Sea of Faces — Kutless

Kutless's Sea of Faces came out on BEC Recordings on 24 February 2004. It was eleven tracks running about thirty-eight minutes (38:12), produced by Aaron Sprinkle at Compound Recording in Seattle. Jon Micah Sumrall sang, James Mead played rhythm guitar, Ryan Shrout played lead guitar, Kyle Zeigler played bass — his first album with the band — and Kyle Mitchell played drums. Brandon Ebel was executive producer. J.R. McNeely mixed it. Brian Gardner mastered it. The record sits on the metal shelf here — Christian alternative and hard rock from the mid-2000s Pacific Northwest lane, the same broad shelf as Pillar and Disciple's harder work.

It peaked at No. 97 on the Billboard 200 — the band's first appearance on that chart — and No. 3 on Billboard Top Christian Albums. Singles included Treason (No. 1 on ChristianRock.net), Sea of Faces, Not What You See and It's Like Me. All the Words later turned up on the Scrubs episode "My Bright Idea". Ryan Clark of Demon Hunter guest-screamed on Let You In, with Benjiman on guest vocals on the same cut. In 2005 the album was nominated for Rock Album of the Year at the 36th GMA Dove Awards — a nomination, not a win. It scores a 7/10.

What you're hearing

Not What You See opens the record blazing — Jesus Freak Hideout's Josh Taylor (29 February 2004) heard that first punch before the rest of the album settled into something softer and more melodic than the self-titled debut. AllMusic's Steve Losey heard the same spit-shine on Not What You See and Treason, both rockers that still sound like singles first. All Alone and Better for You keep the mid-tempo drive before the title track arrives.

Sea of Faces is the piano-and-acoustic turn Losey called poignant — the emotional center of the middle stretch. Let You In brings Clark's scream and Benjiman's guest vocal without turning the record into a guest-spot parade. Passion holds the lane. Perspectives (JFH printed it as Perspective) is the verse-chorus hook both reviewers flagged. Treason is the ChristianRock.net No. 1 — radio-shaped and mean enough to clear a room. All the Words carries the sincerity Losey praised and the TV placement that kept the song in living rooms after the album cycle. Troubled Heart bridges into It's Like Me, the introspective closer.

Taylor's read was cooler than Losey's. He heard clearer, louder Christian lyrics and less of the Creed comparison that stuck to the debut, and he praised Perspectives, Treason and All the Words. He also said the hard edge got lost in the melodies — a good release that fans of the debut's grit might want more from. Losey went warmer: Sprinkle's production, the spit-shined rockers, the title track's piano, Perspectives' verse-chorus craft, All the Words' sincerity and It's Like Me's introspection. He called it a rock masterpiece and said the band delivered the goods. Those two lanes — JFH's cooler take and AllMusic's boost — are how the record still argues for itself.

How it was made

The Portland five-piece cut the album with Aaron Sprinkle at Compound Recording in Seattle — the same producer and same era as Demon Hunter's Summer of Darkness. BEC put Sea of Faces out in February 2004. Zeigler was the new bass voice on the credits. Ebel executive-produced. McNeely mixed. Gardner mastered. Singles rolled through Christian rock radio: Treason topped ChristianRock.net, with Sea of Faces, Not What You See and It's Like Me behind it. The Dove Rock Album nomination landed at the 36th GMA Dove Awards in 2005 — hardware adjacent, not hardware won. All the Words left the record and went into Scrubs, which is a strange and perfect mid-2000s placement for a sincerity ballad. The metallic edge of the debut softened into Sprinkle's melodic hard-rock polish without pretending the band had invented a new lane.

Where the score lands

It gets a seven because the chart foothold and the songs still hold, and because the cooler desk was not wrong. A first Billboard 200 peak at No. 97, a Christian Albums No. 3, a ChristianRock.net No. 1, a Dove Rock Album nomination and a Scrubs placement are real mid-2000s numbers for a BEC Portland hard-rock record. Losey's "rock masterpiece" line is the high-water praise. Taylor's charge that the hard edge got lost in the melodies is the fair brake. So why not an eight? The nomination without the Dove win, the softer overall shape versus the debut, and JFH's cooler read keep it off the shelf where Disciple's Dove-winning Scars Remain sits. Why not a six? The Billboard debut, Treason, the title track, Not What You See and Sprinkle's Compound sessions earn the seven.

Watch

Not What You See leads with its official music video. Behind it is the official Sea of Faces video from 2004, newly remastered in HD.

Where this album sits on Loud Faith

Christian hard rock out of Portland in 2004 was a real radio and chart fight, not a side project. Sea of Faces put Kutless on the Billboard 200 for the first time, climbed to No. 3 on Christian Albums, sent Treason to No. 1 on ChristianRock.net, drew a Dove Rock Album nomination and put All the Words on network television. It belongs on the metal shelf here next to the other mid-2000s hard-rock records. Not What You See leads the videos, with Sea of Faces right behind it.