Known for their ability to engage church audiences of all ages and worship traditions, Deluge calls Baton Rouge’s Bethany World Prayer Center home. Not only do the band members attend Bethany, “frontman” Jonathan Stockstill serves as Bethany’s lead pastor, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather in service to the church.  Hailed by ChristianityToday.com for their “rock-solid musicianship” and “inventive, hard-to-peg style,” Deluge first caught the attention of music critics and fans with the release of their self-titled Integrity Music debut in 2008. Two years later, the band returned with Unshakable, an album filled with songs inspired by faith-trying testimony. Now the band offers up Swell, a 12-track album produced by Brent Milligan (Steven Curtis Chapman/Audio Adrenaline) that features all new songs recorded live at the church’s annual 220 Conference. The project includes songs written by Deluge’s Stockstill, Andrae Harrison and more

As a worship leader, I am not what you would call normal. I am not a fan of much if any mainstream ‘radio’ worship. I have nothing against those types of worship albums, but they don’t stimulate me through the full hour. Usually there is one song that stands out. This is partially because I tend to be a more independent person, but also because I come from what most would call a ‘charismatic’ church; though I never cared for that term as it doesn’t accurately describe me or my church. I say that to give some background to this review. It is hard for a worship album to really knock my socks off, but it seems like 2010 is becoming the year for it to happen. The recent release of Gungor’s ‘Beautiful things’ was phenomenal, and I had nothing negative to say on it. I have already incorporated much of it into my weekly worship services. ‘Unshakable’ by the Band Deluge is another album that impressed me greatly, though there are some things I felt could be changed. The more