Artist - Soilwork
Album - Stabbing The Drama
Label - Nuclear Blast Records
Reviewer - Robin Steeley
Swedish melodic death metal rockers Soilwork bring you “Stabbing The Drama”, their sixth album released on Nuclear Blast records. It seems these Scandinavian rockers have reinvented themselves yet again. With new melodies that are heavy and flowing along with clean vocals that are very listenable. The European flavor is there yet it still has the heaviness of a modern American band.
There seems to be a little more guitar work and a little less keyboard on this release and I think it’s a step in the right direction for the band, as if they stepped back into a more primitive sound then their latest work. The vocals are exceptional and Strid’s range is full of strength and conviction in delivery with the focus more on the cleaner vocals, which I consider a welcome change without giving up any heaviness in the process.
Many of the songs follow the same basic formula but each is unique in some way making the music more diverse. The cleaner more melodic vocals allow for a greater emphasis on the songwriting and overall instrumentation of the songs. This is apparent right away in opening and title track “Stabbing The Drama” which is also the bands first single off this release. The guitars are full metal jacket on songs like “Weapon of Vanity” and “One With the Flies”, guitarists Wichers and Frenning dueling furiously back and forth adding depth to the songs. They lighten things up with the slower burning “Nerve” which during the chorus has a nu metal feel to it that is interesting in the mix although I hope they don’t steer in that commercial direction any time soon.
“Blind Eye Halo” is easily the heaviest track here setting a blistering pace with an avalanche of blast beats and head banging frenzy. The vocal dynamics during “The Crest Fallen” show off the newly stretched range of Frontman Bjorn Strid as he is singing more of the melodies and thrashing mid song keeping it appealing while not sacrificing any hardcore, the overall formula that seems to work on almost all of the tracks listed here.
Soilwork is:
Bjorn “Speed” Strid—Vocals
Peter Wichers—Guitars
Ola Frenning—Guitars
Ola Flink—Bass
Sven Karlsson—Keyboards
Dirk Verbeuren—Drums
Tracklisting
1. Stabbing The Drama
2. One With The Flies
3. Weapon of Vanity
4. The Crest Fallen
5. Nerve
6. Stalemate
7. Distance
8. Observation Slave
9. Fate In Motion
10. Blind Eye Halo
11. Wherever Thorns May Grow
