Soilwork - The Panic Broadcast
Late For The Kill, Early For The Slaughter
2 Lives Worth Of Reckoning
The Thrill
Deliverance Is Mine
Night Comes Clean
King Of The Threshold
Let This River Flow
Epitome
The Akuma Afterglow
Enter Dog Of Pavlov
Despite still retaining much of their hard-earned fanbase and general critical respect in recent years, it’s difficult to argue against the case that Soilwork have been plodding along without much to show for their efforts since their outstanding, genre-beating classic ‘Natural Born Chaos’. Sure, ‘Figure Number Five’ was pretty slick and ‘Stabbing The Drama’ had its moments, but neither set the world alight and paved away for the very inconsistent and generally drab ‘Sworn To A Great Divide’. Few would claim that the Swedes realistically had it in them to make another great album, which is what makes ‘The Panic Broadcast’ all the more triumphant.
Opening with a furiously heavy tubthumper in the outstandingly-titled ‘Late To The Kill, Early For The Slaughter’, Soilwork’s eighth studio album takes full advantage of the return of creative nucleus Peter Wichers, whose riffs, licks and shreds stamp their authority all over the shop. There’s still plenty of room for those inevitable hooks too, with ‘The Thrill’ and ‘Let This River Flow’ in particular offering some memorably anthemic moments. It’s a welcome return to form for the band who helped to reshape melodic death metal at the turn of the millennium, and if it’s an indication of where they’re headed, then it seems that Soilwork are certainly back on track.
Reviewed by Merlin Alderslade
‘The Panic Broadcast’ is out now on Nuclear Blast
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