by Sam Milord
The CCM and Gospel arena has been long-plagued with stereotypes of sounding generic and bland. The faces of Gospel have seemingly been the same over the past couple of years and new artists that come into the scene seem to just imitate the sound. However, that doesn’t hold true for the Long Island natives, “The Broken-Chainz Band”. In their debut album “Sound of War, Cry of Freedom” they seek to impact lives through a new sound called Freedom Music, and they accomplish just that.
The album begins with an epic intro-monologue entitled, “Freedom Speech” reminiscent of a commander inspiring troops for battle. The speech is backed by ocean waves, and strong winds accompanied by army drums and the powerful vocals of Saeed Renaud, which encompasses the intensity of the bands’ sound. The album then kicks off with the Broken Chainz lead single, that gained the band a following in the UK, "Freedom Cry", quickly followed by another song of desperation “Musicians Cry”. The album then goes into “Broken Glass”, which seems to have strong “third-single potential”. Renaud takes full lead on this song, pushing forth heartfelt emotions through his voice in lyrics such as “I didn’t want to let it go, I thought that your love was replaceable, but now I know, put me back together”.
The album’s standout track in my opinion would be “Cross Anthem”. The song begins with an infectious guitar line that carries out through the first half of the song, turning a tune beloved by church mothers everywhere into a fist pumping head banger. Broken Chainz deserves top-notch musical accolades for turning the beloved hymn “At the Cross” into a song that one could, dare I say, dougie too?! The song is then mashed with rhymes from band front-man, ”Juice” Alexidor, concluding with a pad/synth heavy climax. It’s a 5-star track that you have to hear for yourself.
Though Broken Chainz’s musical style is predominantly edgy, the album has its fair share of worship tracks. The song “Merciful God” is a heart-rending song reflecting on God’s eternal enduring mercies. It’s a song that is a must-have in any church’s worship repertoire. Renaud’s smooth vocals are once again perfect on this track. Also worthy of note the steady but catchy anthem “We are the Chosen”, featuring the unique, soul piercing vocals of the Rock Righteous Queen, Jovita Sheppard. Sheppard does the track justice, with a voice purposed to bring anyone struggling to realize that they are more than conquerors.
“Sound of War, Cry of Freedom” is an album that will be played over and over again from start to finish. There is no track that can be overlooked. The band has truly put together a piece that is strong both musically and lyrically. Broken Chainz has released a new sound that everyone needs to catch and download the album on iTunes. FIST IN THE AIR!!!!!
