Seventh Day Slumber

Seventh Day Slumber’s seventh release will go down in history as their experimental record, as well as their Spanish record. Rescatamé (Rescue Me) opens with an amazing guitar riff accompanied by a soft piano and a sudden boom common to the traditional music of Mexico. The album’s lead single, “Awake,” describes a journey into the heart of a man who has seen the light and the writer tells us that “I’m finally awake / I feel alive today / I feel everything / It’s all so clear to me.” Most of the album’s tracks float on these images of redemption, while others focus more on the transparent emotion of the Christian walk.

Innovative, right? It is, oddly enough. Rescatamé is Seventh Day Slumber’s invention to raise the creative bar in the shadow of both their religious music success and some recent criticism for being too revolutionary. But in keeping with their brand, this apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree: It’s still about grassroots acoustics and visual lyrics. And while their experimentation makes this their most interesting album to date, the Spanish lyrics creates a narrow audience and is too much of a risk at this point in their career.

Seventh Day Slumber is from Texas, and their front man, Joseph Rojas, has always been a fan of Latin music. So it makes sense that they would release an album that reflects some of the culture of the band’s Hispanic fan base. The soothing melody of “Brand New Man” is infused with that exciting mariachi band tempo while “Missing Pages” finds Rojas showing off his vocal range in an uncharacteristically high octave with sudden bursts of Latin-flavored string guitars in a song addressing that common Christian issue: the fear of man. Producer Aaron Sprinkle also helped continue the international vibe. Of course, Sprinkle’s work on Secret Weapon, by MxPx — a band Seventh Day Slumber highly respects — is probably most prevalent here.

There a few echoes of MxPx on Rescatame, most notably Jeremy Holderfield’s guitar playing, which is the most diverse we’ve ever seen from him. The album’s most sublime pop moment is probably “On My Way Home,” a song describing a modern-day prodigal son that has the same feel as Caedmons Call’s, “Hands of the Potter.” It builds on a simple piano crescendo, a head-bobbing drum beat and spot-on lyrics. Later, the unique chord compilation in “Shattered Life” is so compelling that Rojas’ passionate vocals become almost overshadowed by piercing riffs that put you in a trance.

One of Rojas’ signature qualities is his anti-worship-leader persona. This is what so many fans expect from him when he sings about his pain, doubt, and then a discovering of hope. This is what has given him his well earned reputation as a true original. He maintains all this while keeping a humble, down-to-earth reputation. He also has the ability to get out of the way of his own music.

Unfortunately, the album becomes redundant with “Caroline,” as he declares, “Tomorrow’s on its way / Do you believe I wanna take your painful memories?” adding later, “Don’t throw it all away / I’m here tonight to take away your pain.” In “Break Me,” Rojas states, “All that’s left of who I am / A shattered mass of all my countless broken dreams.” When do we get to hear a song that is not initially filled with someone’s pain? Is the entire album one dimensional? Unfortunately, the answer is yes.

Despite its repetition Rescatamé accomplishes it’s goal of reaching its faithful Spanish speaking fans and it will be a great record to spin at your next Slumber Party.

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