Non-gay bro thread a.k.a. Random offtopic stuff.

[Xpyro125]

New Orbit Culture track out. The guitars are kinda just modern core, but I do like everything else.

 

[The Grayfox]

I really find most everything Orbit Culture does to be very enjoyable. Tales of War is more of the same, but you're not going to hear me complaining.

 

[Xpyro125]

I can agree there, I think they execute a more modern sound better than pretty much all of their contemporaries. They’re very much living proof that a band can have that sort of sound without falling into the pitfalls and trappings of modern core.

 

[DE4life]

I wasn't a fan for a while, then I heard Undercity and it kind of clicked for me. I don't listen to them a lot, but they're good and I definitely would have listened to them a ton during my younger years if they'd been around.

 

[DE4life]

Some classic Soilwork. The opening to this song was insane when I heard it live. It was a small venue and the floor was literally rumbling along with the drums.



Also came across this and was reminded that Bjorn stole the intro to A New Dawn from Black Veil Brides. The fuck. I also prefer the sharper guitar tone on Children Surrender to the chunkier tone on New Dawn, so even worse.

 

[Cronopio]

Some classic Soilwork. The opening to this song was insane when I heard it live. It was a small venue and the floor was literally rumbling along with the drums.

We like that album very much, yes we do.

 

[DE4life]

We like that album very much, yes we do.

Soilwork's evolution during that timeframe was genuinely impressive. I like Steelbath Suicide, but it's more like a demo of a band trying to figure out who they are and what makes them unique. You can hear a lot of influences from other MDM bands of the time in that album. Probably my favourite from that album is Wings of Domain - love the riffing, nice chorus reminiscent of ATG's Under a Serpent Sun in some ways, cool instrumental section 3/4 in with some quite unique guitarwork, and Speed kills it on vocals.



Chainheart Machine comes out around a year and a half later and you can tell the band have really honed their craft and improved a lot. Better, more intricate songs and a more distinct style - thrashier than most of their countrymates but still keeping that MDM flavour.

Personally I think Predator's Portrait is even better. If we view the first three albums as Soilwork's classic MDM period, then for me APP is the apex. Their sound from that time period is refined and perfected. I like a lot of songs on that album - but it'd be a tossup between Shadowchild and Neurotica Rampage as my favourite. I'd probably go with Neurotica just because I love it's frenetic energy, but Shadowchild's groove is very nice as well. Speed is still discovering his singing voice at this point, but even so it still sounds good. Neurotica just punches you in the fucking face from the start and doesn't let up at any point.

Natural Born Chaos takes Soilwork on a different path. Production values increase, giving a more polished and narrow sound compared to previous albums. It pretty much leaves behind that classic mix of thrashy-MDM and transitions into a more melodic, groove-orientated sound with an icnreased focus on keys/synths, a lot of clean vocals and dat catchy chorus. For the record, they do it incredibly well and NBC is my favourite Soilwork album, but they definitely embarked on a new journey after APP. The thrashiness isn't gone completely, but it's toned down, and Speed's vocals begin their transition from being purely shrieky to mixing in the metalcore-yell style which he'd increasingly adopt as time went on. Although still plenty of shrieks on this album. The biggest improvement from Speed are his clean vocals - NBC is really the debut of the singing style he'd perfect as time went on.

I really love NBC as that mid-point between Soilwork's earlier and newer identity. The old sound hasn't completely disappeared yet, but the new sound is making itself well and truly known. I wish they'd kept this mixture for a little longer, but after FNF they went heavily into the newer sound and stuck with it for some time. They lost me for a long time after Stabbing the Drama, which I just didn't vibe with at all.

Also pretty wild that Chainheart Machine, APP, NBC and FNF were all released in a span of just 3-4 years. Those boys were feeling creative.

 

[Xpyro125]

Some classic Soilwork. The opening to this song was insane when I heard it live. It was a small venue and the floor was literally rumbling along with the drums.

God, I fucking miss old Soilwork. I really do feel that they’re super underrated.

