Souldrainer is back with its fourth album.
Eight years after their last release, the Swedish band created in 1999 and composed of Marcus Edvardsson (guitar/vocals, Sanctification, Endless Torture, ex-Aeon), Gustaf Bennmarker (guitar, ex-Await the End), Jocke Wassberg (bass/vocals, The Equinox ov the Gods) and Hugo Nylander (drums, Djävulskap, ex-Denicalis) announces the release of Departure, on Black Lion Records.
The album starts in pure rage with Council of Fire, an aggressive and abrasive track which lets musicians place raw riffs under massive screams. We also have some orchestrations and more melodic parts, then Where Angels Come To Die unveils ominous and dark sounds to walk with the impressive vocals and massive riffs. Throbbing tones join the heavier parts before Weaver Of Mortal Dreams brings melancholy back in those slow crushing waves. The sound combines heavy riffs and heady melodies while marveling us with samples, then Paint The World In Lies comes back in rawer tones and a more Old School approach, notably with this wild blast which punctuates the assault and screams. The band stays in this aggressive and energetic approach even when the melodies become more insistent, while Rats Of The International Race returns to a more modern approach guided by orchestrations and other ambient samples. The solid riffs accompany the mix which is sometimes dissonant, then they continue on Departure and its modern spatial atmosphere. The track offers a rather martial approach completed by airy melodies and some disturbing samples, then I Abort You takes over with a very dark and pessimistic quietness coupled to whispers which perfectly hide the underlying rage until the catchy chorus. One Last Shot returns to some balance between haunting melodies and wild screams which form the basis of the band’s music, but the album ends with the melancholic End Of The World which lets heavy and slow Doom/Death-influenced riffs blend with majestic orchestrations.
The sound of Souldrainer is born from a contrasted mix between aggressiveness and heady melodic parts, and the band still continues in this approach as majestic as aggressive for Departure, one of their future classics.
90/100