For a band that came around just barely after the biggest wave of melodic Swedish death metal really exploded, these Swedes have certainly kept kicking around without a lot of down time, haven't they?? What is this, their sixth full-length in about seven years' time or something? Don't be fooled by the lame album title, while this record won't be for everyone, I'm enjoying the band's newly refocused brand of songwriting. While true to the chunky staccato chords and intense melodic underpinnings of their last few records, the main difference this time around is the presence of super catchy choruses that have more of a popular metal tinge going on. Sure, there are fewer solos, but the keyboards are also fairly downplayed, so that's a decent tradeoff. They vocals are still a split shot between searing screams and singing, but the singing has grown increasingly stronger with time, and this time around they're tending to reserve the singing for the choruses (basically in every song), thus making ?em pop that much more. Just check out the almost infectious "Weapon of Vanity"! I mean, taking into consideration today's musical atmosphere, these are the kinds of songs that could indeed be "commercially viable". The cool thing, in my opinion, is that I don't look at it as any sort of a "sellout" element at all. I wouldn't call this their best record, at times it gets a little too groovy or loses some steam due to a lack of variety, but for the most part it sounds similar to their last couple of outings, just with more streamlined songwriting that's a more consistently memorable. They haven't strayed that far from the ground they've been treading over the last four years, though I would more closely align them with In Flames these days than I might have in the past - most notably in the lightly electronic smatterings and varying vocal stylings present in "Nerve". The only downside is that since the choruses are often so catchy, the other passages of the songs can lack that same force, and thus there are moments that come across as filler. So if they can find a better balance in the middleground they'll be extremely successful. A number of the songs are pretty similar to one another as well, both as far as riffing styles and as far as tempo and structure are concerned. There are a couple of faster tracks like "Stalemate" and "Blind Eye Halo" (one of the more energetic bursts that does employ some lead fiery work), and the tapping riffs and subtle dissonance in the chorus of "Observation Slave" are awesome (though sadly the rest of the track is pretty damn weak), but aside from the ultra catchy numbers it's more dynamic tracks like "Fate in Motion" and "If Possible" that really leave a mark as far as exploring different approaches to melody and overall atmosphere. The recording sounds fucking awesome though, definitely. The guitars are ultra crunchy and very controlled, the drums have a nice snap along with a lot of punchy low-end, the vocals are really crisp and fall in line against the music, etc. I'm not making out much bass, but I don't care, because I really like the drumming and I think everything sounds amply dense as is. I have no complaints at all. The disc comes in a red and black digipack with a red and black booklet that has lots of jumbled text arrangements and sketchy images that look pretty cool. The cover art is sort of plain and does nothing for me since I think the album title is sort of goofy (hence the "stabbing" icon on the cover follows suit), and the lyrics don't really strike me in one way or another, but it's no big deal. This is another solid offering from Soilwork, and it's nice that they're growing, but not too fast or too far. I'd really like to hear them pull away from some of the more rhythmic grooves, because that kind of stuff clutters up otherwise excellent songs like "If Possible" and deadens the blow, but I'm really into how strong some of these choruses are. They need to keep pushing to get everything else to that level, but I'm liking this disc regardless.
[Nuclear Blast]
Running time - 46:57, Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: Weapon of Vanity, Crestfallen, Fate in Motion, If Possible]
Soilwork - http://www.soilwork.org