Also came across this and was reminded that Bjorn stole the intro to A New Dawn from Black Veil Brides. The fuck. I also prefer the sharper guitar tone on Children Surrender to the chunkier tone on New Dawn, so even worse.

Soilwork's evolution during that timeframe was genuinely impressive. I like Steelbath Suicide, but it's more like a demo of a band trying to figure out who they are and what makes them unique. You can hear a lot of influences from other MDM bands of the time in that album. Probably my favourite from that album is Wings of Domain - love the riffing, nice chorus reminiscent of ATG's Under a Serpent Sun in some ways, cool instrumental section 3/4 in with some quite unique guitarwork, and Speed kills it on vocals.



Chainheart Machine comes out around a year and a half later and you can tell the band have really honed their craft and improved a lot. Better, more intricate songs and a more distinct style - thrashier than most of their countrymates but still keeping that MDM flavour.

Personally I think Predator's Portrait is even better. If we view the first three albums as Soilwork's classic MDM period, then for me APP is the apex. Their sound from that time period is refined and perfected. I like a lot of songs on that album - but it'd be a tossup between Shadowchild and Neurotica Rampage as my favourite. I'd probably go with Neurotica just because I love it's frenetic energy, but Shadowchild's groove is very nice as well. Speed is still discovering his singing voice at this point, but even so it still sounds good. Neurotica just punches you in the fucking face from the start and doesn't let up at any point.

Natural Born Chaos takes Soilwork on a different path. Production values increase, giving a more polished and narrow sound compared to previous albums. It pretty much leaves behind that classic mix of thrashy-MDM and transitions into a more melodic, groove-orientated sound with an icnreased focus on keys/synths, a lot of clean vocals and dat catchy chorus. For the record, they do it incredibly well and NBC is my favourite Soilwork album, but they definitely embarked on a new journey after APP. The thrashiness isn't gone completely, but it's toned down, and Speed's vocals begin their transition from being purely shrieky to mixing in the metalcore-yell style which he'd increasingly adopt as time went on. Although still plenty of shrieks on this album. The biggest improvement from Speed are his clean vocals - NBC is really the debut of the singing style he'd perfect as time went on.

I really love NBC as that mid-point between Soilwork's earlier and newer identity. The old sound hasn't completely disappeared yet, but the new sound is making itself well and truly known. I wish they'd kept this mixture for a little longer, but after FNF they went heavily into the newer sound and stuck with it for some time. They lost me for a long time after Stabbing the Drama, which I just didn't vibe with at all.

Also pretty wild that Chainheart Machine, APP, NBC and FNF were all released in a span of just 3-4 years. Those boys were feeling creative.

I have to listen to APP again, but I wasn’t as huge on it overall as I was their first two albums. I absolutely love Needlefeast, and I remember quite liking Structure Divine and the title track iirc, but that’s all that stuck with me.

I actually do like everything until Sworn to a Great Divide— Stabbing the Drama is my favorite album by them (I just love groove), as unpopular of an opinion as that is— but I really think that’s where they had their first misfire. A couple good songs, sure, but most of it was such a step down from the rest of their discography until then.

While I think modern Björn is a great vocalist, there are very few vocalists as sheerly visceral as old Björn. I feel the same sort of way about the instrumentation, though groove metal Soilwork is just as good as melodeath Soilwork.

Editing this because I guess I didn’t send the last message (the first part of this one) way earlier.

 

[DE4life]

I actually bought Stabbing the Drama - it was back in the days before you had heard 80% of the album before it even released. I assume there were a couple of singles released beforehand, but I can't remember what they were. I can just remember being hugely disappointed listening to the album when I played it for the first time. It was so much simpler than their previous work, and had a much more metalcore approach to everything. I actually really like "Nerve", but it's literally the only song on the album I cared for. It was really frustrating for me at the time, as Soilwork were one of my favourite bands. I was already dealing with disappointment over STYE, and STD just compounded that frustration. Fortunately DT didn't let me down, as Character was awesome, but it felt like a lot of the classic MDM bands of the era were purposefully moving away from their iconic sound into something far less interesting.

