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This is 'Liberation through Amplification.'
In
the last five years or so we’ve seen a new wave of mathcore bands appear with a
decent amount of underground support. Just as it’s becoming increasingly
difficult to stand out amongst the crowd we have Dead Hour Noise come at us with
their debut full length. The Michigan
band employs the dissonant chords and hardcore chugs that we expect from the
genre but they do it with creativity and sincerity that separates them from the
Dillinger
and Every
Time I Die worship that’s so common.
The
grooves are, well, groovy and the riffs are hooks that push the songs forward
as they flow into each other in a fashion that is rather exciting to listen to.
Often the tracks will twist and turn about similar to a rollercoaster ride.
Still, Dead
Hour Noise don’t play the ‘fun’ or ‘sassy’ kind of mathcore (the
kind with silly song titles and gang vocals). The music is dark, the vocals are
fierce, and although the riffs are catchy they still carry a sense of unease to
them. Part of this feeling comes from the range of ideas on display. Some parts
have blast beats, others focus on a mid tempo groove, and as the album
progresses we get slower, sludgier, and more experimental tracks. The contrast
keeps the album alive and interesting as the band manages to avoid
predictability while staying neatly within their subgenre.
Besides
the thoughtful song writing, my highest regards go to the tight musicianship on
display as technical and thoughtful as it is. Multi-tracked guitars sound
natural, every note and harmony comes clear as day thanks to excellent mixing,
and every instrument sounds punchy. There is a lot of energy captured in this
recording and the snarling, raspy vocal style fits perfectly on top of the
bouquet of metallic hardcore riffage.
“Sleeping
Dogs”
is an album that feels like an album. The tracks flow so well together and the
range of ideas makes it feel like a concise whole that tells a story rather
than a collection of individual parts attached. I hope to see Dead Hour Noise
live someday soon and I also hope to see them grow so that they are mentioned
alongside the other mathcore/metalcore bands lately gaining traction such as Seizures
and meth.
Longevity is a key factor to most things these
days.The ability to keep going, keep
innovating, and keep enthusiastic about what you’re doing as the years drag on
are difficult things to maintain, especially in this dark new millennium of
ours.
It’s heartening, then, to discover that US
metalcore quintet The
Acacia Strainare
still with us.Not only with us, but
still creating music that shatters windows and brutalises your brickwork.Nice to see that, even in these tumultuous
times, some things remain the same.
At the tail-end of 2019, Vincent Bennett and
company released “It Comes in Waves”, through record label
Closed Casket Activities.This is their ninth album, following on from
2017’s “Gravebloom” (check it out as well, it’s great).Unlike previous offerings, however, “It
Comes in Waves” feels like the band casting off from the port of
metalcore, and exploring the Seven Seas of Metal.Intrigued?You have every right to be.
I’m by no means saying that The Acacia Strainhave abandoned their
roots: not at all, in fact.What I am
saying is that they’re taking their own style, and combining them with new
elements, to create what feels like a concept album.At seven songs and just about thirty minutes
long, it’s designed to be listened as one piece of music; even the track names
themselves spell out the sentence ‘Our Only Sin Was Giving Them Names’.Your listening experience won’t be impeded if
you just have one song on the go at a time – they all rip – but it’s better if
you give “It Comes in Waves” the time it deserves to crash
against your eardrums.
After 19 years of the full-on, laser-guided metal
attack that The Acacia
Strainnormally
puts out, to have this piece of work created by them is not only surprising,
but heartening.It’s a piece that deals
with the themes of deities, of quantifying the unquantifiable aspects of gods,
and the overall belief that gods happily play games with the lives of humanity
for their own twisted amusement.
Throughout the album, elements of doom, death, and even
prog metal are present in the metalcore mix.The music created is that strange, invigorating blend of audio assault
that makes you excited to find out what twists and turns your eardrums will be
subjected to next.If you’re expecting
2010’s “Wormwood” (like I was), prepare yourself for a
shock.A nice shock, at that.
Invigorating and, dare I say it, innovative, “It
Comes in Waves” is The
Acacia Straintraversing
new waters and finding fresh depths to not only their musical style, but also
to their own creative abilities.
River Black’s self-titled release
picks up right where Burnt by the
Sun’s “Heart of Darkness” left off, the riffs and instrumentation are
crushing, as well as vocalist Mike Olender being the best he has ever been, For
anyone who enjoys Metal and hardcore at its finest will find this record to be
of their choosing.
