Artist: Duvall
Album: O Holy Night
Label: Asian Man Records
Tracks: 10
Length: 34:24
Review by: Phil Nichols

Merry Christmas, everybody! Yes, that's right, I am hereby wishing the Decapolis readership a merry Christmas on this, the first day of the first month in the year of our Lord two thousand and five. I can see it now: your eyes are wide; your jaws are dropping. "B-B-But Phil! You can't wish us a merry Christmas a week after our holiday festivities have ended! You are seven days too late!" But alas, you are being too rash in your accusations. What we are all forgetting is that Christmas is not a day, but a season. And according to the church calendar, it is traditional that we celebrate the Christmas season until Epiphany (the commemoration of the coming of the wise men). Thus, the tardiness of both my Christmas greeting and this review is not only opportune, but also theologically correct. Whether I am using the church calendar as a means of ecclesiastical elitism or as a way to justify the lateness of this review is something I will let the reader determine.

Now, I have two biases that I should probably get off my chest. The first: I like Christmas music. There are very few people in this world that get chills when they listen to 'Hark The Herald Angels Sing' or 'Come Thou Fount' (not a traditional Christmas song, but it should be). I am one of those people. I know. I'm strange like that. Secondly, I like Duvall. I was a fan of the Smoking Popes; I was a fan of God. Naturally, when one found the other (I'll let the Calvinists and Arminians among you determine who did what), I was ecstatic. I thoroughly enjoyed their previous effort Volume & Density; I thoroughly enjoyed their performance at Cornerstone; and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to sit down and do an interview with Duvall's front man, Josh Caterer earlier this summer. So, as one might imagine, when I heard news that Duvall was doing the unthinkable- I mean, honestly, how often do you hear about bands recording a full-length Christmas album? - I was anxious to hear it.

Essentially, O Holy Night is Duvall recording their own renditions of eight traditional and two original Christmas carols. Aesthetically, the album is very similar to Volume & Density and the previous Smoking Popes releases. The standout ingredient in the band's sound is (as always) Josh Caterer's vibrato crooning; everything else - the sing-a-long choruses, the rock n' roll guitar solos, the tight vocal harmonies - are all just icing on the proverbial cake.

Now I would love to go through and explain track-by-track the different things that I have enjoyed about this album for the past few weeks, but that would be tedious and not very interesting to read. However, I will point out a few of the highlights on O Holy Night:

The album's opener, Angels We Have Heard On High, grabs your attention right from the start and doesn't let you go. The song begins with a serene acapella intro, and then harmony vocals, and then BAM! A wall of distorted guitars, pounding drums, and Josh crooning the majestic chorus draws you in. They've got you right where they want you. The opening track then flawlessly fades into the steady rock rendition of Go Tell It On The Mountain.

One of the albums strong points is that the songs of differing tempos are spaced out well so that it does not get too repetitive or boring. Such is the case with O Holy Night. Now it seems to me that vocally, this song was written for Josh Caterer. The slower rock sound of the guitars mix very well with his upper range and create a welcome change of pace from the albums faster tracks.

Another change of pace is the band's version of O Come All Ye Faithful. The song is done in multiple part harmony and is completely acapella. For fans of Duvall's vocals this track is certainly a highlight as it showcases the tight harmonies and wide range that most of today's rock bands wish they could muster up.

And while it is more for sentimental purposes than for aesthetic pleasure, it was nice to hear a guest vocal performance from Josh's son, Elliot Caterer on 'Do You Hear What I Hear?'

Now it should be noted that this album is not for everyone. There are some people who absolutely detest Christmas music: they will not like this record. There are also some people who will write off Duvall as another pop-punk band without seeing the genius of their simple, yet effective instrumentation. This record was not made to shatter boundaries or to bring people to a new level of musical euphoria. O Holy Night is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ - something very few people grasp the significance of. And given the personal spiritual journey that this band has traveled thus far, this album becomes even more stirring. If you listen to O Holy Night expecting something that will change the face of music forever, you will be sorely disappointed. But if you listen to it as a means of celebrating an event on which all of the world -past and future - hinges upon, you will be pleasantly surprised and quite possibly uplifted.

The only thing keeping this album from getting a perfect score is that most of the songs' melodies and lyrics were already written. On most of the tracks the band just had to put their own personal touch on the song structures and vocal lines. I can not give this a perfect score for the same reason I would have trouble giving a really solid cover album a perfect score: the band did not have to endure the whole songwriting process for all of the songs. That said, there were really no other flaws that I could find on O Holy Night. I have had this album for a few weeks now and it has been in steady rotation in my home and car stereo. Also, because you are already familiar with eight of the ten songs, you can sing along with the disc without having to listen to it through a few times (and believe me, you will find yourself singing along). As stated, this album is not for everyone. But if you are a fan of velvet-voiced rock n' roll or even just Christmas music in general O Holy Night is well worth the $8 that Asian Man Records is asking for it on its website.

Merry Christmas.