Hillsong United released their critically acclaimed new album, Zion, in February and officially kicked off the U.S. leg of their 'Welcome Zion Tour' in Portland on Sunday night.

Hillsong United plays tonight (4th) at the ShoWare Center in Kent,Washington right outside out Seattle and end this leg June 19th in Indianapolis,Indiana at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. 

After a two-year wait for the next original UNITED project, the band released the widely acclaimed studio project, Zion, which earned the international worship band its highest ever Billboard 200 debut at No. 5 . During street week, the 12th full-length album and third studio recording from UNITED peaked as the No. 1 album overall on iTunes in the United States, South Africa, Sweden, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Singapore, Ghana and Columbia in addition to reaching the Top 5 at iTunes in Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Switzerland, Uganda and Ecuador. Zion also debuted at No.1 on the Australian ARIA Albums chart making this album an international hit.

 "Everything we do as UNITED, from writing and recording these songs, to playing them in front of people and all the production, is an expression of a really extraordinary God doing what only He can do through really ordinary people who love Him and want to serve Him," frontman Joel Houston explains.

To label the new album as a fresh sound is to understate the originality that is Zion. It is noticeably different from past projects, yet it retains the indisputable feel of the band that has brought some of the world's most popular praise and worship songs to the Church. The result is a collection of songs that takes the listener to the core of passionate and uncluttered worship, where intensity intersects with intimacy. (via premierproductions)