Swedish group Souldrainer have been around for over a decade now and have released various demos as well as an album Reborn on Mascot in 2007. This was my first encounter to them although I noted that two of the trio of players are also in Equinox Ov The Gods a band who I have heard as well as Aeon and Endless Torture. Musically this is easy to nail down as melodic death metal and some of the group’s influences are correctly acknowledged on the accompanying PR blurb. There also seems to be some sort of concept to this album in both song title cover and the intriguing lyrics. We are up for a bit of a close encounter here as we get into the realms of SETI; the group’s website even has a marking icon of a grey alien skull.
As play is pushed you are instantly thrust into a huge epic sounding arrangement with backing synthesized chorals. Hearing it one word springs to mind “Hypocrisy,” this is very much in the domain of Peter Tagtgren right down to the narrative which drops me into some fantastic albums like ‘The Arrival.’ One good thing I can say about this is that Souldrainer quickly having identified themselves somewhat manage to walk the talk and pull things off neatly over the 13 track album. They are not down right copyists either and build out their own style. Singer Marcus Edvardsson has a rough and ready vocal rasp that sounds like his larynx is coated in sandpaper, the drums are powerful and the pace fairly rampant throughout with tracks like ‘Fed By Fire’ necessitating neck injury as you are encouraged to head bang along.
Songs are all solid and bring different nuances to play, a sudden xylophone peel tinkles through ‘Low’ catching you off guard for instance, sounding somewhat alien (ahem) to the song which is at mid pace and grinds and winds along with some dextrous guitar scything. The electronic programming aspects act as the glue melding the songs together and are quite integral and prolific to numbers like ‘Alien Terror.’ Perhaps some of the effect of these could be lost in the live arena but on CD they really do sound quite grandiose. Some numbers such as ‘Gate Guard’ go for a more graceful pace but still pound away bristling with heaviness and even throw a bit of a techno break into the song.
By the time we arrive at last song the austere title track ‘Heaven’s Gate’ there is no doubt in my mind that I have been entertained by a good solid album. Souldrainer may not be the most original band on the planet but they have done an admirable job with album number two and are well worth checking out, especially if you are already partial to a bit of Hypocrisy. The extra track on the end is a bit odd too.
http://souldrainer.com
Pete Woods
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