SoulSteal

Answers To Everything

Written by: PP on 29/12/2012 17:18:52

SoulSteal formed in Cyprus eleven years ago, but they have only just now released their debut album "Answers To Everything". It's an interesting combination of a number of metal styles, but primarily the band finds itself within the realm of doom and melancholic metal. The obvious three bands to name drop here are Paradise Lost, Anathema, and Katatonia, whom the band also correctly point out as similar artists in their press release, because elements from all three can be found in their sound.

In addition, the band explores the heavier metal genres as well, mostly in the form of deep growls, ugly snarling, and crushingly heavy, yet slowly creeping instrumentation on the background drawing in the doom element to the mix. The growls could use some technical finesse, but I'm happy to report that the clean singing is excellent and delivered with just the right kind of melancholy and longing in order to create a sense of nostalgia and distance to their music. It creates a strong contrast between the hauntingly beautiful and the brooding darkness, which I suspect has been the motivation behind this release all along. This juxtaposition is the greatest strength of SoulSteal, and when they are successful with it like on "The Answer" or "Allegiance", they craft fine pieces of melancholic doom metal in international class.

There are still the usual woes with suspect production that come with a DIY release such as this one, but as a whole SoulSteal display songwriting prowess that will surprise fans of the genre. They are an obvious choice for a support slot to any of the bands mentioned in this review, and have enough strong material to play on par with the heavyweights.

7

Download: The Answer, Allegiance
For the fans of: Paradise Lost, Katatonia, Anathema
Listen: Facebook

Release date 01.12.2011
Self-Released

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