Spirit rockers The Powerful Hand release self-titled EP

The spiritually minded rock titans from Missouri known as The Powerful Hand have released their capital new self-titled EP, “The Powerful Hand.” The record is comprised of five original tracks for a total playing time of 42 minutes, which technically qualifies their debut release as a full-length album, but it has been categorized as an extended play record as it contains a small number of individual songs. This shockingly powerful little collection is as appropriately titled as the band are, themselves, being a sonic representation of Judao-Christianity that thrills the soul of the heathen and the heavenly alike, its chords and phrases so evocative that the listener will feel chills, regardless of his or her theosophical viewpoint.

“The Powerful Hand” is a thing of much beauty. It has folk-rock guitars, electric guitars, cellos, banjos, loads of sonorous and raw vocals, and more. Its earnestness is enough to kindle warmth in the hardest heart. Their nearly twenty-minute closing anthem, “The Resurrection,” begins with a refrain that easily draws tears of awe as the lyrics are sung: “God so loved, so loved, so loved the world...” The entire record is like this. It floats. It soars. It is a triumphant representation of an omnipresent, omniscient and infinitely loving God that makes the great and pretentious cathedrals of Europe look shamefully self-interested by comparison.

In short, the album legitimately sounds divinely inspired.

The Powerful Hand list as main artistic influences some surprising artists, including some early emotional hardcore bands. In their own order, they list Earth, Mogwai, The Brilliance, Johnny Cash, and Jimmy Eat World (who also originated from the underground Christian music scene, but in Southern California). To this list, one could add The Meat Puppets and Pavement as their musical brethren, though The Powerful Hand tends to keep more mellow than even these.

Concerning the themes of their new record, TPH writes with introspection and obvious brilliance, “We’re ascetically-minded, but philosophically and theologically diverse, representing streams of faith from Eastern Orthodox, to Anglican, to Pentecostal, with a generous mix of weathered fervor and uncertainty between us. In one sense, our music exists as an exploration of unity in diversity and vicissitude.”

This mouthful boils down to something far more accessible to the casual music fan, however.

They conclude that, “Really, we’re just buddies who find time to make music between the hilarious ebb and flow of life and family.”

The gorgeousness of “The Powerful Hand” by The Powerful Hand is available online worldwide beginning spring of 2013.

-S. McCauley

Staff Press Release Writer

MondoTunes

The EP “The Powerful Hand” is distributed globally by MondoTunes (www.MondoTunes.com) and is available at iTunes for convenient purchase and download

MondoTunes (www.mondotunes.com) supplies the largest music distribution in the world and provides upstream services for many major labels in search of breakout artists. While most independent distributors reach only 45-50 retailers despite charging needless monthly and yearly fees, MondoTunes reaches over 750 retailers and mobile partners in over 100 world regions without any monthly or yearly fees.

ARTIST CONTACT INFO:

eMail -

MonarchRCRDS@gmail.com

website -

http://thepowerfulhand.bandcamp.com/

Twitter:

MonarchRCRDS