Souldrainer
Reborn

August 2007
Released: 2007, Mascot Records
Rating: 2.0/5
Reviewer: Anders Sandvall

Souldrainer first started out as a three piece back in 1998 and the bands main idea was to write a little slower material with lots of attitude and not to forget a lot of brutality. Their musical foundation was set to playing death metal but with strings, symphonic parts and huge choirs.



As the time went on the bands material grew and that made it possible for the band to go out and do live shows. But more people were needed in the band and in 2003 came Daniel Dlimi on drums and Joakim Wassberg on bass.



REBORN was recorded at the end of 2005 without a label backing them up and the band signed on with Mascot Records the following year. REBORN is all about slow but aggressive and brutal death metal combined with strings, massive choirs and keyboards/piano parts, which all are programmed and not real. It all should have worked out better if they decided only to focus on delivering modern death metal instead of mixing in keyboards, strings, symphonic parts and choirs. Those elements only confuse the listener and don’t add any important element to the music in my opinion.



Overall the production feels solid and strong but I think Edvardsson may have focused in on symphonic parts too much sometimes. Maybe the band should have taken in a producer instead of letting a band member take care of the production.



It’s a pretty strong album but without any given hit-song and for the next album and for the rest of the future. It would be better if the band could focus more on delivering modern death metal because when they do that it all sounds great.



The favorite songs are “First Row In Hell”, “Internal Suicide”, “To The Promised Land”, “Reborn” and “Everyday Hero”. Those are the strongest tracks that don’t go so fast but their still heavy as hell.



http://www.myspace.com/souldrainer