. Roll Away the Stone (5:09) 10. Secret Society (4:23) 11. Dead to the World (9:53) 12. Frozen Winds (6:04) 13. Road To Home (4:29)

Total Running Time: 70:53



What comes to your mind when you hear the phrase "Christian Progressive Rock?" You probably would think that this definition is rather incompatible, and that it definitely has no musical potential. Well, The Ground Zero Project is proof enough to prove you wrong. This band serves a cocktail of 70's prog rock with a mixture of heavy riffs and powerful melodies along with deep Christian concepts and lyrics. The result? Imagine a crossbreed between ELP and Threshold, picture a prog-oriented Deep Purple in its early years, or simply a band pursuing a symphonic prog metal path with no horizons in its way…we begin to get close to the musical frontier displayed by this band.

The most surprising fact may very well be that Battle Cry is the result of sporadic writing and recording sessions of five years; quite reasonable in a way, considering that the project was originally conceived by keyboardist, Scott Radosevich, and fellow singer-guitarist, Timothy McGill, as a hobby apart from their day jobs, and started by a careful writing down of basic structures, melodies, and rhythms during their free time. After solidly laying down the entire foundation for the album, they proceeded to call up close friends and acquaintances with great musical skill to fill up all the respective empty slots in the record. Having no record label pressures on the side or deadlines to comply with turned out to be a great formula for The Ground Zero Project, as it helped its members grow and mature in their songwriting skills, leaving them room to polish their sound and comfortably compliment each other on a musical basis.

As mentioned earlier, songs stride from solid, heavy metal riff-based songs (as in the opening track "Battle Cry") to symphonic/classical oriented pieces, such as "The Rhythm of Grace;" a jazzy piano piece very similar in style to ELP. Although some songs strictly pursue one of these extremes, the main majority of them employ a mixture of both elements with excellent meticulous arrangements. This is the band's stronger compositional approach, mastered in songs like the "New Age is Old Age" and "Watchful Eye/Step Right Up". Likewise, most songs have an inwrought or inherent "dark feeling" to them, mainly due to the lyrics that constantly deal with issues such as God, the Devil, and an upcoming Apocalypse, slowly captivating the listener into the record's concepts. But one of the true notable tracks that bring every element together is the 3-part piece "Nightmare Opus," displaying amazing symphonic passages and truly intricate arrangements and fitting a musical hysteria into a 14-minute dramatic opus.

My suggestion for you would be to completely forget about the tag "Christian." Not because of the ideas and concepts it offers, but mainly because most people conceive this type of music as the peaceful songs they hear in Church. The Ground Zero Project offers a completely different universe. A great bet, especially for all of you symphonic rock fans out there.

-by Javier Elizondo

back to top