“River Black” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1.
Jaws
2. Honor
3. Low
4. Shipwreck
5. River Black
6. South x South
7. Boat
8. Move
9. #Victim
10. Haunt
11. Sink
12. Everywhere
The Review:
River Black’s self-titled
release picks up right where Burnt by the Sun’s “Heart of Darkness” left off in ways that are both impressive and
terrifying. The positives are that the riffs and instrumentation are crushing,
as well as vocalist Mike Olender
being the best he has ever been. The terrifying element is that the lyrical
continuity between “Heart of Darkness”
and “River Black” indicates the human
condition has only grown worse in the band’s absence. Fans of Burnt by the Sunwill not
only welcome this new record, but also be blown away by the progression of River Black’ssound.
The
album gets off to a pummelling start from the get-go with “Jaws” and “Low” are riff-oriented
tracks very reminiscent of the “Soundtrack
to the Personal Evolution” era of Burnt
by the Sun. The album takes a turn in the middle with the self
titled track and “South x South”.
These songs show a more matured band exercising restraint and understanding the
best qualities of their sound. It is the little things that make such an
impact; particularly with the double kick pattern and the string arrangements
on “South x South”, you see the
growth still capable within this band. As mentioned previously, Mike Olender’s vocals are nothing short
of spectacular. With “River Black”, the listener really gets the sense
of a man who has had many life experiences between his studio albums.
Particularly with songs like “Haunt”
and “#Victim”, you get the sense Mike is not only a seasoned lyricist,
but has completely mastered his craft as a metal vocalist.
For
anyone who enjoys Metal and hardcore at its finest will find this record to be
of their choosing.
“Godless Prophets
& the Migrant Flora” finds an exact middle ground between the elegant
melodicism of Darkest Hour’s earlier work and the feral muscle of their
previous album. The mixture is sure to please nearly all fans of the band, both
old and new.The result is twelve tracks
that simultaneously capture Darkest Hour at both their most tuneful and their
most assailing.
“Godless
Prophets & the Migrant Flora” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1. Knife in the Safe Room
2. This Is The Truth
3. Timeless Numbers
4. None Of This Is The Truth
5. The Flesh & the Flowers of Death
6. Those Who Survived
7. Another Headless Ruler of the Used
8. Widowed
9. Enter Oblivion
10. The Last of the Monuments
11. In The Name Of Us All
12. Beneath It Sleeps
The Review
Since
Darkest Hour strayed
from their melodeath roots in favor a more commercial metalcore sound on their
self-titled, eighth album in 2014, many new fans have flocked to the band’s
base. However, older fans of their melodic death metal sound have been
nervously twiddling their thumbs about what this would mean for the future of Darkest Hour’s
direction. That future arrives in the form of the Washington, D.C.
based quintet’s ninth LP, “Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora”,
their first original release for Goatsnake/Sunn O))) guitarist Greg Anderson’s label
Southern Lord
Recordings. It is also their first album to feature Converge
guitarist Kurt Ballou behind the soundboard, and if the names associated with
this album seem like they might be sending mixed messages about the album’s
stylistic direction, that’s because they are.
“Godless
Prophets & the Migrant Flora”finds
an exact middle ground between the elegant melodicism of Darkest Hour’s earlier
work and the feral muscle of their previous album. The mixture is sure to
please nearly all fans of the band, both old and new. The vibrant, flowing
guitar leads definitive of the band’s classic material reintroduce themselves
on “Godless
Prophets & the Migrant Flora”, which may be partially due to the
return of former guitarist Kris Norris, who, while not a full member of the
band again, does perform additional guitar layering on the album. “Godless
Prophets & the Migrant Flora” also sees vocalist John Henry return
to a style more closely approximating his work on early Darkest Hour, albeit
a tad harsher and more martial.
These
elements of Darkest Hour’s past works float atop an
amalgam of their newer, metalcore influenced sound. The elements of classic
melodeath that the band always impeccably recreated are set to a backdrop of
vicious aggression that provide a new kind of edge to Darkest Hour that one
never noticed was missing before. This is perhaps best exemplified by the
album’s tenth and possible standout track, “The Last of the Monuments”, which
mixes nimble guitar work, infectious melodies and ferocious attitude. “Godless
Prophets & the Migrant Flora” truly finds the best of both worlds
that Darkest Hour has
ventured into, removes them with a scalpel, and then slaps them onto a new
musical canvas. The result is twelve tracks that simultaneously capture Darkest Hour at both
their most tuneful and their most assailing.
