Soilent Green – Inevitable Collapse In The Presence Of Conviction

Monday, April 14, 2008

Soilent Green have always released consistent collections of their brand of Southern styled groove metal meets grindcore. Like Motörhead and to a lesser extent, The Ramones, the New Orleans based band’s albums don’t really differ much from one another. This isn’t a necessarily bad thing when the material is as strong as theirs. Now signed to Metal Blade Records, the quintet has just released their fourth long player, Inevitable Collapse In The Presence Of Conviction. Once again, they stick to what they do best and it pays off. The record is packed with wicked death metal informed guitars, grind-speed drumming, and some of the most EYEHATEGOD-styled (guitarist Brian Patton spends time in that band too) funeral stomps the band have ever put down on tape! The army of sludgy guitars that are featured in “Antioxidant” are proof enough of the unit’s ferocity. Other bands evolve and get fancier in their approach but this band just gets meaner!

Patton’s guitars have never sounded dirtier on any of Soilent Green’s other albums than they do here and his fret board work on these songs should be commended. His down-tuned riffing on songs like “Lovesick” and “Mental Acupuncture” never disappoint in their bite and scope. Ben Falgoust’s multi-faceted vocals fall in expertly with the band’s wide-scaled approach. His growl is menacing but his screechy stuff really gets the prize! His blood-curling assault on “For Lack of Perfect Words” definitely ranks up there with his best work. So another year and another Soilent Green album is hitting stores but “have they changed much?” you ask. Not really. But hey, when they deliver material this solid, I’m not really complaining!