This is an interesting album but it doesn't top its 1999 predecessor 'The Chainheart Machine'. The riffs are good but not to that caliber. And the vocals are a little more laid back mixed with some clean bits. The melodic rhythms that go along with the clean vocals (at times). The leads are outstanding though. The intensity is there just not as much.

They mellowed out on this release but the vocals feature a lot of screaming. It's like a mix of melodic death with metalcore. I don't like metalcore much but the music is quality. I just don't like the fact that their intensity lessened hence the "B" rating.

Their modern sound is like this too, their most recent has a lot of mellow parts to them. Their latest album from 2022, 'Övergivenheten', sounds a bit like this. I like both almost equally. They'll never get to the degree of 'The Chainheart Machine' but they're still a good band releasing good music. They just fizzed out whereas they could've progressed musically. I'm still a fan of the band but I just had to lower my expectations of their releases after 'The Chainheart Machine'. There are some good songs on here mainly these: 'Neurotic Rampage', 'Final Fatal Force' and the title track.

I liked this release, it is just a little step down from the previous. These guys have had a great career in music some good releases and some duds. This one is definitely not the latter, it's quality melodic death metal.

There will never be a Soilwork of this degree again, but that doesn't mean that they're done as a band. This album is a good follow-up, just not nearly as good as their predecessor. I hope that they keep producing albums though! 'A Predator's Portrait' has some dynamite songs! Since this, they've just chilled out.

Rating: 8½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Death8699
01/16/2023 16:27