Artist: Soilwork
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Release Date: 3/8/05
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Title: Stabbing the Drama Artist: Soilwork Label: Nuclear Blast Records Release Date: 3/8/05 |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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4 | ||
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4 | ||
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2 | ||
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Abyss's Review:
Soilwork is either the band I love to hate, or the band I hate to love. On the one hand, they are by far the most successful of the 'pop' metal acts to emerge in the post-Gothenburg scene, making contemporaries like In Flames look weak and impotent. On the other hand, they are so contrived, saccharine, and formulaic that they might as well be a boy band.
"One word review: Formulaic." Soilwork have carved their own little niche in this genre, and have their own distinct sound, which gives them a little more credibility than that of most of their peers. And for all of their sing-songy, bubble-gum choruses, they are very talented songwriters. The ABBA of metal, if you will. Almost every song on this album is a testament to that fact. This band has grown very little, but I like to think of it as a consistency rather than stagnation. Fans of the last few albums should know exactly what to expect, and should be more than satisfied.
This band continues to leave a bad taste in my mouth, like a two-dollar hooker. Every song is structured in the same harsh verse/clean, melodic chorus structure that it is almost laughable. I don't know whether to chide them for reducing songwriting to a mathematical equation, or to laud them for being so damn good at it. So yes, I'm giving this album a high score . . . but I'm not all that happy about it. One word review: Formulaic.
Death's Review:
The timing may just be right for Soilwork this summer. This is metalcore enough to appeal to the masses (although I like Speed Strid's vocals better than any of the current wave of pure metalcore vocalists, think metalcore mixed with Hetfield or something), but retains enough of the late-era Gothenburg style (read keyboards, upbeat tempos, quirkiness) to sound just different enough to stand out from the crowd. Not as out there as recent In Flames, not as retro as recent Dark Tranquillity, Soilwork treads the middle ground of metalness without the inaccessibility. Like I said, the time may be right for just such a formula. Stabbing the Drama (a play on the album title Selling the Drama by 1990's alt-rock band Live?) is heavier and more straightforward metal sounding than was Soilwork's last outing, Figure Number Five, which I gave 4 skulls to back in May 2003. I think I like this album better, and it is more in line with what fans today want to hear. It still isn't one of my favorite records of the year or anything, but lots of new fans are likely to jump on board with this release - the right sound for the right band at the right time. Nothing earth shattering, but definitely good enough.
"Nothing earth shattering, but definitely good enough."
Hel's Review:
I often listen to music with half an ear, while doing other things that I am more absorbed in, and on those occasions only one of two things will make me look up and over at my player: 1) some part of the album is remarkably good or 2) some part of the album is remarkably bad. I did occasionally give myself whiplash listening to Stabbing the Drama but each time it was caused by the latter - some part of the album was remarkably bad. "Observation Slave" had this effect, and considering it was the first time anything on the album caught my attention at all, well, you can see where this is going...
"This is simply not the album that I am looking for from Soilwork." Unbelievably, things actually got worse after that. You know it's a bad sign when, the first time through an album you reach the point where you're strongly considering just hitting "eject." Fortunately, once "Fate in Motion" ended, I was granted a brief reprieve from the crap as my attention was caught once more, this time in a good way, by "Blind Eye Halo." "Whatever Thorns May Grow" closed things out in the same, rather bland, way in which the album had begun. Upon listening further, I continued to discover other moments in other songs that annoyed me.
Perhaps I just need to admit to myself that I have grown tired of the style that Soilwork specializes in. Or perhaps it is more a case of Soilwork moving their style in a direction that I’m not particularly on board with. Certainly, I no longer enjoy the clean vocal sections the way I used to. This has become the more dominant style it seems, and it is not a change I approve of, gradual though it may have been.
Ultimately, after forcing myself through it many times, the album has grown on me a bit, and I no longer find it as completely objectionable as I did at first. But still, this is simply not the album that I am looking for from Soilwork. I suppose I must accept that the days of Steelbath Suicide and The Chainheart Machine are long over, and abandon the hope which continues to spring whenever I receive a modern Soilwork album. How depressing.
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