Artist: Soilwork
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Release Date: 4/2/02
Average Rating: 3.63
Go to Judgment Committee Reviews of this Album
|
|
Title: Natural Born Chaos Artist: Soilwork Label: Nuclear Blast Records Release Date: 4/2/02 |
There are currently 8 Reader Reviews of this album.
Average Rating: 3.63 Go to Judgment Committee Reviews of this Album |
|
|
||
Submitted by Derek (10/20/02):
This album is the fucking shit, go get it now, or die a horrible death... thank you.
Submitted by Damien Boorman (8/6/02):
I have to admit from the outset, I really am not a HUGE fan of Soilwork. I mean, I can understand where people are coming from, they are all excellent musicians and they serve up some nice melodic death, I just can't seem to click with this band. To me it seems that Soilwork doesn't put a lot of effort or time into their song-writing. When listening to a Soilwork album, I always start to wonder what these guys could achieve if they felt that they didn't need to start every year with a new album. Sure, there are some fantastic moments in these songs, they're just few and far between for me.I've had Natural Born Chaos for a few weeks now, and the bastard still isn't growing on me. I just can't shake the feeling that this is Soilwork "going through the motions" again. Each song follows the same melodic death formula, and it only really works on about 2 or 3 songs. The rest just leave a bad taste in my mouth. "Mundayne" springs to mind.
Sorry, but I don't know what it is about Soilwork. I know I SHOULD like them, they just come off sounding too forced to me. Someone should tell the guys that it's okay to try something new, and in the process really tap into that creative genius within the band which is oh so obvious on a select few songs.
I'd give it two if I didn't think that Soilwork had the musical genius that I know they are capable of.
Submitted by Mephistopheles (5/7/02):
I was waiting for this album since I knew it was coming and all I can say is that the wait was well worth it. Everything you've heard is true. Yes, the clean vocals are back. Yes, the synths are a little more pronounced. Yes, the guitars are heavy as hell and the rythmn section is tight.Yes, this album makes you want to break shit.
Natural Born Chaos rips and tears its way out of your speakers the way a great metal album should. From the opening of "Follow the Hollow" through the hellacious "Black Star Deceiver" all the way to the end, this album is a devastating piece of sound.
Speed is in rare form, both on the growls and on the clean parts. Much like on Predator's Portrait, the clean vocals are there almost exclusively in the chorus and serve to punctuate the growls more than overwhelm them. And the synths are there, but they are not the over-the-top synths that bands like Dream Theater occasionally devolve into.
This album is brilliant and, in my opinion, belongs in every metalhead's collection.
Submitted by VenoM_BM (5/2/02):
In my opinion is one of the best metal albums I heard. Yes, some will say that Soilwork went soft on this album, but it's still great news to metal. It has some hard metal songs like: "The Bringer", "Mercury Shadow", "The Flameout". And I could go on with all the songs. I don't realy like the way metal is going these days, but Soilwork is something coming strong!!! So just listen to the album, it ROCKS !!!
Submitted by Omen (4/25/02):
I was really disappointed with this album. The songs start off great but it seems like they tried way too hard to make a clean vocal chorus. In Predator's Portrait everything seemed to flow together, in this album it sounds forced and cheesy... powermetal cheesy. The only song that seemed to really work was "Follow the Hollow," the first song on the album. I know that bands like to experiment but I hope Soilwork sees that they went overboard on this one. 1 skull for "Follow the Hollow."
Submitted by Chris (4/17/02):
Why are there only a few bands that seem to stay true to thier roots? Bands tend to stray away from their original sound to explore other areas, then they end up playing utter shit, like Soilwork. This new cd is bad, very bad in my opinion. The vocals are lame and riffs aren't as crunching as their other albums. The drums are slower and they just have that marketed sound. Don't buy this cd, I think you will regret it.
Submitted by a_whole_lotta_metal (4/13/02):
This album rocks!!Although I didn't like A Predator's Portrait much because I didn't quite appreciate the direction they were heading, and although this album still continues down that path, Natural Born Chaos simply smokes. The album has much more energy than the last one, and Speed's clean vocals have improved a lot since last year. One thing about this one is that it's melodic, catchy and easy to grasp, and yet still aggressive. And best of all, they sound quite original - even though there are shades of Swedish Melodic DM around, they have their own sound.
I do however have a few small gripes - just like the last album, sometimes the clean vocals in choruses are a bit wimpy, making the song sound 'soft' and less heavy all of a sudden. They almost killed "Blackstar Deceiver" with the chorus, but thankfully the rest of the song is so damn good I didn't mind that much. Another thing I find quite disappointing here is that there aren't any pure thrashers here - I was hoping they'd do another "Neurotica Rampage" or "Generation Speedkill"; no deal. The solos here are also less impressive compared to the ones in the last album.
These are all minor setbacks, however. The clean vocals this time around besides in a couple of songs mostly are pretty good, and there's enough energy here to keep your head banging for months to come. A superb metal album that will please just about any metal fan out there. A definite candidate for Album Of The Year in my book.
Favourite Tracks - "Follow The Hollow," "Minefields," "The Flameout"
Submitted by Phil Jones (4/3/02):
In the vast array of catagories that metal encompasses, melodic metal is what Soilwork seems to be billed as. I would fully agree with that billing for thier past three releases; A Predator's Portrait, The Chainheart Machine and Steelbath Suicide, but Natural Born Chaos to me is a graphic departure from anything else I have ever heard in the melodic metal catagory and seem to take on a whole new movement.The sound, for the most part, is quite similar to Predator, the clean vocals are back, the harmonized guitars are back, and so are the atmospheric keyboards. What is different is the way the band has gone about writing the songs. On Predator the arrangements were quite loose, there were songs that seemed to have parts thrown in, sections completely different from the feeling and mood set up by the begining of the song that changed the meaning a bit. On NBC the arrangements are much tighter and feel to me to be perfected to a higher degree. The clean vocals are also cleaned up a lot, harmonization is there in a greater abundance and has been recorded in a way that reminds me of Erasure (an 80's new-wave band).
Guitar wise NBC, and simply Witchers and Frenning in general, has everything that a fan of virtuoso guitar would want. The two have crafted another stunning guitar driven album. Witchers and Frenning are the perfect duo and give of such a unique sound its almost as if one person with four arms is playing these riffs. The solos are much shorter but they are also more impressive, very emotionally oriented, even more-so than Predator. As well, Sven Karlson kicks up the keys a notch higher as there are more sections with keys and much more interplay with the guitar melodies.
Some will be disappointed by NBC. Its lack of speed and its more melodic feel will leave fans of thier earlier works feeling let down. I can say however that although Predator is still my favorite I think NBC is their best work. To call this album metal at all would be an understatment. You don't need to bang your head to this stuff, you need to sit back, relax, and take it in. With NBC Soilwork have created a whole new catagory of music I call Soilmetal. Good Shit.
[- Metal Judgment Home -] [- Email Metal Judgment -]
©1999 Metal Judgment. All rights reserved.