Listening to Out of the Ruins can be frustrating at times, because it has the potential to be much better than it is.

It is not that Debbie Zepick and her fellow musicians are unskilled, it is the sound they create at times. You have the same people on the same instruments and end up with very different sounds, with very different results. There is Debbie Zepick (vocals, keyboards), Matt Day (keyboards, accordion), Martin Zinger (drums), Glenn Durksen (bass), Pat Spelrem (acoustic guitar), Eldon Winter (lead guitar, mandolin) and Hal Bruther (violin). Debbie Zepick's singing is wonderful, she has a nice high, clear voice.

The best way I can think of to describe the sound I dislike is "forced bounce," where the song is made to be upbeat and uptempo no matter what. This sound is found in four songs on the CD, too bad that three of them are the first five. (Those songs are "He Has Rescued All Creation," "Know When to Run," "God is Everywhere" and "I Will Stand.")

And then against that there are the rest of the songs where the instruments are allowed to sing, where the music flows smoothly and blends with the lyrics. Some of these songs are "Gray Mittens," "Moses' Farewell" and the title track, "Out of the Ruins." "Out of the Ruins" also closes the CD on a good note, and that is as much due to the depth of the lyrics as the sound of the song.

And yes, as some of the titles of some of the songs may have led you to guess, the songs are Christian songs. Some of the lyrics are more overtly religious than others, but the themes run in every song. OK, rephrase that, the only song that is not overt at one point or another is "Gray Mittens." And that only because it is a simple tale of love in action.

That said, if you are not a Christian or a seeker, you probably will not want to listen to the CD. It is also not quite good enough for me to recommend you picking it up in that case either. (Lyrics are half of a song and if you don't like those....) If you enjoy Christian folk-pop, then you might want to pick the CD up and give it a try. You should enjoy most of it, at the very worst.