Soulfallen - Grave New World CD Review

Soulfallen – Grave New World – OFF Records (Finland) – 2009

I first stumbled upon Soulfallen early 2008, and within about 5 minutes I was hooked. Within days I acquired their debut album “World Expiration” and I can honestly say that it was one of my finest metal purchase’s of 2008. “Death Of The Tyrant” I now regard as one of my favourite songs of all time, (check out the video on youtube now, that’s amazing too) and the rest of the album was of an equally high standard. I’ve been looking forward to this album a lot, so upon setting the disc up to play, the question now is! Can these guys keep up this pace….?

…..and as before with their first album, within 5 minutes the answer beyond all doubt is hell Yeah! It is true to the first album buts shows that key element of progress that is essential to the longevity of any bands appeal. It is so pure, yet so unique, so uplifting and exchanting, yet still blended it in perfectly at all times with that brutal edge that all metalheads thrive on! The lyrics top of the mix perfectly, very real, very dark, and very deep, this top notch poetic blend of philosophy and psychology, has clearly had a lot of effort, thought and I dare say even a slice of frontman, Kai Leikola’s soul put into it. Combined with the music, the overall audio experience Soulfallen provide on this latest release is literally breathtaking!

You really can’t put, just how good this band are into words, and truly do their work justice. But every true metal fan should check this band out now. The combined impact of the first two albums is fast making Soulfallen one of my favourite bands, and I predict very good things for them in the future. The right break and these guys will be wowing the crowd’s at Bloodstock,, Wacken, Hellfest and all the other great European Metal festivals!

To sum things up , I’d say they have the epic feel, of bands such as Wintersun and Dark Tranquillity, with the blackened styles and euphoria of bands like Dimmu Borgir and Dissection, with and a slight hint of that eerie abstract side you experience when listening to Nevermore or Opeth thrown in for good measuring. The end result being an outstanding sinergistic blend of Black and Death metal!

Standout tracks I’d say would be, the title track, “Grave New World”, track 7 “Embrace The Scythe”, one hell of track, which would be an amazing rollercoaster soundtrack. (You’ll have to listen to it to truly understand what I mean by that, but it would have to be a pretty good rollercoaster to justify claiming this one as it’s own). And last but by no means least the final track of the album “We Are The Sand”, their most beautiful song to date. The power of this song literally had me tingling all over. So much atmosphere, so much emotion, yet still so metal. Lars Eikind’s addition as guest vocalist on this track is phenomenal, making the track definitely a fine way to finish off this outstanding example of metal evolution! An absolute pleasure to review.

Final Verdict - 10/10