“Godless Prophets &
the Migrant Flora”is available preorder/buyhere
The band deliver a breathless mix of Converge at
their most knotty, mixed with a distinctly European brand of screamo/chaotic
hardcore that hits hard. These tracks are really brought to life by some
frantic, complex drum work that channels the spirit of Ben Koller.“Your Mess As Much As Mine” is a brief but
brilliant release from Oak that shows the band are more than capable of holding
their own against the heavyweights of the genre.
“Your Mess As Much As Mine” DD//LP
track listing:
1). Broken
Bodied
2). Garden
3). For
Better or Worse
4).
Elsewhere
5). Family
and Friends
The Review:
Oak’s new EP “Your
Mess As Much As Mine” may only be seventeen minutes long but it makes a
strong impact over its short duration.
The
Gothenburg trio come out of traps hard with the fierce opening trio of “Broken
Bodied”,“Garden” and “For Better or Worse”. The band
deliver a breathless mix of Converge at their most knotty, mixed with a
distinctly European brand of screamo/chaotic hardcore that hits hard. These
tracks are really brought to life by some frantic, complex drum work that
channels the spirit of Ben Koller.
“Elsewhere” sees the band ease up on
the gas while maintaining high levels of spite. It’s a slower track that sees Oak
introduce elements of noise rock and culminates in a crushing doom riff that is
eventually overpowered by a rising tide of raw noise. “Family and Friends”
provides a fitting end to the EP, five minutes of intensity that brings
together the different elements explored over the previous tracks for a raucous
finale.
“Your Mess
As Much As Mine”
is a brief but brilliant release from Oak that shows the band are more than capable
of holding their own against the heavyweights of the genre.
The idea of Decades Apart is pretty simple. I’ll choose 5
different albums from 5 different decades and I’ll share a little information
about them and hopefully you’ll check them out if you haven’t already. Today
is 1971,
1981,
1991,
2001
and 2011. Whilst some these albums may not all be
considered classics, they’re certainly amazing records. So be sure to check it out.
Hawkwind
-
'In Search of Space' (1971)
Growing
up in the '80s I heard the name Hawkwindoften enough but never took the time to
listen to them. As far as I knew they weren't a metal band, more some kind of
hippie jam band with keyboards, which was a major turn-off when I was obsessing
over Celtic Frost, Prong and
Voivod. They seemed so twee, almost laughable in the face
of the epic speed and heaviness of 'To
Mega Therion' or 'Dimension Hatross.
Of course, once Soundgarden and Mudhoney
came along it suddenly seemed alright to look backwards for inspiration, and
when Monster Magnet released “Spine of God” and started mentioning Hawkwind in every interview I thought it might be time for
a reassessment. I bought a double cassette compilation and dived in.
Trying
to consume so much Hawkwind at once is
sheer madness and the compilation leapt around in terms of chronology so I
thought I'd work out where to start and go from there. A tuned-in workmate was
so excited to be asked for Hawkwind
recommendations that he gave me a vinyl copy of 'In Search of Space' along with some valuable advice for ideal
listening conditions. To this day I still get the same feeling of foreboding
when the opening strains of 'You
Shouldn't Do That' seep out of the speakers. To have the confidence to open
with a 15 minute epic speaks volumes of just how mind expanding Hawkwind truly are/were, and to this day no-one has really
done anything that comes close. Ultra creepy, doom laden, tribal, kosmich and
totally confusing at the same time. What's more, there's nothing of the peace
and love of American west coast psych here at all. Hawkwind
were raw, tough and incessant. I had to check the record label to see how long
that song was, it felt like it was as likely to be three minutes as thirty.
Totally transcendental. They didn't let up either with 'Master of the Universe ' rivalling Sabbath
for pure power, and 'Adjust Me'
setting an early template for noise rock twenty years before anyone was even
thinking about it.
Like
Sabbath, really nothing sounded the same at the time, or
since, and I can't begin to imagine how alien this record must have sounded in
'71. Hawkwind's legacy has been tainted by
inconsistent line-ups and releases, along with a slew of tenth rate copyists
posturing as psych-rock, but there's no doubt in my mind that if the band had
finished after 'Hall of the Mountain
Grill' they'd be revered in the same light as Sabbath, Zeppelin and all the other Titans of the era. This record
still stands up like few others. This is your Captain speaking. Your Captain is
dead
Van
Halen
– “Fair Warning” (1981)
In
1981 an album that in my opinion is the epitome of the Van Halen
sound was released, “Fair Warning”.