With that said, it got far worse after that. Sworn to a Great Divide has absolutely godawful production and the songs, for the most part, are just uninspired average metalcore. I actually think "Exile" and "20 More Miles" are good songs, but that production... it's fucking atrocious and ruins the listening experience, even on the better tracks. The Panic Broadcast sort of tried to retreat a little into more familiar territory, but almost everything on the album is once again forgettable. There is one song I like, "Two Lives Worth of Reckoning", but that's about it. Production is a bit better than Sworn, at least, but I do not understand what they were going for with the guitar sound on either album. It's obnoxiously chunky on Sworn, and lacking power on TPB. I know both albums were commercially successful, though, so what do I know?

Thankfully the band had a big renaissance from The Living Infinite onwards, and have been much better ever since. I have to admit I've not been particularly fond of anything they've done after Verkligheten (which is my favourite of Soilwork's post-2003 albums), but I wouldn't call any of the post-2019 stuff bad. It's just not to my personal taste.

As far as Speed's vocals are concerned, I get why he transitioned into a different style in terms of harsh vocals. His screaming/shreiking style from the first few albums would not have been sustainable in the long-term. Switching to a lower register was probably the right move, even though I too much prefer his harsh vocals from the early days. They have a frantic, chaotic energy which perfectly encapsulates that era of MDM. It's not something any of the vocalists from that time period could continue for very long, but hey, at least it existed for a while.

 

[Xpyro125]

I actually bought Stabbing the Drama - it was back in the days before you had heard 80% of the album before it even released. I assume there were a couple of singles released beforehand, but I can't remember what they were. I can just remember being hugely disappointed listening to the album when I played it for the first time. It was so much simpler than their previous work, and had a much more metalcore approach to everything. I actually really like "Nerve", but it's literally the only song on the album I cared for. It was really frustrating for me at the time, as Soilwork were one of my favourite bands. I was already dealing with disappointment over STYE, and STD just compounded that frustration. Fortunately DT didn't let me down, as Character was awesome, but it felt like a lot of the classic MDM bands of the era were purposefully moving away from their iconic sound into something far less interesting.

Yeah, that’s completely understandable. I love early 2000s music, groove metal, nu metal (not you, Fred Durst), etc., so Stabbing the Drama hit the exact sweet spot I didn’t even know I was craving at the time, especially off the back of Overgivenheten’s release.

With that said, it got far worse after that. Sworn to a Great Divide has absolutely godawful production and the songs, for the most part, are just uninspired average metalcore. I actually think "Exile" and "20 More Miles" are good songs, but that production... it's fucking atrocious and ruins the listening experience, even on the better tracks.

Light Discovering Darkness and Martyr are two absolute gems, but I didn’t really care for much else. It’s just fucking bland, the songwriting is seriously weak. I know some people would probably say that about Figure Number Five, but what it lacked in heaviness, it made up for in energy.

The Panic Broadcast sort of tried to retreat a little into more familiar territory, but almost everything on the album is once again forgettable. There is one song I like, "Two Lives Worth of Reckoning", but that's about it. Production is a bit better than Sworn, at least, but I do not understand what they were going for with the guitar sound on either album. It's obnoxiously chunky on Sworn, and lacking power on TPB. I know both albums were commercially successful, though, so what do I know?

I think I’d like TPB, but Björn’s vocals are so shockingly abhorrent on it. Two Lives is easily the best song off the front half by a country mile, but Epitome is a wonderful song as well with that filter sweep solo sounding absolutely magical.

Thankfully the band had a big renaissance from The Living Infinite onwards, and have been much better ever since. I have to admit I've not been particularly fond of anything they've done after Verkligheten (which is my favourite of Soilwork's post-2003 albums), but I wouldn't call any of the post-2019 stuff bad. It's just not to my personal taste.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t enjoy much from TLI or TRM. Enemies in Fidelity and The Phantom are absolutely phenomenal songs, but nothing else from those two did much for me at the time. I think the guys are talented songwriters, but it just didn’t show for me. Maybe I have to relisten to the albums, I dunno.

