Review of Soilwork - Natural Born Chaos

I remember not too long ago when I would come across the phrase "natural progression". It generally was the sole explanation as to why a band had created one of the most god forsaken heavy-ass albums to date. Whereas it is not completely true. I find more and more that lately this seems to be the same phrase I hear pertaining as to why a band has softened. With Soilwork's latest release Natural Born Chaos, the phrase "natural progression" definitely comes to mind. They have taken the sounds of their 2001 Release A Predator's Portrait and monopolized extremely. These are the facts. Where I find myself having the hardest time digesting that this is the same band that created one of my all-time favorite albums, The Chainheart Machine. I do realize that Soilwork could not proceed to make Chainheart part 2, 3, & 4. The talents that grace this band alone would not allow such a mundane career. Where Portrait did keep speed-laden passages while combing large chorus phrasing. Natural Born Chaos sticks with a mid-tempo attack throughout. Giving Speed more room to sing. At this point though I would have to say it is not a case of saying Strid incorporates the clean vocals amongst the death as much as it is vice-versa this release. The death vocals he does use are by far the finest I have heard from him to date. They just seem to be few and far between. The emphasis is definitely on the melodic. Peter Wichers and Ola Frenning once again prove that as a guitar duo they can rival even the legendary Amott brothers of Arch Enemy. Delivering steadfast leads and shroud rhythms beneath and throughout. Henry Ranta's blast beats are basically a thing of the past. He does bring down the crush at times but the overall focus seems to be on the lines of an almost heavy-rock drum performance. The newly added Sven Karlson picks up right where Carlos Holmberg left off. Drawn out chords complimenting the sturdy rhythms. One aspect completely worthy of mentioning is the overall production of N.B.C. Devin Townsend's engineering is beyond astounding. NBC is crisp yet warm and clear. Every nuance including the ones that make me cringe by means of the weak, come across sonically superb. It makes me wonder if it even possible to get a bad production out of Studio Fredman. At this point my money is on HELL NO! Bottom Line: These are the same superior musicians that have inspired me on countless occasions. It comes down to context and execution. Soilwork have indeed softened. The tunes were written with foot tapping and catch phrase choruses in mind. The cold-hard cash recipe. Was this Devin's influence or was it "natural progression"? I'm not completely sure. I do not foresee this disc getting heavy airplay, plain and simple. All that's left is to sit and wait to hear how In Flames' natural progression is developing.

When I first heard Soilwork's second album The Chainheart Machine I was instantly intrigued with this band. I then began a search for more information about this Swedish group and came across their previous and debut effort entitled Steelbath Suicide. After listening to both of these discs several times over the past couple of years I'd say these guys definitely seemed to be heading in the right direction, and it seemed apparent to me at the time that there was no way this band was gonna let me down. Well, A Predator's Portrait came along and as I was really psyched to hear that record I was equally as disappointed with the outcome of the direction I thought looked so promising. I was immensely impressed with the way "Speed" Strid conquered the vocal sections on the first two discs with a flawless ability reminding me of a jacked up version of Anders Friden of In Flames combined with a slightly more refined Tomas Lindberg currently with The Crown. To my dismay, and you know already if you've read my Predator's dissection, that I wasn't 100% sold on the cleaner vocals involved. So what I'm gonna do is not only dissect Soilwork's newest release, but I will also share my honest opinion on both the "pre- clean" vocal era and "clean/death" vocal era of this band. Let's begin with the former. You've already read my description of the vocal attack on the first two albums, and I can think up no better way to describe it. I loved the style and it seemed obvious to me at the time that it was one of my favorites. The "pre-clean" part of Soilwork's career is always going to be my favorite, and it is within these years that I feel they did their best work. Enter the "clean/death" era - I didn't expect it, and this is probably the main factor why I'm still not sold on it today. I simply didn't see it coming. Nevertheless, it came and it's done with; I've mourned and now I'm better. In 2002, Natural Born Chaos starts right where A Predator's Portrait leaves off, and what is even more impressive is the short one year wait in between releases. This album does start out with a riff and vocal assault reminiscent of earlier days, but it doesn't take long for the clean to arrive. What transpires is impressive as I immediately noticed that "Speed" has been working on the improvement of his clean voice. Not that any of the clean singing is bad on either of the two newest albums, it's just that I don't prefer them; however, I will give credit where credit is due. "Speed" has determinedly persevered to become "the standard" for the scene's slightly commercialized bands utilizing the clean/death vocal mixture. He has raised that standard and one day will be remembered as being one of the best of the clean/death genre. His choice of melodies on this album are so much more mature than on their previous album, and he just seems to portray more feeling than before. And of course his growl is still intact with him even dropping down to a guttural level a time or two. When it comes to the music going on behind the scenes of my little vocal controversy, you will know it is Soilwork right away if you are familiar with the band. Having taken influences from several bands that have come before them they have put together an all around sound that is truly like no other. I'm not gonna lie to you, you'll be able to easily hear some of their influences, but that's nothing new. Every band has influences and you can almost always surely hear them. What I'm trying to get at is there is no band out there right now that sounds like Soilwork. This album is the outcome of an evolvement of their previous releases and of the band developing a sound of their own. I don't really want to complain again, but even though I was completely stricken with shock by the clean vocals on Predator's the music on it seemed just as heavy and intriguing as before. On Natural Born Chaos the music definitely takes a turn towards the mellower side of things. With that being said, the old style of riffage is still prevalent on a few tracks, but some of the other songs are extremely poppy and seem to be an attempt at pushing towards a more listener friendly vibe. Not a bad idea if you want to sell a few records; maybe they will and maybe they won't. Either way, after repeated listening I was still excited to get my hands on this album and it's not all that bad, but with all that's on my plate right now it's hard to say how long it will be in the current rotation. Remember, Predator's did get better for me as time went by; maybe Natural Born Chaos will too. In conclusion, Henry Ranta's drums still sound as crisp as ever even if he's slowed up a bit, and Ola Flink plays his role well as the bass player. Wichers and Frenning are still one of the top guitar tandems in the business right now, and they rate right up there with the Ammott brothers of the almighty Arch Enemy. "Speed" could likely go down as one of the best, if not the best, of the melodic clean/death metal bands. If you are a fan of new era Soilwork then Natural Born Chaos will quite possibly be your favorite of the band's releases to date, but if you're like me and not 100% sold on the newer vocals then this one may not be for you. ***Devon Townsend's vocals on "Blackstar Deceeeiiiver" are punishing not to mention the EXCELLENT production***

Release Details

Soilwork

Natural Born Chaos

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