Figure Number Five

Coming off an album as strong as Natural Born Chaos, there was likely little to no chance that Soilwork was going to match itself, and that is precisely how the course of events would pan out, especially in lieu of the band continuing to crank out such a level of productivity. A year passed, and while I was still in the throes of heat for its predecessor, Figure Number Five arrived. I admit that, at the time, I felt like this was an album composed off some left-over ideas or cutting room floor materials that just weren't good enough to qualify for the last few, but in hindsight that was probably premature. The album largely lacks the dynamic strength of the last, and it does seem lazy at times, in particular the heavier riffs and grooves, but at the very least it's consistent and smooth and maintains a high production standard.

There are a few dreamy, catchy cuts on the album like "Distortion Sleep", "Downfall 24", or "Overload" with its great verse grooves, cute little bouncy synthesizers, and memorable chorus; some of these do arguably forge a fraction of new terrain, but just as many others tend to blend together and don't have a chorus or single riff that really impacts me. Speed's vocals are on roughly the same level as Natural Born Chaos, but they don't have as much to really say when the songwriting doesn't always set them up well. The synthesizers are fine, but I feel a few of the tracks here might have been improved if they added something a little fancier to show for themselves. Otherwise, I can't exactly describe the content here as particularly 'bad', since it's a fully listenable album, doesn't waste too much of your time and also does continue some of that positive, uplifting, potent vibe that the previous album mastered.

I definitely think this one might have suffered from that prolific the band were on, even more so than A Predator's Portrait. With another year or two between these full-lengths, a bit more variation could be achived, a few chorus parts sharpened, and they might have turned out stronger. As it stands, there aren't even many lead guitars on Figure Number Five that I can remember, which were a real positive for the band before this point. If I were putting together a longer playlist of their material, I'd probably include a few of the songs I mentioned above, maybe "Brickwalker" too, and ultimately this is one I can listen through without ever feeling too letdown or pissed off, but I'm just not going to pull it down off the shelf when I can head for The Chainheart Machine or Natural Born Chaos instead. Probably good enough to keep the the band's momentum intact, but nothing bordering on mindblowing here.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

My history with Soilwork goes quite a ways back, though it's not a history that makes me particularly close with them. My first listen to Bjorn "Speed" Strid's vocals wasn't even with Soilwork, but rather Disarmonia Mundi's 2006 album, Mind Tricks. Yeah, I've set up this review well already, but please hear me out. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it was probably the only album where I enjoyed Strid's harsh vocals post-Chainheart Machine. And honestly, I don't really feel like my opinion there has changed too much. I do quite like his singing, though Soilwork's material was never emotional enough to grip me, nor aggressive enough to pump me up, like with any of Disarmonia's works (Though Nebularium falls into a different category). I'd say the closest I've gotten to the latter with Soilwork is "Nerve", but it still doesn't compare to other melodeath giants. I've tried listening to a bunch of different Soilwork songs, and although I came out liking the tracks (Though I did love some songs as well), nothing ever made me fall in love with the band. This album isn't an exception, but damn does it get me close to doing so. Fact is, these guys are incredibly talented. I respect the fuck out of everyone who's ever played in the band.

When it comes to the vocals, this is one of the few times where I can say that, for the most part, I'm down for Strid's growls. Sure, I may prefer almost every other vocalist I've listened to in this department, but I thoroughly enjoyed them here. However, it's Bjorn's cleans that I love. He's my Älvestam for whenever Älvestam's too poppy for me. In fact, I'd say that his cleans are the driving force for the album.

The guitarwork is pretty nice, with them actually utilizing some really nice lighter melodies. I think the heavier parts work better for me because they aren't trying so hard to be heavy as they are trying to have a damn good melody, be it groove or just straight up metal. After The Chainheart Machine, whenever Soilwork tried to be heavy, it just never stuck with me. They're simply middle of the road in that department. The difference is that, here, they feel more focused on having a good melody itself, and that pays in dividends. Have I repeated myself? Sure, but it's worth clarifying.