Sheer gravitas. For my money, each track holds its weight in groove,
riffs, musicianship and straight up ass kicking swagger from David Lee Roth.
What in my humble opinion always gets lost in a lot of their albums and I feel
especially on this body of work is how amazing the percussion is. “Dirty
Movies” is a lesson in full on boogie till the fucking cows come home,
sleep in the barn and prance back out to the pasture to graze.
“So This is
Love”,
forget about it. How many T Tops had this song blitzing from their 8 track
stereos, meanwhile, engines growled like a Rottweiler in heat. The key is the
smoothness of the Ted Templeman production, the sonic sexiness of the virtuoso
himself, Eddie Van Halen. The tonality
and growl of his axe is more potent than any espresso ever brewed.
I
remember my buddyJim Delosh playing this for me and Vaugh Fachette's dad
blaring “Sinner's Swing”, before
going fishing. So if you are feeling sentimental,
and have a 3 quarter t shirt In your drawer please put it on, get one foot out
the door and become “Unchained”.
Soundgarden -“Badmotorfinger”(1991)
Having
recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, Soundgarden
helped unshackle the band of their grunge tag with ‘Badmotorfinger’. While draped in that archetypal grittiness which
helped characterise the movement and genre bursting from their hometown of
Seattle at the time, this album was representative of a band outgrowing their
early sound, building on their blues laden, doomy template with an intrinsic
experimentalism which they learnt to perfect on ‘Superunknown’.
Indeed,
while it was that succeeding album that helped skyrocket the band, breaking
them to the masses with massive singles in ‘Spoonman’, ‘Fell on Black
Days’ and ‘Black Hole Sun’, its
older brother has grown into something of an underrated, cult classic. The
melancholy chaos of ‘Rusty Cage’ -
lovingly covered by Johnny Cash some years
later - and the 7/4 thump of ‘Outshined’
(a pre-cursor to ‘Spoonman’, which
is also in 7/4) make a moody and impenetrably iconic introduction to a record
which, while its style and feel may receive seismic shifts throughout, never
lets up. Its diversity is its greatest gift, riffs leaping out at you from the
dark when you least expect it, psychedelia then whisking you away from the
punches.
They
showed with this album a sharp and intelligent level of song writing, from the
genius lyrics of Chris Cornell (“I’m
looking California/but feeling Minnesota” and “share a cigarette with
negativity”) to Kim Thayil’s nasty, unconventional approach to guitar
playing, it may not be an album hugely revered, but that is in no way a
representation of its quality. There is a progressive mindset driving the
record, their playfulness with less common time signatures and often obscure,
unnerving note choices defining it as something of an ugly beast. But why
should rock music be pretty?
‘Slaves And Bulldozers’, ‘New Damage’ and ‘Holy Water’ are packed to the rafters with titanic doom riffs which
snarl and growl like an animalistic Tony Iommi. The short and savage punk of
Ben Shepard’s ‘Face Pollution’ and
the bastardised, brass-tinged classic rock of Matt Cameron’s ‘Drawing Flies’, keep you guessing, keep
you on your toes.
Never
short of surprises, it is an amalgamation of so much, all condensed and blended
into one unholy racket. Like any true classic, it is a record that no other
band could write.
Converge – “Jane Doe” (2001)
Released
in 2001, Converge's breakthrough 4th album, 'Jane Doe' remains a landmark in
extreme music and sounds as fresh and relevant today as it did 15 years ago.
Played with such ferocious precision, thanks in part to the impetus of new
members Ben Koller and Nate Newton, 'Jane
Doe' is a bitter, angry, scathing statement of intent from the band.
From the opening arpeggio that dips into the inhuman blasts of 'Concubine', the album barely lets you
catch a breath as Jacob Bannon screams at you, telling you the story of a
ruined relationship. It's so powerful and full of emotion that you can almost
hear the blood pouring from the man's broken heart seep into his vocal chords.
