Soulgrind - Into the Dark Vales of Death CD Review

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2003-08-27 : Lord & AchaidMetallur : Link
:: Soulgrind :: Into the Dark Vales of Death (2002) CD ::
Perkele! Suomi Finland attacks again with another dark metal record. Soulgrind´s sixth album is another "first one" for me. Well, almost, because I´ve seen the band´s video...

The mind behind Soulgrind, Lord Heikkinen (also in Gloomy Grim, Walhalla) together with a couple of well-known Finnish metallers, namely Agathon (also in Gloomy Grim, Walhalla etc.) and from Azhemin (in Thy Serpent and Nomicon) have created very Finnish sounding music. But it´s not all just that, because 'Odious Emotions', for example, does it more American thrash metal way! Believe me or not, but it has Forbidden-ish or similar vibes. And it´s not the only song sounding like that. The music is quite varying: Dark metal, thrash metal, even death metal, but mid-paced. As their bio says, the music can be called a mixture of dark emotions, melodies and ultimate power. Production sounds live and crunchy. Something hardly associated with dark metal, or what?! Recorded at Studio 303 with Doctor Coxx (?!?!) and mastered at Finnvox by Mika Jussila.

Lyrics didn´t follow the promotional copy, so everything I can do is quess. There´s seems to be a lot of Finnish past/life, without forgetting paganism. Main vocals are handled by Azhemin together with Ms. Whisper Lilith (she is Tanya, previously in Lullacry, isn´t she?!). Male vocals are grunted/growled and okay, together with shouted choirs sometimes (that thrash again). Female parts are strong, not usual "angelic" singing, which is heard way too much these days.

Definitely one of the better dark metal releases for a long time, at least what I´ve heard. The variety should ensure interesting and lasting listening pleasure. Soulgrind shows that dark metal can be rolling like hell!

PS. There´s a bonus track at the ending of 'Umpijään taistelijat', after a couple of minutes of silence.
2003-08-27 : Lord & MetalHel : Link
To set some things straight; I always thought that Soulgrind was some eerie and bizarre one-man project consisting only of mr. Lord Heikkinen. I also thought that they played some old school straightforward death metal. Shittyboom how wrong was I! Into the dark vales of death demonstrates quite many nuances of death metal, too bad that the complex nature of this album is one of its few major drawbacks.

Soulgrind consists of Lord Heikkinen, Agathon Frosteus (now I seriously oppose aliases), Azhemin and ms. W. Lilith. Additional musicians are mr. Roope Latvala (Tarot, anyone?) and Louhi the Beast. Some of the fellas can be recognized from some notorious Finnish groups like Thy Serpent for example, and when I listen to the album I get strange vibes from the past. Even if Soulgrind plays technically impressive, majestic death metal with some blackish influence with female vocals there still is some echoes from the past if you know what I mean. I surely hope that this is the concept they are looking for, and even easier to me is to predict that most of the headbanging society won't appreciate it.

Let's take song number seven, Soulbanders, for example. Straightforward death metal guitar riff just urges me to swing my neck and the following guitar solo could be taken from the almighty Slayer. Few moments pass by, and next part is slow and moody keyboard symphony from the vales of death. Almost every song in this album varies as much. Dead moments are at minimum, which is quite a pity. It feels like album has been put together from, well, not from scraps but from shards, like. Lyrics on the other hand are very interesting. Even if they are not absolutely masterpieces, they have very Finnish feeling. War chant like Umpijään taistelijat goes neatly side by side with pagan hearted tale The swan and the fox. Very emotional, very different if I may say.

Don't get me wrong here. The album is quite good. I just always am pissed off when something that could have been nearly perfect (my opinion) won't reach my expectations. What had it been if some one at the producing phase had said 'now guys, tighten up a little'. Or if this is the tightened up version had Soulgrind created some sort of death metal opera? Maybe that is to be seen… Until then.
2003-08-27 : Lord : Link
SOULGRIND have a certain cult status in the underground, me having read quite a bit about them, but never having had the actual chance to hear any of their material. Part of the surprising first package I ever received from French Holy Records I now could change this and one thing is for sure, SOULGRIND definitely are not mainstream!
Ok, melodic they are, keyboards they use, a harsh voice they have and some female vocals can be found. What does this result in? Something that comfortably rests between the chairs of Black Metal, a little Gothic Metal. Doom Metal and some traditional Metal. How to call it? I've got no clue, but the categorization of Dark Metal might fit here, even though that is a label that is so nicely open that it can be attributed to all kinds of things, heh.

Opener "Lurid Circle" is a very good example what SOULGRIND stand for, a mix of orchestral and heavy passages, with the female voice (unfortunately Holy did not present me with an info sheet, so the lady has to remain nameless, I fear) complementing the harsh voice very nicely, also with the music being very varied without getting complex. So this song alone already shows that these Finns are anything but one-dimensional and the rest of the album proves that even more.

"Rutjas Rapids Through The River Of The Otherworld" is very melodic and atmospheric, while "Odious Emotion" shows the rougher side of SOULGRIND, with "The Swan And The Fox" being kind of the middle way between the two of them. And we even get a pure Doom song with "Until Love Kills". One thing is for sure, this band caters to fans of both the heavier and the more melodic camps, because they do not rely on either side and its usual elements, but mix them up, with this creating a quite own sound, which works in their favour, even more so, when also clean male vocals (excellent ones, btw) are added.

Despite being accessible and not really complex, SOULGRIND still are not a band for everybody or for the background listening, for that too much is going on in the songs and if you listen to this, then you'll have to admit that for purists they either are too slow, too melodic, too many keyboards, too many female vocals, too harsh voice and too whatever… But I don't care, "Into The Dark Vales Of Death" is a good album, basta! (Online May 31, 2003)