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So are you comparing your worship album to that Sonicflood album? Do you think it stacks up?

Sumrall I think music in general has gotten a little bit heavier, especially in the Christian market, as far as the music you hear on the radio. So we hope this record has a similar effect that Sonicflood did. I hope it's kinda like the updated version of it, with heavier guitars, drop-D tuning, that kind of stuff. I hope the reaction is the same and people say, "Man, I've never heard worship done like this before!"

The critical response to Strong Tower has been quite negative. What do you say to the critics?

Sumrall It's not that big a deal. Honestly, every worship review I've ever seen, the critical comments are exactly the same. I look at the newsboys' worship record that's done really well, or the Jeremy Camp worship record that's done really well. And the critics pretty much have the same arguments and things to say about those records as they do our record. It seems like the critics always want everything new. Their job is to find flaws in a record.

What's wrong with critics wanting an album of originals? After all, doesn't David say, "I will sing to the Lord a new song"?

Sumrall But for a worship experience, it's impossible for people to worship if they don't have a clue what's going on. That's why we tried to balance that, by having songs that they could immediately recognize, and hopefully to get them excited about them in a new way. I've been to a lot of different churches—churches where I've pretty much known all the worship music, and churches where I didn't know any of it. For me, when I go to a church, but I don't know any of the songs, to me, that's not very worshipful.

What about artists who are committed to original expressions of worship? They remain mostly under the radar, while those who record "greatest hits" worship ride high on the charts. Aren't you stifling creative art by taking their shelf space?

Sumrall I don't think so. I think people buy the music that they like or want to hear. Honestly, some of these groups that are under the radar, it's just a matter of getting their music out there. When they do it, people will like it, get the CD, and listen to it. I know, for us, it was a battle on our first record to really get the word out there. In order to do well in music, you really have to have something in your sound to get people excited about it, so that friends may tell their friends about it. People just buy what they enjoy and want to hear.

What do you say to those who accuse you of jumping on a bandwagon?

Sumrall In the beginning we were a little bit hesitant to do this record, simply because there has been a worship explosion. But after praying about it, we decided to do it. We started out as a worship band, and hopefully, everything we do is glorifying to God and therefore worship. We wanted a different focus. We really thought people would enjoy it. And also we had a lot of fans ask us, "Man, when are you guys coming out with a worship album?" So it's a response to that as well.

Was there pressure from your label [BEC] to record a worship album?

Sumrall There was a bit of pressure from the label for us to do this. They definitely saw the result of Jeremy [Camp]'s record and thought, "Oh, why don't you guys do the same thing, too?" They definitely came to us with the idea, and that was one of the struggles we had as far as doing it. We really wanted to make sure our hearts were in the right place. We didn't just want to say, "Oh, this'll work! This'll sell!" So we spent some time with the band prayerfully considering what we should do. We came to the decision that this was a pure project, it's good timing, and it feels like something God would have us do right now.

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