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This album was a nice surprise for me. I had heard their previous work and didn't really find it all that impressive. That's why when I first bought this album I wasn't expecting a lot and maybe that's why I like it as much as I do.

Soilwork plays a mix between thrash and black metal and leans a little more towards thrash. This release a lot more varied than previous efforts with much better songwriting and some really good guitar work. The riffs are your basic thrash speed riffs with breakdowns here and there for the pit crowd. The keyboards play a larger part on this album as well and do so without taking to big a chunk of the sound. They are used really well in setting the atmosphere without overdoing it.

There are a few things that I noticed that I did not care for. Number one on the list would have to be how they slow down during almost every chorus of almost every song and the vocals go clean. The songs seem to loose something when they do this and for some reason it reminds me of doing wind sprints back in high school football practice. I didn't like doing them then and I don't care for hearing music doing the same thing now. I also don't like the vocal delivery during these parts either. The only other gripe I have is the song structures are very similar.

Overall I would say that this is a good album and in my opinion they're best to date. Not the greatest thing I have ever heard but certainly not the worst either. I would recommend this album to any fan of thrash metal.

Track by Track

Bastard Chain -7.5
Like the average stalker -7
Needlefeast -8
Neurotica Rampage -7.5
The Analyst -8
Grand failure anthem -7
Structure divine -7
Shadowchild -7
Final fatal force -8
A predators portrait -7.5