The drumming is pretty good, but not consistently so. In some songs, it's fantastic, but in others, it completely misses the mark. I much preferred Ranta's drumming on the first two albums, and for his last work with them, it's still good, but it's unfortunately not as good as his other works, in my opinion. As for the bass, it's pretty good, can't complain too much, though there isn't anything outstanding that I could talk about.

The overall tone, rather than that of heaviness, is that of either something more emotional or more energetic, depending on the song. I feel like Soilwork too often tries to focus on being heavy, which ends up missing the mark for me.

When it comes to the songs, "Rejection Role" was the first song off of the album that I listened to. Teaming up with In Flames, they made two videos for it and "Trigger" from In Flames' 2002 album, Reroute to Remain. It doesn't really mean anything here, but the video for "Rejection Role" was significantly better. It's a damn good song that, while not too heavy, does provide a bit of a rush. "Overload", similarly, has an incredible energy to it. It's incredibly bombastic, and it's great for repeat listens. The synths in it are understated, but that is a boon to it. It's a little accent that helps boost the song that much further. "Cranking the Sirens" comes after "Departure Plan", and although the lyrics to both songs differ in specifics with their subject matters, I find "Cranking the Sirens" to be a better "Departure Plan". If anything, it might just be my favorite song on the album, though that title might go to "Overload". Depends on what day you ask me, I suppose. "Brickwalker" has a sort of feel that I can't particularly identify. I'm not sure if it's kinda nu metal-sounding or groove-sounding, but whatever it is, I really like it. Not all the songs are perfect though. "Strangler" just doesn't do anything for me. It sounds like a poor man's early 2000s Disturbed song, particularly something from Believe. Hell, it sounds like the poor man's Soilwork song. Nothing sticks, and it lacks direction. In fact, the only compliment that I can give it is that the rhythm guitar sounds great. The album would've been better off without it. Meanwhile, with "Light the Torch", the effects on Strid's vocals during the first part of each verse just sound horrible. I really have to question the decision there. The song's pretty good otherwise.

The greatest flaw of Figure Number Five is that, well, it lacked any sort of heaviness in pretty much every song. Even its heavier songs are outmatched by other Soilwork albums there, which I already thought were middle of the road in that aspect. Still, it's an incredible boon for me. Although it lacks the heaviness which could give it much appeal to the majority of metalheads, or even Soilwork's own fans, it pulls off the clean, melodic, and emotional parts off well enough that I can actually get attached to the band for the album. It's absolutely a me thing, I know, but I actually quite like that I can feel the emotion in the lyrics and in the music this time around. In so many other Soilwork songs, particularly with the material off of their newest EP, I just don't feel a thing. Sure, the talent and the passion's there, but it's not for me. Hell, Bjorn even said that the lack of heaviness is his biggest regret about this album, and I get that. However, I love what they went for, and it worked out great for me because of that. Songs like "Overload" and "Rejection Role" may not be heavy, but they have the energy to compensate. Meanwhile, songs like "Cranking the Sirens", while not a conventional ballad, has beauty and incredible emotion in its lyrics- And in that regard, believable lyrics that don't just sit as non-descript words to simply have something to sing, which I find to be a problem in many other Soilwork songs, at least in my opinion.

I'll admit that Soilwork just isn't for me. I've tried really getting into them, and I just can't. Aside from their first two albums, which feel like a completely different (And subjectively better) entity, I've only been able to get into this album and Verkligheten. I think it's because this album lacks so much of what people love about Soilwork, along with the band's different aim this time around, as to why I greatly enjoy this outing so much.

Tracks to Recommend: "Rejection Role", "Overload", "Cranking the Sirens"
Tracks to Avoid: "Strangler", "Departure Plan" (I like it, but it's still pretty cringeworthy after the first listen.)