Verkligheten is a big step up for me, but it definitely represents the monotony and lack of heaviness of modern Soilwork rather well— If someone pointed to the album as their example of modern Soilwork’s staleness, I’d get it, even if I’d seriously disagree. A Whisp of the Atlantic has a wonderful title track, and Feverish is catchy, but it’s all bland after that.

As far as Speed's vocals are concerned, I get why he transitioned into a different style in terms of harsh vocals. His screaming/shreiking style from the first few albums would not have been sustainable in the long-term. Switching to a lower register was probably the right move, even though I too much prefer his harsh vocals from the early days. They have a frantic, chaotic energy which perfectly encapsulates that era of MDM. It's not some any of the vocalists from that time period could continue for very long, but hey, at least it existed for a while.

Yeah, I wouldn’t ever expect him or any other vocalist to keep those techniques or sounds— It sucks, but I get it. He had a tough time with (I think just live) vocals in the 2010s (Shoutouts to Sadistic Lullabye live from Death Resonance), but his health got a lot better since, so that’s awesome. There’s no way his old vocals would’ve been sustainable, but goddamn did they sound incredible.

 

[DE4life]

Honestly I am also not as high on TLI or TRM as many others, but I do appreciate that they are a big improvement on where they were going pre-2013. I think those albums are deserving of all of the praise they get, even if they aren't my favourite Soilwork albums. TLI is just a lot to take in at once, although there is some fantastic stuff in there. TRM is pretty cool , I'd definitely recommend giving it another spin to see if your opinion changes on it at all.

Not sure I've ever actually done a Soilwork album ranking on here, but if I was going to rank, it'd look like...

1. Natural Born Chaos (2002)
2. A Predator's Portrait (2001)
3. Chainheart Machine (2000)
4. Verkligheten (2019)
5. Figure Number Five (2003)
6. The Ride Majestic (2015)
7. The Living Infinite (2013)
8. Steelbath Suicide (1998)
9. Övergivenheten (2022)
10. Stabbing the Drama (2005)
11. The Panic Broadcast (2010)
12. Sworn to a Great Divide (2007)

 

[Xpyro125]

I think my ranking would be:

1. Stabbing the Drama (2005)
2. The Chainheart Machine (2000)
3. Steelbath Suicide (1998)
4. Verkligheten (2019)
5. Figure Number Five (2003)
6. A Predator’s Portrait (2001)
7. The Panic Broadcast (2010)
8. The Ride Majestic (2015)
9. The Living Infinite (2013)
10. Overgivenheten (2022)
11. Sworn to a Great Divide (2007)

I’d probably rank Natural Born Chaos around the 4-6 area, but I haven’t actually listened to it in full yet, even after all this time. I also need to relisten to TLI and TRM to see if I actually enjoy them this time around, but that’s my list aside from those caveats.

Either way, I doubt anything will ever sink as low as Sworn to a Great Divide for me.

 

[DE4life]

I like Figure Number Five as an album, but it suffers a bit by being released so soon after NBC and also sounding extremely similar. I wouldn't go as far as to say NBC B-sides, as the songs on FNF stand on their own merits, but there is a sense of it being like NBC's little brother. It'd be a bit like if TLI part 2 was released a year after TLI part 1, rather than as a double album.

Of course, you have similar with Chainheart and APP being released a year apart and also sounding really similar, but I think there's a tightening up of the sound on APP, less filler. There isn't really any progression from NBC to FNF. It's like NBC just continues after a short break.

 

[Xpyro125]

I like Figure Number Five as an album, but it suffers a bit by being released so soon after NBC and also sounding extremely similar. I wouldn't go as far as to say NBC B-sides, as the songs on FNF stand on their own merits, but there is a sense of it being like NBC's little brother. It'd be a bit like if TLI part 2 was released a year after TLI part 1, rather than as a double album.

