Petra is Back! (Our Review of “Hope”)
23 years after their final album, Petra is back with 10 brand new songs! The band released Jekyll and Hyde back in 2003,1 and have been mostly dormant since. Yet a few years ago, they started doing a few shows here and there and that slowly morphed into an actual tour and whispers of new music. Well, the new music is here and it’s everything Petra fans could’ve hoped for.
When the band first announced they were working on a new album, I was a bit skeptical. Not because I distrusted Bob Hartman’s writing skill or the rest of the band’s talent, but let’s be honest – it had been 23 years and while the band ended on a high note with Jekyll and Hyde, the previous few albums before that were a steep drop from the band’s heyday. I had hopes but I was doing my best to not get ahead of myself.
Petra Delivers Hope
The first song Petra released for this record is the album closer, “Deliver Us”, which hit streaming sites a few months ago. It’s a solid, mid-tempo rocker with a timely message and a great full band sound. Even with the budding optimism, I did my best to keep my expectations low. I did have enough hope in the band that I pre-ordered the album. After a long, impatient wait, Petra released the album on streaming sites earlier this week. Simply put: my fears were completely unnecessary. While the album does not reach the highs of Petra’s best work, it’s far above their worst. And even at their worst, Petra has always been worth listening to.
Things start off with “Filthy Lucre”, a song that would feel right at home on Jekyll and Hyde. It has a crunchy, punch you in the face swagger and a classic Hartman guitar riff that leaves most other guitarists jealous and feeling sorry for themselves. Cristian Borneo (drums) and Greg Bailey (bass) anchor the track, and the whole album, with a rhythm section you can feel in your bones. And John Lawry’s return to the band is exactly what you would expect – adding keyboard and synth touches throughout. And while John Schlitt’s voice has been weathered in the years, his range is still impressive, and his grit and growl are deployed with exacting precision when needed.
Following the barn-burning opener, Petra slows things down a little with one of the strongest and most melodic rockers of the album, “Kiss the Coals”. The contrast between the strutting verses and the reach-for-the-heavens chorus is a delight. The only downside is that the guitar solo is way too short. (Mr. Hartman, don’t be afraid of long guitar solos. Channel your inner 80’s vibe and unleash another solo for the ages. The fans would all love it.)
The third track is what I would consider the only misstep, and it’s not because the song is bad, but because it’s such a huge stylistic shift. “Oxygen” has a Reggae vibe, if you can believe it. Lyrically, the song is as strong as anything else on the album, but the island sounds and Petra don’t mesh as well as everything else they do on this album. At least, that’s my take after listening to Hope a dozen or so times.
From this point forward, each song hits. Rocker “Skin in the Game” has been compared to “It is Finished” by some fans. I can see that, though “Skin in the Game” has a fuller sound, with the whole band getting to flex their rock and roll muscles. Following this is “We Rejoice in Hope”, which plays around with a “live” performance feel. The song is borderline punk, hearkening back to late 90’s sensibilities, just not Petra’s late 90’s sensibilities. It’s also the most worship-centric song on the album and it’s just an absolute blast. Lawry really shines here. I have a feeling this one is going to be great in concert.
The opening bass groove of “Miracle Maker” is worth the price of admission, yet the rest of the song holds its own just fine. Next up, “There Will Still Be a Dawn” is the first ballad on the album and it’s vintage Petra. Channeling No Doubt’s spirit, it’s one of the most beautiful songs Hartman has written in decades. After that, “Thorns” delivers another hard rocker, with prog-rock construction and a gigantic melodic scope. It’s another home run on an album with so many high points.
The penultimate track on the album is the second ballad, “Looking Back” which is gentle and lovely and contains some of the most heartfelt lyrics on the album. Hartman just opens his heart on this one. “Deliver Us” closes the album with the perfect energy. Hearing this song at the end of the album, instead of in isolation, makes all the difference. It went from a song that gave me a glimmer of hope that the band could recapture their previous glories to one of the strongest closing songs that band has ever produced.
Final Thoughts
While I didn’t delve into the lyrics in this review, Bob Hartman still has the goods. As to be expected, his lyrics are grounded in Scripture and laser focused. And refreshingly, the lyrics avoid any modern stylings or praise and worship fluff. There’s no navel gazing or prosperity gospel anywhere to be found. Instead, the songs are pointed – urging listeners to give themselves over to God’s will in every aspect of their lives. And even though Hope is not exactly a concept album, the hope of God saturates every song.
I love this album. I love that Petra gave us an album in 2026 that sounds like it could have been released almost anytime between 1995 and today. It’s the kind of album I wanted the band to make after Wake Up Call. Something that was clearly their heart music and not something that was an attempt to reach a younger audience. I think the band lost their way a bit toward the end, hoping to connect to a new audience, instead of trusting their instincts and simply making good music.
Hope is exactly that. It’s Petra with no record label filters, no self-doubt, no attempts at staying relevant. It’s my favorite Petra album since Wake Up Call came out in 1993. And it feels absolutely miraculous that we even have new music from a band that has meant so much to so many people. If this is the last new music we get from Petra, they’ve done something I didn’t think was possible. They have proven again that they are the gold standard in Christian rock.
50+ years, 25 albums, dozens of worldwide tours, and countless lives changed…
Petra still means rock.
- One could argue their album Farewell, was their actual final album, but it’s a live album so I think Jekyll and Hyde gets the nod here. ↩
- Petra is Back! (Our Review of “Hope”) - January 7, 2026
- A Defense of “A Christmas Story” - December 16, 2025
- A Comprehensive Guide to the Music of Future of Forestry - December 4, 2025
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Thank you for this review! I will look forward to listening to this project!
I’ve changed the song order for Petra’s album Hope. I feel it gives the album a more congruent Petra structure.
1. Filthy
2. Thorns
3. Skin
4. Deliver
5. Dawn
6. Kiss
7. Miracle
8. Oxygen
9. Hope
10. Back
Interesting. I’ll give your sequencing a shot, though I have to say I like the way the album is sequenced so I’m not sure how much it will improve my listening experience.