After the resounding detonation that was 'Natural Born Chaos' with its brilliant and unique mixture of styles, Soilwork follow up with 'Figure Number Five', an album that can rather safely be labeled alternative metal, with additions on top of groove and blues metal. Straightaway the problem with this album is not so much the quality of the music itself but rather how it occurred a tad too soon in the band's discography, without transition, where surely it would come as a bit of a shock to the fan base given the band had always been proper metal the whole time, with outside influences only incorporated into a solid core of Swedish melodic death metal. Now, it is the melo-death aspect that is distant and found in traces only on an album that is fundamentally alternative and if anything more rockish in feel . This is basically melodic alt rock, with harsher vocals and a bit more abrasive riffing.

So it's a little poppy. Indeed, some of the choruses have that bright exuberance drawn directly from radio music, and while none of the choruses actually sound like radio music, there's a recognizable poppy energy about them. It still sounds like Soilwork, but less dramatic and poignant, and more casual. The songs are also a bit shorter than previously with just 1 out of the 11 making it past the 4 minute mark, and it's obvious upon listening. Verses distinctly feel shorter, each section takes up less time to unfold, the songs make it to the middle part interlude fast, the solos are trimmed down (short and sweet though), and the songs are generally played at a fast tempo although this was subtly executed, and not blatant. The concise approach to song-writing along with that speedy aspect make this a lot closer to mainstream music, and that bit farther from metal broadly speaking.

Now, to complete the title of this review: 'Figure Number Five' is indeed relatively "poppy", however, the actual content that fills the tracks is proper music. It's original sounding, each song is fresh and distinct from the next, and all the parts from verses to choruses to mid-song breaks are genuinely inspired and well written music. It's catchy, but it's also got a lot of personality to it. It isn't just airy pop metal, and there's a legitimate drive and spirit that animate the songs. Some of the choruses in fact are some of the most intense music the band had written. 'Departure Plan' comes to mind, as well as 'Distortion Sleep', or the enchanting mid-song part on 'Light the Torch'. The chorus on 'The Mindmaker' has that epic, rich, dark edge to it that's highly reminiscent of the atmosphere from the previous album 'Natural Born Chaos'.

A lot of that personality also comes from the band's ability to write parts that are highly dynamic with a strong, natural sense of melody, yet without always resorting to being heavy and sad in atmosphere. The lovely chorus in 'Overload', both soft and melancholic, is a great example of that. The same with 'Cranking the Sirens'. The band can just as well be light and pleasant, but genuinely catchy and authentic and not sound like a washed up metal band trying to write cheap radio music that's only good for half a listen once. The songs will get quite a few listeners hooked if they would just give it a chance, and fans of the album will have no difficulty singing along the whole record even years after not having heard it at all.

The synths once again play a major role , and here they always add just the right dynamic to a part either by injecting atmosphere or by adding melodic detail, and they showcase a wide range of sounds from prog rock in tone to more electronic and modern. As far as the verses go, the album generally contains bluesy metal riffing with fluid playability mixing chords and single-note pentatonic riffs to instill a spirited momentum and foundation for the songs before the hooks. Björn Strid's vocals are on full display here, and his cleans are as powerful and enticing as ever.

Against the odds, Soilwork release an album that is not quite fully metal and yet much too heavy for the mainstream, and strangely enough, they make it work. It doesn't feel like the band is selling out as this doesn't come across as catering to non-metalheads, but rather it feels like the honest artistic direction the band were seeking at the time, however non metal it might've been, after having done the whole melodic death metal thing for years. The band always had aspirations of developing their sound and always displayed an interest in making music that was purely melodic and hook-oriented. So really, this doesn't come as much of a surprise. The format had changed, but the quality remained. Good musicians don't turn irrelevant overnight.

Especially when it falls under the category of commercial melodic death metal. It's just horrible to not have any action going through the songs. The verses are just the wait for the chorus to shine. But if the chorus itself is just as boring as the verse, there will be the eternal wait for something to happen. Mainstream melodic death metal is supposed to be catchy and have great melodic lines throughout the songs. Figure Number Five, however, hasn't got it.

