The Messianic Times - International Messianic Jewish News and Information

If you’re looking for groundbreaking work that will change the face of Messianic music forever, you will not find it on Azuza’s “Songs of Passover,” the debut album from this Apopka, Florida trio (Bryan Wong on bass guitar/vocals, Beth Wong on rhythm guitar/vocals, and Lee Underwood on lead guitar/vocals). What you will find is some solid, Scripturally-based lyrics, and the obvious love and enthusiasm that the trio has for what they are doing. According to the band website, www.azuza.org, Azuza fuses sounds from “contemporary, rock, jazz, and blues to create a unique sound for praise and worship.” While all those sounds are present, the uniqueness of the band’s sound can be argued. In fact, Azuza rarely seems to wander outside the musical box into which most Messianic music these days fits itself.

“Songs of Passover” contains only four traditional and familiar Passover songs, and other artists have performed each of them better. Best advice? Focus on the nine original songs, which definitely fit the bill of praise and worship music. Skillfully weaving together themes of awe and gratitude, these songs proclaim the salvation and provision of the L-rd. Some judicious use of synthesizers in the background pays off, as evidenced by the trumpet on “Rejoice” and “The Horse and Rider,” which is also the most upbeat and interesting track on the album.

“Songs of Passover” is marred by some poor production values, which on some tracks creates a muddy swamp of sound out of which the male voices in particular struggle to get free.

The shame of it is that there are some truly interesting harmonies on tracks such as “Sing to the L-rd,” and it’s just impossible to appreciate them because of the sound quality. The same murky sound, as well as the over-use of reverb throughout the album, diminishes some more-thancompetent bass guitar by Bryan Wong, and stifles the really nice lead guitar work by Lee Underwood, particularly on “Prepare The Way,” and “The L-rd Reigns as King,” the one rocker on the album.

Azuza is a band with some potential, which unfortunately did not get fulfilled on this album. There are signs that they are moving towards fulfilling that potential on their second album…but that’s a review for another day.