Various
twists and turns permeate the albums intensity; 'Distance And Meaning', 'Hell
To Pay', 'Homewrecker', 'The Broken Vow' and 'Heaven In Her Arms' provide some of
the most memorable moments, while 'Phoenix
In Flight' is near perfect in its composition and placement on the album,
allowing you to digest what's just been thrown your way before 'Phoenix In Flames' and 'Thaw' that follow, absolutely
annihilate your eardrums. As if that wasn't enough, the album's title track is
an 11 minute emotional rollercoaster, making you worry for the welfare of the
song's protagonist.
Elder – "Dead Roots Stirring"(2011)
As opposed to the debut that was more of a brawny smack
to the gut (or the wall, whichever you prefer), Elder’s excellentsophomore
was one for the thinking-man’ stoner books. As psychedelia-ladden as it was
riff-driven in its approach, this Boston trio set themselves up to be true
trailblazers in the genre. Showing respect for the long-form, each track in
duration 8 minutes at the very least with two nearing the twelve-minute mark, they
brought a world fully their own and spent time exploring it with quieter
moments but not lacking any punch either. The sheer rawness acting contrast to
the intricate layering, all the while showcasing their penchant for experimenting
with songwriting formulas.
The album is equal parts a plunge into murky depths –
like the epically ravaging conclusion that closes the opener – as it is opting
for the less travelled overgrown route, with floating guitars going off on
shimmering tangents like aptly-titled third track ’III’. With rusty riffs bringing
its plodding hooks, bluesy and bog-ridden coincide with the album art, sill, alongside
the opening notes of ’Gemini’, or
the thick earthy toned pulse that opens the title-track, it’s De Salvo’s vocals
breaking at just the right moment. Concurrently melodic and raspy in their
intonation, they come through as if a guide lighting the way, though showing
restraint enough to let the instruments tell the majority of the story.
"Dead Roots Stirring" gave strong hints
of what was to come on yesteryear’s acclaimed Lore, again proving that there isn’t a band that does it quite like
Elder.
The
shredding from Adam D. is spot on, Fisher absolutely destroys and Shannon Lucas
does his best throughout the record to show up on a Richter Scale report, laying
his, expectedly monstrous shellacking upon his kit. “Serpentine Dominion”
is the perfect dichotomy split between brutality and beauty and these gents
have laid down what could be a contender for best debut album, Serpentine
Dominion absolutely nails it to the wall.
“Serpentine
Dominion” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1. Intro
2. The Vengeance in Me
3. Vanquished Unto Thee
4. Divide, Conquer, Burn, and Destroy
5. Sovereign Hate
6. On the Brink of Devastation
7. Jagged Cross Legions
8. Prelude
9. This Endless War
The Review:
On
paper, super groups sound AMAZING. What's not to love about members of your favourite
bands getting together and unleashing musical loads into your ear canals?
Usually, they are ok at best; that many super egos are also a recipe for
disaster. However! That has changed with the SUPERBgroup, Serpentine Dominion! Featuring
Adam D. (Killswitch
Engage), George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher (Cannibal Corpse), and Shannon
Lucas (ex-Black
Dahlia Murder), these gents have laid down what could be a contender
for best debut album from a new band.
The
style mixes technical death metal and more modern core in a way that actually
feels like adults made it. I feel good listening to it, and it seems extremely
solid from first listen onward. Adam D. nails some of the best shredding, right
out of the gate, with the Intro blasting some gorgeous neo-classical guitar
that just dances through the air; and then it hammers into the meat of what Serpentine
Dominion is about: the brutality. The shredding is spot on, Fisher
absolutely destroys and Shannon Lucas does his best throughout the record to
show up on a Richter Scale report, laying his, expectedly monstrous shellacking
upon his kit.
For a 38 minute record, give or take, 'Serpentine
Dominion' covers tons of ground rather quickly. With an intro and prelude
consisting of much more classical and virtuoso bents, all the way over to
technical and modern death metal, with -Core flair added as icing between the
layers on this cake, the album has a wide pattern that strikes the listener any
number of ways. Splitting vocals about 70/30, Fisher and D. nail a perfect
balance between brutality and beauty, the dichotomy split as well as Adam D.'s
guitar work. He highlights everything in both lights, from the distortedly huge
chugs into lightning fast fret runs (“Jagged
Cross Legions”, “The Vengeance in Me”),
even incorporating some superb tapping technique as found on “Divide, Conquer, Burn, and Destroy”. As
for the shred hounds, the entire album is a real highlight, as each song simply
has some huge spurts of stellar musicianship.
