The Gothenburg Project 01.30.09: Soilwork (Part 1)
Posted by Matt Shoemaker on 01.30.2009
Due to a change of plans, for the next few weeks, the Project's going to be looking at one of the most talented melodic death metal bands around today, Soilwork. Join me as we break down the band's first two albums.
A day late once again, as the snow/ice combination up here caused us to lose power for a few hours. A totally miserable experience, to be sure. There's also been a change in plans as far as the next band. More than half the albums in my Amon Amarth collection have something wrong with them, possibly some kind of corrupted file or something like that, and won't play. I've been having that problem with a lot of the music I've been downloading lately, so I don't know if it's where I'm downloading them from, or whatever. So instead, this week, I decided to pull another big name Swedish band out of the catalog, one that is being praised as the future of the genre", Soilwork.
Ola Frenning, guitar (1998–2008)
Daniel Antonsson, guitar (2006–2008)
Ludvig Svartz, guitar (1995-1998)
Jimmy Persson, drums (1995–1998)
Henry Ranta, drums (1998–2003)
Carlos Del Olmo Holmberg, keyboards (1998-2001)
Carl-Gustav Döös, bass (1995-1997)
Mattias Svensson, guitar (1995-1997)
Soilwork began in 1995, in Helsingborg, Sweden. The band's original name, Inferior Breed, was scrapped a year later in favor of Soilwork, which the band chose to represent the process of working from the ground up. The band's musical style is a blend of the traditional Gothenburg melodic death metal, and 1970's and 80's British power groove. Their later work has seen them incorporating a much more melodic, "American" sound, as called by some critics, in that there is more of a metalcore influence in their music now than there was before.
As far as the history of the band goes, the original lineup, in 1998, got together after a couple of years of practice to put a demo together. Döös left the band before recording could begin, however, and Wichers was left to handle bass duties as well as guitar. This demo wound up in the hands of Michael Amott, of Arch Enemy fame, and earned the band a record deal. It was at this point that they added a keyboard player and a full time bassist, and entered the studio to record their debut album.
Album Info
Recorded: 1998, Studio Fredman, Sweden (notable for recording In Flames as well) Released: May 20, 1998 (Re-released in 2000), Listenable Records, Century Media (Re-release) Produced By: Fredrik Nordstrom, Soilwork
Track Listing
1. "Entering the Angel Diabolique" – 2:25
2. "Sadistic Lullabye" – 2:55
3. "My Need" – 3:42
4. "Skin After Skin" – 3:27
5. "Wings of Domain " – 3:19
6. "Steelbath Suicide" – 2:54
7. "In a Close Encounter" – 2:52
8. "Centro de Predominio" – 2:06
9. "Razorlives" – 4:24
10. "Demon in Veins" – 3:43
11. "The Aardvark Trail" – 4:17
I'm going to be up front about this: Listening to this as I write is the first time I've seriously sat down and listened to this album. Maybe I've heard a track here or there at a party or something, but I am not familiar with this album at all. As I listen, I'm pretty much going to be giving my impressions of it as I go along.
The intro is a pretty standard sounding instrumental. The guitar sound is impeccable. They nailed the tuning perfectly for the traditional melodic death metal sound, though I don't think it was really all too tradition back when this came out. If anything, the song is too short, at just over two minutes, repeating the same two or three sections a couple of times each. There seem to be a lot of thrash-influenced riffs and drums sections on this album, as the second track starts off with blistering guitar and heavy drums. Hearing Speed's vocals then compared to what they are now is a bit of a shock. I think back then, he was aiming for more screaming than he does now, as now it's more of a yell.
The melody of the chorus to "Sadistic Lullaby" is incredible, as well as the guitar solo that follows the second chorus. A lot of these songs tend to follow the same pattern, in both the structure and the music. A lot of the riffs, while not exactly copying one another, seem far too similar for my liking. After the first half of the album, Speed's vocals really haven't impressed me much. A lot of the songs fall much more into the death metal category, rather than the melodic one. Sometimes I felt like I was listening to a Carcass album instead of Soilwork.
"The Aardvark Trail"
That song may be the most melodic contribution to the album. Unless you're a die hard fan of the band, I'd stay away from this album. Fans of the band's modern work, and their modern work only, are in for a huge shock. This isn't the Soilwork of the here and now. It's not even the Soilwork of the early 2000s.
Soon after the release of that album, Svartz and Persson left the band, citing "differing musical opinions". Ranta came in to replace Persson, and Wichers' uncle, Ola Frenning, came in to replace Svartz. The band's next album, coming two years later, is what would really catapult this band to the top of the food chain, so to speak. It proved their undeniable talent, and landed them a deal with Nuclear Blast records, allowing them to tour with the best of the best in genre.
Album Info Recorded: 1999 Released: February 8, 2000 Produced by: Fredrik Nordstrom
Track Listing
1. "The Chainheart Machine" – 4:01
2. "Bulletbeast" – 4:37
3. "Millionflame" – 4:20
4. "Generation Speedkill (Nice Day For A Public Suicide)" – 4:27
5. "Neon Rebels" – 3:23
6. "Possessing the Angels" – 3:55
7. "Spirits of the Future Sun" – 6:00
8. "Machinegun Majesty" – 5:06 [Featuring Mattias "IA" Eklundh]
9. "Room No. 99" – 7:39
This is where my knowledge of the band starts, even though it's still pretty limited in terms of this album. The band seriously outdid themselves here, managing to mix a very industrial, heavy sound with some incredible melodies. The eponymous first track is one of the band's best, coming in with a blasting rhythm that explodes in an aggressive verse, and manages to flawlessly transition into an amazing melodic section, complete with amazing blast beats, something Ranta became known for during his tenure with the band, and an unrivaled chorus. The pause in the middle of the song transitions into a great section with a dance beat, and I'm always a sucker for dance beats in heavy metal.
Strid's vocals are a little bit more comprehensible this time around, though still in his serious screaming phase. There is still no real clean singing to be found, something that would come later on in the career of the band, but it's still really impressive.
I think this is the album the band found their knack for intros on, as every single intro on this album sounds awesome. "Bullet Beast" has one of the best, again using a dance beat, cutting between a high pitched guitar riff. The intro of "Generation Speedkill", as well as most of the song in general, reminds me of a melodic death metal take on Metallica's "Fuel".
"The Chainheart Machine"
See for yourself how good this song is.
Before I bring this week to a close, I (finally) have an update on my own band's ventures into melodic death metal. My buddy Phil's been working on a song, and we finally started putting drums to it the other night. Here's the Youtube video of the song. The drums are pretty much what he's using with a drum machine, just with a little more zazz (Dethklok word of the day), and some fancier drum fills.
"8 AM Madness (title subject to change)"
If you like it, go check out his page, and maybe even subscribe. He comes up with some seriously sweet riffs. We're gonna be working on recording everything ourselves, probably through a Line 6 Tone Port my friend has, since we don't know anywhere to go to record it, much less have the money to do it.
And that's gonna wrap it up for this week, as I have schoolwork to catch up on, being sick most of the beginning of the week. Next week, I'll be looking at A Predator's Portrait and Natural Born Chaos, both of which began the change of the band into the Soilwork that exists today. Till next week, take care.
