Track list:
1 Entering the Angel Diabolique
2 Sadistic Lullaby
3 My Need
4 Skin After Skin
5 Wings of Domain
6 Steelbath Suicide
7 In a Close Encounter
8 Centro de Predominio
9 Razor Lives
10 Demon in Veins
11 The Aardvark Trail
With their debut album, Soilwork became popular almost overnight in Sweden. Steelbath Suicide introduced a new melodic-death metal band with loads of potential. Every song features some simply amazing instrumentation, from the melodic opener, to the storm of riffage in the excellent closer. Speed also showcases that screaming comes easy to him, his vocals on this album will make your ears bleed (not an insult)
Of course their are some noticeable flaws in the record. Perhaps the most noticeable is the fact that all of the songs sound very similar, save two or three. There are 11 tracks on the album, but it would seem like 2 long tracks without the pause in between songs. This doesn’t really matter as the album is still a good listen, it’s just not as interesting as Soilwork’s other releases. Another flaw is Speed’s lack of variety in the vocals. All he really does is scream, with the exception of the chorus of
My Need This combined with the same general riffing sometimes makes some of the songs a dull listen. Another con is that all of the songs are pretty short. Most of them are less than 3 and a half minutes long, so there’s nothing really epic here like the other albums. Luckily, the instrumentation really brings this album up.
Overall, this is probably the best album that Soilwork has done solo-wise, honestly. Just about every song has one, and they are all really good. Solos in songs like
Skin After Skin and
Steelbath Suicide will make your skin crawl. Plus, this album has to instrumentals,
Entering the Angel Diabolique and
Centro de Predominio, the former of those is basically a shred fest, and an amazing opener. Each of the solos are full of incredible melody, and are generally pretty speedy. The drumming is also a definite strong point.
Sadistic Lullaby starts off right away with a drum fill that propels you face first into the pummeling verse, where the snare drum has the crap beaten out of it by Ranta. There’s also quite a bit of palm-muting done, as shown in the title track and some choice others. Some tracks like
In a Close Encounter and
Demon in Veins have an incredibly creepy atmosphere to them, adding a cool feel to them. Now that you know the general sound of the album, Ill just briefly go over the tracks.
The album starts off with
Entering the Angel Diabolique, an instrumental that basically just consists of shredding. It gives you a good feel for what the album has to show. [b[Sadistic Lullaby[/b] is up next and damn what a song. The drums are pounding throughout, the guitars deliver with some amazing riffs and a great solo, and Speed delivers in the chorus, which is the best on the album. This is the best song on the album, the guitars add some great melodic parts to the chorus, yet stay furious in the verse. Next is
My Need, which immediately starts with fast triplets. The chorus is very interesting. It features the guitars toned down a bit, and Speed Whispers instead of screams. This is the only song besides track 10 that has a non-screaming part. The solo is another melodic gem.
Skin After SKin Then comes in with a strange opening riff, that actually sounds really cool. The verses are heavy and fast, and the chorus is really catchy, with Speed screaming “Skin after skin, sin after sin, lose or win.” This song also features one of the best solos, which like the others, is very fast and melodic, it’s just a little bit more well done.
WIngs of Domain is built up almost solely on amazing riffing. The guitars retain an incredibly melodic riff throughout. One of the better songs instrumentally.
Steelbath Suicide is a bit of a let down for a title track. It’s pretty short (About 2:50) but is very repetitive throughout. However, it does feature one of the best solos, which is similar to the one on
Skin After Skin.
In a Close Encounter has a creepy atmosphere to it, especially in the verses. The guitars are practically not doing anything except for a few notes here and there, while the keyboards add an ominous effect. It’s a really hard to describe sound, but it works. The rest of the song is basically just heavy riffing.
Centro de Predominio is another instrumental. It’s not as well done as track 1, but is still a great track, full of excellent riffs and melodic solos.
Razor Lives is the longest track on the album, at 4:24. It starts very slow and melodic, but then goes straight into machine gun drumming and a fast riff throughout the verse. The chorus adds a little more melody, yet retains the speed.
Demon in Veins is another creepy track. It starts with weird keyboards and Speed talking with a bit of distortion. The chorus gets a little annoying, but is great to Headbang. Speed screams “DEMON” 8 times like he’s possessed. Another amazing solo here. FInally,
The Aardvark Trail ends the album amazingly. Other than the two instrumentals, this song is the most amazing instrumentally. It starts with a bit of an odd riff, then it gets faster and the verse starts. The chorus here is just a very melodic and catchy riff, there are no vocals in the chorus. The solo at the end is another masterpiece. The song eventually fades out with Speed screaming the title of the song.
This is a great album overall, though the lack of variety makes a little boring sometimes, the instrumentation brings it up.
Recommended Tracks
1 Sadistic Lullaby
2 The Aardvark Trail
3 Razor Lives
4 My Need
5 Skin After Skin
Final Rating: 3.5/5
