Band: Soulfallen
Title: Grave New World
Label: Off Records / Firebox
Distribution: LSP Music
Release date: June 2009
Review: CD

The Finnish formation Soulfallen (Kai Leikola-v, b; Aapeli Kivimäki-g; Simo Rahikainen-g; and Jimmy Salmi-d) entered the Watercastle Studio with Arttu Sarvanne (e.g. Uhrilehto, For Selena And Sin, CadaCross, Falchion) at the end of last year for the recording of Grave New World, which lasts for forty seven minutes.
Grave New World is a monument, not only within the band’s history, yet within the Doom/Death-history too. The nine hymns stand for Doom-Death Metal, yet of the most unique kind. First of all, the tracks are more malignant, brutal and morbid than what the ‘average’ Doom-Death scene normally stands for; at least this isn’t of the melancholic / emotional kind. The solo, rhythm and bass guitars are pretty energetic, the drums inject the tracks with a tasteful drive, and the grunts and screams are deep and darkening. Secondly, the music is grimly interspersed with elements from Black Metal (the oppressing spheres, some vocals, etc), and most of the time the magisterial keyboards give the whole a rather bombastic, symphonic approach. Besides, sometimes the piano / keyboards (created by guitar player Aapeli, as well as, for example, former Alghazanth / Obscurity / Morion-member Antti Simonen) show an industrialised, then again an atmospheric side, to complete the essence of this purifying soundtrack to accompany humanity’s bottomless fall. The many tempo-changes and the pounding rhythm, as well as the many changes in tempo and melody, are well-balanced, and the sound is more than satisfying. Final track We Are The Sand features guest vocals by Before The Dawn’s Lars Eikind, by the way.

89/100

Ivan Tibos.