The gang from Netherlands that is
made by musicians who play and who had played in long lists of bands, gathers
because of their common inspiration and reference to BATHORY, VENOM &
CELTIC FROST. Their multitude of engagements has made of SOULBURN a band with
a long period of silence. Between their debut album and the contemporary one
had passed 16 years. But the idea survived! Some changes in the line up did not change the concept! We should mention
that from the contemporary point of view the strongest blood bonds of the
band are with ASPHYX and GRAND SUPREME BLOOD COURT.
„The Suffocating Darkness“ is marked with high quality. The band has achieved this
that declares as a reason for its existence. 60% BATHORY, 20% CELTIC FROST
and 10% VENOM are melted in a monolithic alloy of a metal tornado. If the
mathematics is your fondness, you will notice that around 10% are lost. These
are melted in the best from the Netherlands death metal scene, and of course
– in ASPHYX and GRAND SUPREME BLOOD COURT.
Winds bring a symphonic
introduction to open the door to hell. In comparison to „Feeding on Angels“ `98 the new material of SOULBURN is with sharper
sound. Special merit for this has the
new voice of the band – Twan van Geel (FLESH MADE SIN, BUNKUR, LEGION
OF THE DAMNED), whose hysteric screams are enriched with echo (perhaps even
more than the necessary) in a classic manner of the 90’es. The guitar sound
also is with more high frequencies and black metal manner but without loosing its moderate affinity to riff. The music is more diverse, and in the
different songs the influences are mixed in different proportions that make
the album pleasant for listening. And if the album begins with more reverence
to BATHORY, then you can find in it the Asphyx-doom
song „I Do Not Bleed From Your Crown of Thorns“ or songs where the works of
VENOM and CELTIC FROST are more evident (It would be more interesting for you
to find them on your own!).
The collaboration between active
musicians not always gives satisfactory result but in the scene of
Netherlands nothing happens by accident. This remarkable album is a reverence
for the classic bands but it also sounds in a contemporary way. The classic
metal harmonies are dressed in complex arrangements with changes of the
tempo. Death metal looks in at black/thrash/doom pad. The stamp of BATHORY
makes the final sketch with the windy Vikings’ epilogue of the album „The
Suffocating Darkness“.
