:: Soilwork - The Panic Broadcast (plus bonus DVD)

Soilwork

Although having been a fan of Soilwork’s output for many years, I have to admit that the last couple of releases from the Swedish act were less than inspired sounding, and perhaps the most disappointing albums in the band’s vast body of work. Some have laid the blame on the band’s line-up changes (especially the departure of lead guitarist Peter Wichers in 2005), while others have simply been unhappy with the band’s direction since the release of their critically acclaimed ‘Natural Born Chaos’ album in 2002. Personally, I feel that Soilwork had become somewhat complacent, with 2005’s ‘Stabbing The Drama’ and 2007’s ‘Sworn To A Great Divide’ in particular sounding more like they were trying to maintain the status quo, rather than challenge themselves or their fans. It may work for some, but to me the albums just sounded like rehashes of past efforts and nothing more. Three years since the release of ‘Sworn To A Great Divide’, and Soilwork have once again undergone another shift in line-up. But unlike past makeovers, this time around the band have welcomed Wichers back into the fold, along with newcomer Sylvain Coudret. As expected, the news of Wichers return to Soilwork has renewed the excitement in the band’s fans, and duly prompted many to speculate that their eighth release ‘The Panic Broadcast’ would herald a return to form. And for the most part, it really does deliver on its promise. And if proof were needed, you only need to hear the album’s opener ‘Late For The Kill, Early For The Slaughter’. Although Soilwork has delivered plenty of fast paced tracks in recent years, none come close to matching the intensity and the thrash-like vibe of the album’s opener. Strid’s trademark melodic choruses are still present, but it’s the guitarists that really liven up the song, and provide the real inspiration behind the band’s re-energised sound. The follow up track ‘Two Lives Worth Of Reckoning’ isn’t quite as fast as the opener, but still manages to pack quite a punch in terms of combining some heavy thrashing guitars alongside Strid’s memorable choruses, while ‘Deliverance Is Mine’ and ‘King Of The Threshold’ are savage thrashing efforts, and definitely what I would consider as modern era Soilwork classics. From here, the band’s recent direction of mid-paced and melodic material is best represented on songs such as ‘The Thrill’, the semi-acoustic single ‘Let This River Flow’ and ‘The Akuma Afterglow’, while songs such as the ballad-like ‘Epitome’, ‘Night Comes Clean’ and the impressive ‘Enter Dog Of Pavlov’ shows Soilwork’s willingness to experiment beyond the trustworthy and successful formula of late, with total disregard for what constitutes as the standard Soilwork sound. While the results are a little patchy on ‘Night Comes Clean’, the other two definitely work in the band’s favour, and help give the album that something different. On the deluxe edition of the album, there’s an additional bonus track called ‘Sweet Demise’, which sees the band mix plenty of aggressive guitars in and around Strid’s melodic choruses. While the song may not quite be on par with most of what album offers up, it’s certainly a worthy bonus track. In terms of the bonus DVD, well that’s probably the only real weak part of this whole package. The nineteen minute documentary of the band making ‘The Panic Broadcast’ is fairly uninformative and boring, while the two clips of Verbeuren performing ‘Late For The Kill, Early For The Slaughter’ will really only appeal to drummers. And as for the photo gallery, the twelve shots presented don’t really warrant a revisit every time you put the DVD on. Overall, I believe ‘The Panic Broadcast’ is a vast improvement from Soilwork after the last couple of releases, from the song writing, the guitar work and right through to Strid’s own performance. Having lost me over the last couple of years, I can honestly say that with this new album, Soilwork are once again heading in the right direction.