Soulreaper
Liferazer
8.5
Featuring former Dissection members Tobias Kellgren and Johan Norman, Soulreaper was formed in 1997 under the original moniker of Reaper. However, due to conflicts with a band of the same name, they assumed the identity of Soulreaper - a Dissection track off of Storm of the Light's Bane. Now signed to Karmegeddon, they released their first album, Written In Blood, on Nuclear Blast. If I'm not mistaken, Liferazer was originally released in 2003 under the name Life Erazer, but was re-released for some reason or another. Regardless, I know I never knew the band released a second full-length.
It seems Soulreaper have raised the bar for themselves since their last album, playing a deceptive style of black metal disguised as death metal. Filled with dark melodies and a thick guitar tone, Liferazer pounds out track after track of strong blackened death metal that honestly might remind people of Dissection - mainly just in a few of the guitar progressions and production in particular. The predominantly deep growling vocals are distant and reverberating; bearing resemblance to the late nineties Swedish black metallers. The riffing goes anywhere from melodic black metal to sort of a midpaced Edge of Sanity groove but never deviates too far away from a simple formula. Faint keyboards are placed meticulously throughout Liferazer that truly enrich what might come across as too typical riffing. One thing that definitely set Soulreaper apart are the fantastic guitar solos which are well timed and never come across as unnecessary or misplaced. Tobias Kellgren has always been one of my favorite drummers. He's consistently flawless in his performance and can maintain just about any beat while still remaining almost recognizable. Having a stylized sound as a drummer is an incredible achievement in itself.
It's proven that old habits die hard, as on "The Slow Fall of Death", the band breaks into a passage in which it sounds like it might've fallen directly out of an old and unreleased Dissection track.
As often as I've cited the now legendary and former band of a few members of Soulreaper, it's important to note that there's a clear distinction between the two bands. They're very different from Dissection - don't run out and pick this up expecting to recapture the same spirit or energy. One thing you can rely on, however, is that the five men that comprise Soulreaper function extremely well as a band, producing truly high-quality death/black metal. It wouldn't matter if the reanimated corpse of Gandhi was the bassist - Liferazer is an album that stands tall on its own.
