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Following in the wake of a 5-song EP and 7-song worship album, _Within Sampler_, the latest effort from San Diego's Sisera Fell, consists of songs taken from three recordings made between 1999 and 2001.  Taking their name from the fourth chapter of the book of Judges, the quartet jumps out of the gate in fine fashion with the energetic ska-tinged worship number "Hannah's Prayer," following the opening track with a cache of songs that includes the equally perky folk/rock "Return," the beautiful acoustic ballad "The Waters of Noah" and the hauntingly mesmerizing best-of-album track, "Rise Up."  In much the same way, the band possesses a dexterity with words that equals or surpasses its enthusiastic musical delivery.  Indeed, songs like "Zug Zug" (It's not my fault/ I'm flesh and bone/ Consequences are not my own) and "Rise Up" (Don't want to see others gain/ So we make sure they fail/ Alone on the inside/ We wander this trail) display gripping turns of phrase and a surprisingly broad insight into human behavior, particularly given the relative youth of the group's members. 

The better part of the album's weaker moments can likely be relegated to the near-universal miscues that inform the work of the majority of indie artists just starting out.  Timing is lost here and there, songs occasionally run to the point of repetition, and the vocals sometimes swerve just sharp or flat of their intended notes.  In all fairness, though, such miscues are probably the stuff of first and second takes from any number of major-label artists.  And, indeed, the lion's share of Within's drawbacks are probably nagging kinks to be worked out rather than deep-seated flaws that threaten to mar the band's releases from this point forward.  To be sure, taken as a whole, the Within Sampler stands as a pretty fair first stab at a more widespread recognition and serves as an encouraging demonstration of nascent talent from a group that, even now, seems well on its way to developing a distinctive musical and lyrical identity.

Bert Gangl 3/20/2002

Not only does Sisera Fell take the high road in their latest CD, they intimately hug it. The road they travel is narrow and exceedingly rough. It is not an easy road to hug, for they must embrace that which they would rather eschew in shame. It is the same road psychoanalysts must travel with their patients. Along the way, they pass, and often stop to explore gulfs of guilt; gullies of grief; avenues of anxiety; valleys of dread; lagoons of longing; and caverns of conflict. Sisera Fell doesn't rush by any of these daunting geographical regions of the unconscious mind. Though they bear the scars of a fallen human race, Sisera Fell have securely grabbed the nail scared hand of their loving Savior, who reaches down in unspeakable compassion to their woefully fallen world. It is what they are grabbing a hold of that gives them the freedom to fall, and every time they fall, you can be sure that they're falling up.

"Hannah's Prayer," the first track on this musical trail of triumph, sets the tone for the entire album. It is lifted from scripture and is every bit as uplifting. It opens with "My heart rejoices in the Lord/in him my horn's exalted/I smile at my enemies/I rejoice in your salvation." Within this strident song is found a joy that can't be contained. It overflows in lines like "There is no one holy like the Lord/there is no one who compares to you." The appreciable spring in their stride and the contagious, bouncy rhythm in their strum continues throughout the piece. Then comes the line bound to make the fainthearted cringe-- "the Lord kills and makes alive." The Lord kills? The Lord kills?!!! The band doesn't miss a beat. They keep on singing and praising the God they know and love. For though they may not understand the mystery of it all, they are not troubled with those aspects of God that, on the surface, appear to conflict with His loving, compassionate, merciful nature. Even a somewhat seasoned, Christ-centered shrink like myself has a little trouble digesting these paradoxical elements of God's character, but in "Hannah's Prayer," Sisera Fell's ability to rise above this conundrum comes across as authentic and believable.

Sisera Fell continues to "fall up" on "Rise Up." In this song, ebullient joy turns to reflective worship and then to a reverent sense of resolve. This is the perfect worship song. Or is it? Much to my chagrin, I had not successfully interpreted this one. There is a Cakesque sprinkling of satire here, along with an inkling of irony, and a scintilla of sarcasm. At least that was the intention of Winter's songwriting partner, Derek Paulo. But though satire and sarcasm aimed at pointing to the futility of human striving apart from God (a phenomenon consistent with the psychological school of thought known as secular humanism) may have been the clandestine intention, the song works just as well, if not better, as an anthem. The melody is joyful, and reverent. There is more praise than petulance in this panegyric piece. I'm inclined to believe that listeners will perceive and embrace the song as such, just like Police fans embraced "Every Breath You Take" in the 80's as a love song, when it fact it was intended to make a sardonic statement about the oppressive nature of possessive "love."

"Zug Zug" boldly confronts the egregious epidemic of casual sex and attempts to inculcate a renewed reverence for the act, as God designed it, within the boundaries of marriage. While it may prick the conscience of the sexually promiscuous, it does not condemn the sinner. Rather, it challenges the notion that casual sex can possibly come without a price tag.

There is an abundance of admirable songs on Within. On the reflective number "When Life's Illuminated," vulnerable vocals combine with incandescent lyrics to bring all that is fleeting into brilliant perspective. Consider the line "You float like a feather in your world but you don't realize your time's cut short like a candle's flame/melting away." Lines like this make the things of earth "grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace," just like in that old hymn, "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus."

There is a modern folksy feel to many of the more "unplugged" numbers on Within. Winters and Paulo manage to use an alternative folk rock sound for both protest and praise, a feat that is comparable to Barry McGuire. Even though the acoustically dominated numbers are well-crafted, immensely edifying and delightfully enlightening, Sisera Fell shines even brighter on their harder-edged numbers: "Hannah's Prayer," "Rise Up," and "Zug Zug."

Describing each song one by one could never do justice to Within's overall theme. Sisera Fell have adopted a Christian phenomenological or existentialist view of the world unwittingly translating the highfalutin language of these philosophical schools of thought into everyday terms that we can all relate to. At the core of this perspective is the idea that truth is experienced through living out our salvation on a daily basis. While others seek for truth somewhere "out there," Siscera Fell delves deep within for answers. Their pungent disillusionment with outer-world philosophies that seek to explain life and people according to materialistic, strictly objective measures is succinctly expressed in the Sisera Fell song, "Philosophy." Through the power of the Holy Spirit, they are intimately in touch with their inner selves, which the outside world is not.

While the outside world offers only an old cage filled with a new rage, Sisera Fell, in Within, has turned over a new leaf and opened a fresh page. While other writers struggle to find the words, for Sisera Fell, the words are already contained in the scripture. They simply add their own unique personalities, rich experiences and personal perspectives. Their words are grounded in the word of God. How can you go wrong with a scriptural script?

Bruce L. Thiessen, Ph.D. 4/2/2002
a.k.a. Dr. B.L.T., The Song Shrink/Rock Doc