David Eugene Edwards is a more than intriguing man. From his tenor in the often criminally overlooked 16 Horsepower, Edwards has continued to create dark, brooding, and uncompromising music. In fact, while it's still not a very popular stance to sing spiritually themed music, the man from Colorado seems to be more and more bold in his lyrics, singing blatant songs of praise and worship, but packaged as dark hymns from the Great Awakening.

His imagery might be dark, but his message is hope. And on his third solo effort as Wovenhand, Edwards provides fans with his most accessible album yet. Mosaic seems somewhat insulated from the inside out. There is a warmth, like the warmth found inside a hollowed out snow bank when the wind is whipping outside, that weaves its way through each of the twelve tracks. Take the song "Truly Golden", it's quiet and reverent, housing such lines as, "I spin with the world/but it is no help to me"; but there is comfort in his disconnect. He isn't lamenting being separate, he holds happiness in it. And that's what makes these cold sounding songs warm an entire room, or heart.

After opening with a short instrumental build, the album drops into the crashing crescendo of "Winter Shaker". The song finds Edwards belting out, "Still living on Indian land/I clap my dirty hands/given over to self and left to own devices/a quaking in the person/all His glory/all His glory", amidst a circular sweep of guitars and drums. In top form, this Wovenhand album is as strong as any in the 16HP catalog. And while Edwards' music hasn't progressed by leaps and bounds over the last eleven years, his isn't a sound that needs to be played with. His songs are more about feeling than they are about musical arrangement.

Edwards might seem a bit unorthodox. Biblical references run heavy through his songs, yet most of the church going crowd would never find his music "comforting". Oddly enough, he has found a dedicated audience within a diverse sect of music fans. Maybe that can be credited to his magnificent songwriting abilities. Maybe it's the way he draws in the attentive ear with his story like lyrics. Or maybe it's the most effective form of evangelism the concert going public has ever heard.