ByTheWayFriday: Proto Evangelion - Dimly Lit

So all day I rode around in the company car praising God and rocking out at the same time. For this ByTheWayFriday post, therefore, I think it makes sense to do our first CD review of Proto Evangelion's Dimly Lit. 

The record starts with All Creatures of Our God and King, of St. Francis of Assisi fame, beginning with a riff that would be just as fitting for the intro of a Death Cab for Cutie song. Riley Taylor's voice sounds very Seattle (in the same way Ben Gibbard's does) throughout Dimly Lit, but by the end of the record we realize that it's pep is really just a mixture of Northwestern accent and enthusiasm for the Lord.

I could really go on and on in my excitement about this CD, but I don't want to ruin it for you, so I'll only review two more songs: the old Sojourn favorite In the Shadow of the Glorious Cross, and a Proto original, I Have Seen the Resurrection of the Dead. 

In Proto's version of Brooks Ritter's In the Shadow, the listener is led into what is essentially a lyrical lament of the sinful human condition by the ghostly and mournful plucking of the classic Seattle telecaster sound. Soon after, Taylor's stark (and very enunciated) voice leads us through the verses of a song we are used to hearing be wailed. Between each chorus/verse interchange, Proto makes time to rock, and by the end of the song we are positively crying out to God and thrashing around the car...Oh wait that was probably just me.

In contrast with the indie sound of most of the old hymns, Resurrection of the Dead starts with a kind of fireside strum and leads into a very moving chorus backed up by the kind of "wall of sound" ambient guitars we usually hear on a Radiohead single. The bridge of the song positively screams "How can I serve you my master, how will I love you as I ought? O to have touched the holes in your hands, O to have seen the risen Lord!" with crashing cymbals and burning guitar lines that beg the listener to go and make disciples in their enthusiasm. 

From what I understand, Proto Evangelion is the worship band for Calvary Fellowship in Seattle. Their name means "first gospel" and comes from Genesis 3:15 where God proclaims the message of salvation for the first time: "And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."

1. All Creatures of Our God and King

2. Before the Throne of God Above

3. Resurrection of the Dead

4. In the Shadow of the Glorious Cross

5. Inheritor

6. What Wondrous Love is This

7. Be Still My Soul

8. The Saviour Calling

9. The Love of God

10. Let Our Voices Rise Like Incense

http://calvaryfellowship.org/audio