Yeah, that’s fair. I think the sound going from NBC to Five is a bit more… I guess distilled, in lack of a better word. I think it works when stacked up to the band’s modern discography, but I know a lot of people— The band included— saw quite a bit of issues with it back then, and I completely get why.

Of course, you have similar with Chainheart and APP being released a year apart and also sounding really similar, but I think there's a tightening up of the sound on APP, less filler. There isn't really any progression from NBC to FNF. It's like NBC just continues after a short break.

Chainheart and Portrait sound rather different to me, with Portrait straying quite a bit from Chainheart’s brand of melodeath towards something not necessarily more core or alt, but more streamlined. I don’t think that’s objectively a bad thing, the style’s not a downgrade or anything, but I would definitely disagree on the no filler part— Portrait’s got a lot of songs I can’t remember or reminisce about whatsoever. It is just as good as Chainheart when it hits, but that’s a rarity for me.

 

[Xpyro125]

Also, I’ve listened to the new Sleep Token album early via a leak… It’s alright. It feels like a mix of Sundowning (Lobotomy) and Eden in a way I don’t find super interesting or new. The metal (core) moments don’t hit nearly as well for me as they did on Eden, and I preferred the atmosphere and cohesiveness of Tomb, but it’s still fine. It’s definitely better than Sundowning, but Sundowning sucks, so that’s not much of a compliment. Don’t think anyone here would get much out of it, so you probably won’t hear me talk about it any more than this.

I love the title track, Provider feels like it’d fit perfectly in Tomb, and the core part of Infinite Baths is actually cool, but I don’t think much else would appeal to anyone here. Massive Mombasa (Deafheaven) feel here where they actually give metal fans what they want at the very end, just making them go “that’s it?”.

 

[The Grayfox]

My Soilwork album ranking is all over the place. Chainheart will always be number 1 though.

1. The Chainheart Machine
2. Overgivenheten
3. Verkligheten
4. A Predator's Portrait
5. Natural Born Chaos
6. The Living Infinite
7. The Ride Majestic
8. Steelbath Suicide
9. Figure Number Five
10. Stabbing the Drama
11. The Panic Broadcast
12. Sworn to a Great Divide

A few notes: I was very excited for the Panic Broadcast when Peter Wichers announced his return to the band. Man, it didn't live up at all. It's such an erratic album that I rarely go back and revisit, which is a shame because Peter is amazing. Then of course he left again. Overgivenheten, for me, is a seriously underrated and underappreciated gem.

 

[DE4life]

By the time TPB came out I had pretty much already written Soilwork off as "a band who used to be good", so I had no expectations. I'm sure I would have listened to it at the time out of curiosity, but it would have been less disappointment and more "yep, still shit". I doubt I even knew about Wichers returning.

Late-2000s going into 2010 was a rough time from a classic MDM perspective tbh. ATG and Carcass were long dead (as far as releasing new music was concerned). In Flames had produced two shit albums from the last three (at the time many would have said three of the last four tbh, or just 4/4 since a lot of old schoolers didn't even think much of Come Clarity). Arch Enemy had been stale for years by this point. Soilwork had basically become metalcore.

DT were the one band I could cling onto as still holding true and putting out top tier stuff. Character and Fiction had both been great. Then they released We Are the Void in 2010 and completed the downward spiral. Not that WATV was disappointing in the same way as STYE, ASOP or STaGD, but man, it was such a let down for me. I didn't like it at all - and that was it, all of the core bands that got me into MDM either didn't exist or were now releasing albums I didn't like. Doom.

Of course, the story has a somewhat happy ending. IF managed at least one more decent album with SOAPF before absolutely shitting the bed for good. DT got back on track from Atoma - never at the same level as they were, but still much improved from WATV. Soilwork returned to form with TLI and kept going strong. Arch Enemy got a new vocalist and, regardless of how you feel about them, they made themselves a big name. Both ATG and Carcass came back with cool albums. The Halo Effect emerged.

In Flames remain the most disappointing of the bands that sparked my interest in the genre, by far. The majority of the other bands did some cool things in the 2010s. In Flames not so much (SOAPF excluded).