Eva O
Damnation
Reviewed by Doug Van Pelt
Much like Saviour Machine, I really like Eva O's music for the pop radio singles she churns out! If you know anything about the fore-mentioned bands, you know that I'm being sarcastic. This album, which is Part One of a two-part concept, is a "Sit Down and Listen in one Sitting" experience. What makes this album difficult is the same reason it was not picked up for US retail distribution in the CBA market thus far - it's a stark expression of Eva O's testimony. It doesn't sound like she's watered down where she came from and what kinds of lies she believed in before finding Jesus the Truth.
As its title implies, Damnation uncovers the thoughts that bind those headed for destruction. Eva's voice sounds like it speaks with the authority of a rough life. The well-timed sampling and eerie keyboards synchronize to achieve a very believable atmosphere.
It's cool to see such a diversity in this music, from the darkwave elements of keyboards everywhere behind Eva's voice, to the world beat percussion, to the metal gothic industrial guitar elements. This is a gothic rock opera to be experienced. Hollywood producers would be amiss not to use some of this material for a new movie soundtrack.
Quite a bold move for any artist, but especially an evangelical who is putting so much at stake in the realistic portrayal of the "negative-sounding" side of the message of salvation, which is the certainty of judgement. The thinking person will see the majority of this first-person rhetoric as false-thinking. It's risky to release this album independently from the accompanying Answer to the lies expressed here, even though it's obviously couched in a bad-guy role. Some people just prefer to be spoon-fed and have it all explained to them. This will be one of those albums that is understood by those who listen, and rejected by those who barely look under the surface in an attempt to confirm their hunch that, "this chick just looks too weird to be of God."
The last track adequately brings resolution to this project alone, though, as Eva declares, "I stand before His light / Not what we say, but what He says is right / Nothing is hidden, it's all exposed / He endured the pain, and carries all the load / In His light I became broken . . . I am His child . . . Jesus is the King of Kings / Jesus is the Lord of Lords. . . He will cleanse you from your sins." And thus ends Part One of Eva O's testimony put to music. I can only imagine what glory awaits in Part Two - Salvation.