The
album has a very alive feel to it, and, considering the well balanced blend
between the new and old styles, it has another huge characteristic in it's
favor: it feels like the parties included had FUN. Side projects should always
have a feel that the members had a blast making it, and that they needed a
break from their main gigs; it makes the atmosphere pleasant and lends itself
to a great finished product. Mr. D. is known for having fun with anything he's
part of, and with the current way KSE sounds, this must have been much needed
for him. Mr's Grinder and Lucas just made it absolutely perfect. The vocals sound
like a coarse and roaring flamethrower, in that classic CC style, married with
clean vocals, virtuosic guitar, all backed up by a man who could lead small
nations to win wars with his drumming, the self-titled debut by Serpentine
Dominion absolutely nails it to the wall.
Soilwork find
themselves in a tough position because they seem to have reached a point where
they clearly enjoy creating music that represents each of their two distinct
eras, and they’re more than capable of producing quality music on either side
of the spectrum. The handicap this album can’t overcome is that these two eras
aren’t really capable of playing nicely together
‘The Ride Majestic’ CD//LP//DD track
listing:
1.
The Ride Majestic
2.
Alight In The Aftermath
3.
Death In General
4.
Enemies In Fidelity
5.
Petrichor By Sulphur
6.
The Phantom
7.
The Ride Majestic (Aspire Angelic)
8.
Whirl Of Pain
9.
All Along Echoing Paths
10.
Shining Lights
11.
Father And Son, Watching The World Go Down
Soilwork is:
Björn
"Speed" Strid | Vocals
Dirk
Verbeuren | Drums
Markus
Wibom | Bass
Sylvain
Coudret | Guitar
David
Andersson | Guitar
Sven
Karlsson | Keyboards
The Review:
In
a previous life, Soilwork was a band that made an
impact in the later stages of the 90s Gothenburg death metal explosion, given
rise via bands like At The Gates and In Flames. Soilwork differentiated themselves at the time through some
unique chord choices for the style and a willingness to take chances with new
sounds in a melodic death metal context. Over the last fifteen years, they’ve
struggled with their identity to a point that you can’t really be sure which Soilwork you’re going to get. Soilwork
has flirted with returns to that previous life in the past, but they’ve
generally preferred to swim in more marketable waters over the last ten-plus
years. With ‘The Ride Majestic’
we’re seemingly getting both of them at once, often shifting gears with the
subtlety of a lead pipe to the face. The outcome makes for a really uneven
listening experience.
The
general format of the songs on offer is to start with, some sort of melodic
death metal section , followed by a stark shift in the verse/chorus, featuring
Björn "Speed" Strid doing his finest Howard Jones impression. Then,
the song concludes with some variation of these two ill-fitting halves for the
remainder. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but the general feeling applies.
They begin a song with something that might give lapsed fans who abandoned ship
around ‘Figure Number Five’
something to sink their teeth into, only to pivot mid song into something bound
to lose them altogether. The most striking example would likely be “Petrichor by Sulphur”, which soars
early with nimble fretwork over a brisk thrash beat only to be harshly
interrupted by a rhythmic verse that could have been on a Static-X
or Drowning Pool album. For people who are fans
of both styles, that’s probably something you wouldn’t bat an eye at, but for
the rest of us, it’s jarring to the point that it encourages impatience with
the rest of the material.
It’s
worth pointing out that I’m not advocating for Soilwork
to set themselves back fifteen years for the sake of becoming some Gothenburg
nostalgia act. On the contrary, it feels like they’re much more interested and
passionate about making mainstream metal albums than they are revisiting the
past right now, and that’s fine. The problem is that with two halves they’re
working on with ‘The Ride Majestic’
are likely to annoy fans of each half exclusively. Killswitch Engage
fans are likely to appreciate an album like this because Killswitch Engage
always dealt in both the melodic death metal element along with those metalcore
choruses. Old Soilwork fans are likely to be alienated by
the choruses, while fans who came into the fold in the mid 2000s are likely to
be put off by blast beats and thrashy death metal riffing.
Soilwork find themselves in
a tough position because they seem to have reached a point where they clearly
enjoy creating music that represents each of their two distinct eras, and
they’re more than capable of producing quality music on either side of the spectrum.
The handicap this album can’t overcome is that these two eras aren’t really
capable of playing nicely together. That makes ‘The Ride Majestic’ a spirited but stubborn attempt at a suicide
mission.
You can pick up a
digital copy here and a CD/LP copy here.
