Profits (of the non-financial sort), Kings, Salvation and Faith pervade the lyrics of Behold! The Unseen from The Pit That Became a Tower, the sonic outlet for singer/songwriter Adam Lee Rosenfeld, an American Messianic Jew living in Israel.

The Pit That Became a Tower play the kind of indie rock that permeated the college radio airwaves of late '80s and early '90s. Rosenfeld likely spent many an hour with lo-fi bedroom rockers Sebadoh, Guided By Voices, et al. cranked to 11 whilst pouring over the pages of Book Your Own Fucking Tour or perhaps the less heathenly titled The Musician's Home Recording Handbook. As such, there is a definite Pollard-esque tinge to Rosenfeld's vocals, particularly on tracks like Of Lying Lions and the pure pop bliss of the opener, Great Grandfather Alarm Clock, which clocks in at a mere 2 minutes and masterfully employs male/female harmonizing over Mascis-like riffs.

Several of the even shorter tracks from Behold! The Unseen, including The Fifth Beatle, Between Fools (and Kings) and the title track Behold! The Unseen show flickerings of the patented sub two minute GBV/Tall Dwarfs variety and work well as interstitials between the more traditional verse chorus verse numbers. Unfortunately, King Wrong and The Pit That Became a Tower both exceed the 7 minute mark and begin to devolve into a bit of self-indulgent “influences on sleeve” wankery that typically works live, but rarely in recordings.

The success of labels like Tooth&Nail and acts like Sufjan Stevens and to a lesser extent Brother Danielson (and his Sounds Familyre famile) has certainly paved the way for a greater acceptance of Christian-tinged* indie rock and Behold! The Unseen, both an homage to a time and a place, definitely has the potential to introduce the sub-genre to a wider audience.

See Also: The Pit That Became a Tower