The follow-up to 2003’s Cry Holy, This Generation (2005) sees Sonicflood entering a new season that includes welcoming new players, a season that frontman Rick Heil hopes will lead people to a definitive understanding that God’s heart is truly good.

It sounds obvious. After all, we learn about God’s goodness from our earliest days in Sunday school. “But in today’s Church, we have a tendency to doubt our Father’s heart,” Heil says. “Satan’s first lie was that God is holding back and He doesn’t care about us the way He says He does. Satan planted that seed of doubt in mankind back in the Garden.” Through the songs of This Generation, Heil & Co. hope to help uproot that seed.

This is also a season of celebration for Heil as he rejoices over being healed from Crohn's disease, a painful intestinal disorder he’s lived with for years. “Normally, you have it for life,” Heil explains, “but I was in the hospital in March and one of the top surgeons went through all my intestines and said there was no disease to treat.”

For so many years, Heil praised God through the pain. Now he’s thrilled to celebrate the way the Lord has given him back his health. No matter how he’s doing physically, though, Heil knows it’s easy to give in to doubt, to believe that God doesn’t have our best interests at heart.

“It’s something I struggled with throughout this illness and through relationships that have gone awry,” he admits. “When we buy into that, it’s easy to start blaming God for the pain or hurt in our lives.” That’s why Heil hopes that everyone who listens to This Generation will begin to truly trust God’s promise that He has a plan to prosper us and not harm us.

“I think worship is the strongest tool we have in fighting those negative messages,” Heil says, adding, “You are what you’re filled with. The great thing about music is it is always available. If you feel overwhelmed by this life, you can crank up the tunes and let the Lord minister to you and get refocused.”

To create an album that would help people refuel and refocus, Sonicflood called on three amazing talents to share production duties. Marc Byrd (City On A Hill: The Gathering) provided continuity from the last album, while Jim Cooper (Building 429, Across the Sky) and Dan Muckala (Mandy Moore, Joy Williams) rounded out the team. Each producer also contributed his significant songwriting talents.

One track, “The Prodigal Song,” written by Heil with Cooper and Regie Hamm addresses the choice each of us has to blame God or trust Him. “This song is just another reminder of how much He loves us and how we underestimate Him,” Heil says.

Heil also co-wrote “Never Forget You,” a track about healing that hits close to home. “It’s a reminder to never take for granted all he’s done for us,” Heil says. In fitting contrast, “You Are,” penned by Heil, Cooper and Chad Cates, simply celebrates all God is.

People underestimate this generation, Heil says, and that’s why you won’t find Sonicflood delivering a message that’s watered down. “We want to bring the truth and what’s real. Our enemy is hard at work. There’s no time to play around.”

Sonicflood At-a-Glance

Fast Facts:
- Sonicflood has two Dove Awards to it’s credit and four Top 10 radio hits, including “Cry Holy” and “Shelter”.
- Heil continues to lead Sonicflood backed by a new lineup that includes Bryan Willard (Matt Redman) on bass, Trey Hill (Everlife) and Jordan Jameson on guitars, and Ben Showalter (LaRue) doing duty on drums.
- Sonicflood has recently played several PromiseKeepers events. “It’s been phenomenal,” says Heil. “There’s just this release of power when you hear all these men singing these worship songs.”

Did You Know?:
- The doctor who treated Heil in Spring 2004, when his Crohn’s disease all but disappeared, was a Christian physician aptly named Dr. Church.
- Even with most evidence of Crohn’s disease gone, Heil still had some recovering to do after his last surgery. During the procedure, they opened up his entire stomach wall. As a result, breathing exercises were just part of a post-op regimen that found Heil in his basement, learning how to sing all over again.

All In the Family:
-Heil and wife, CeCe have a three-year-old daughter (Jaedyn) and a one-year-old son (Jordyn) who continue to teach them new lessons about The Creator. “Having both a little girl and boy has helped CeCe and I understand God’s plan and his affection for both men and women in the Church. I respond differently to each of my kids and they both bring different things out of me as well. That’s why corporate worship is so cool because when you bring all God’s people together of different races, nations and tongues, we’re all responding to God in a way that He absolutely adores and He’s responding back in a way that’s unique for each of us.”
-BTW, on top of being an amazing wife and mother, CeCe serves as Sonicflood’s business manager and attorney.
- When Heil has downtime, it’s family time. He can often be found with his kids at the “monkey mall,” a Nashville-area outlet mall that is kid-friendly.

On the Bookshelf:
- Lately, Heil has been reading Mahesh Chavda’s The Hidden Power of Prayer and Fasting.

Sonicflood Extras:
- “The things I desire to share with the people who come to our concerts is something meaningful, something real that’s useful,” Heil says. “Something they can sink their teeth into when times are screwed up, when life’s falling apart or when it’s going great.”
- While Heil’s condition had been steadily improving before surgery, he still sees God’s hand clearly in his latest diagnosis. “I’ve always said, ‘I don’t care how God heals me — He can do it through surgery or medicine, miraculously or slowly,’ and it’s been all of the above. I’m just celebrating God’s healing in my life.”
- Of a legalistic church experience when he was younger, Heil says, “You can’t entice anybody by giving them a list of dos and don’ts. It’s about love. Everybody needs love and God wants to set each of us down and gaze into our eyes and tell us we are the apple of His eye, who He desires to be with all of the time.”