Soul Forsaken - Tales of the Macabre CD Review

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2003-08-28 : pm : Link
Soul Forsaken - Tales Of The Macabre (8/10) - Norway - 2003
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Baphomet
Playing time: 59:27
Band-Homepage: Soul Forsaken

Tracklist:
A Thoroughly Enjoyable Nightmare
Hail The Gods
Diabolic
Graveyard Misery
When Judgement Comes
Living Dead Part II
Paleface
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
28 & Becoming
Scorn Infested
Goodbye Toxic Veins
Zombie Slideshow
End Credits Hell Station
SOUL FORSAKEN advertise themselves as "UltraHeavy Norwegian Motherfucking BloodGrind Metal". A pretty namemonster in itself, but it doesn't tell a half of what this is all about, but let's take a look at this hitherto unknown band first shall we. SOUL FORSAKEN is made up of the duo Frediablo and Fug. Why they chose those names is one big mystery but they can certainly handle the task but could have used some help with the production as we will soon find out. The album itself is dedicated to the gods of filmmaking and in the credits they thank Monty Python, vodka and hairy women among other things, so they have a good sense of humour at least.
This is not *that* extreme at all. It is mostly heavy and brutal but their description of the band's sound is quite overstated. Other than heavy and brutal this is melodic, which mostly comes out in Frediablo's often used clean vocals. It's nearer to Rock even borderline Pop in it's tone. I personally have little problems with that since it freshens the songs nicely and quite frankly his clean vocals are pretty good! Frediablo's guttural vokills then are like a hybrid between Ian Campbell (NEURAXIS) and Randy Blythe (LAMB OF GOD), so pretty damn good there too. The music doesn't trail far behind either. Solid Death Metal that has something for everyone, be it the fast blastbeats of "Diabolic", the great clean chorus on the starter, the slight Nu-Metal touch on "Paleface" or the crushingly great music in general. They have taken a lot of influences from the existing Death Metal bands and mixed them up with some Grind and just slightly Nu. With that said it might sound like a salad of all kinds but they manage to avoid most of the hazards and try to keep the songs interesting with varied structures and they do it with taste and succeed. There's always something new coming from behind the next corner and each part is carved to fit the puzzle seamlessly.

As I had mentioned earlier the production is pretty much the only negative thing here. It reminds me of METALLICA's "…And Justice For All" with its low sound, but that gets fixed if you turn the volume up a couple of notches. Other than that there are a couple of odd mixing decisions, especially with the drums, but that's about it.

If you're like me and like Death Metal of the brutal kind but often find it a bit too one-sided to keep the interest going for more than a couple of spins then "Tales Of The Macabre" is an ideal choice. But anyone who likes their (Death) Metal to be varied and interesting yet brutal and heavy could very well find this to their liking. (Online August 27, 2003)

2003-07-05 : Jeremy
This CD is amazing. I am a blown away. Whatever you do, DO NOT miss out this release.
2003-05-14 : Sledgeface
Soul Forsaken fucking rocks!!! This album is soooo fucking energetic and heavy,and at the same time melodic and well produced!!Buy this motherfucker,or else you will miss out on probably the best release this year.
2003-05-13 : Hellfire
WOW!!!!! This album fucking took me by storm! Totally amazing, not the typicall death/black album, but it's still fucking heavy!! The best album i have heard so far this year!!