It's easy to dissect the songs, because every song is the Fucking same. The song either starts with an electronic effect or the band instantly kicking in. After that a horrible groove riff comes up with no melody whatsoever. The chorus (or in some cases also the pre-chorus) are usually the melodic vocal lines with underlying power chords. Everytime the fucking same thing. There are no guitar leads bands use like At the Gates, Insomnium or In Flames.

There are a few moments of joy, very scarce, and obviously only in the choruses. The melodic vocal lines of Light the Torch are pure bliss, although they are raped by the screaming after that (Speed, you suck at it). Distortion Sleep, Overload and Downfall 24 have decent vocal melodies (again, those are the only melodies in the song).

You'd do well to not buy this mallcore laden crap, hell some mallcore is even better. The same elements are being used as in bands like Slipknot or Papa Roach, except these guys suck even more.

On a side note, my ears started to bleed when I listened to Brickwalker, isn't that just the weirdest thing ever?

Figure number five is quite an amazing album, but be warned, it is not for everyone. Those who prefer to stick to pure black/death metal will be absolutely appalled by this, as well as those who dislike industrial metal and other genres of music.

If I had to give classify this, most of it would still fall under 'melodic death metal', though very weak genre-wise compared to their earlier efforts, and far more varied. In this album, you will see some modern hard rock/metal influence, as well as some industrial metal-ish style riffing (somewhat similar to Mnemic), and some synthesizers.

However, those who are generally open minded, and are not afraid to stray from black/death metal roots will enjoy this album a great deal. Sure, it's started to sound a bit more poppy, but this is largely due to the production style, which is now similar to that of Mnemic's. I would not classify anything like this or Mnemic as having a 'mallcore', but rather 'modern metal'. However, this still retains some Gothenburg influence, so while being fun and modernized, will still draw in more open minded Soilwork fans.

The synths are actually great on this album, and don't seem to overpower any of the other elements of the music. Sure, some may hate the use of synths, but they seem to add to the music, giving the songs a more layered and complex feel.

The guitar work is somewhat simple, but effective, as is the drumming, though these are both varied enough to prevent the music from becoming monotonous. Overall, the songs are quite varied, and quite catchy, but hardly in a lame way. There still is power in the music despite it being not the most serious of records, which the mixed semi-harsh/clean vocal style capture effectively.

To be honest, I know that I'm about as open-minded as any metalhead can get. As well as metal I listen to a huge amount of post-rock, industrial, ambient, neofolk, and a whole bunch of other non-metal artists. So, while I do understand the qualms of some who exclusively stick to metal (especially those who keep to strong death/black metal), I do believe that this is a strong album.

However, I do believe that Soilwork is taking a dangerous path. Should they get much more mainstream than this, they could become utter garbage (sold out, etc), even to the most open-minded listener, so I hope that if they do not return a huge amount to their past style, they stay around this area (they don't seem to have gone that far with STD). Overall, I'd say that the best songs on this album are Light the Torch, The Mindmaker, Figure Number Five, and Rejection Role. The rest are still pretty great, even Departure Plan (which could be considered borderline metal if lucky, but I like it anyway).

96/100

After Soilwork's stylistic change on Natural Born Chaos, the band comes back and offers to the masses Figure Number Five. The song title meaning that this is their fifth full length album. Unfortunately, this melodic death band didn't realize that there was nothing wrong with change, but people will bitch when you go about change with simplicity. This band, based on the quality of this release, seems steadfast in purposely flushing its career and reputation down the toilet, much like fellow Swedes In Flames by jumping on the nu-metal bandwagon. But seeing how nu-metal is dying out, the bandwagon has already left town and it's a little too late to capitalize on such a bad trend like mallcore. But they've done just that here.

The Highlights: Very few to speak of, but I'll start off with the good anyway. The screamed-verse/sung-chorus combination seems to work slightly better than it did on the last album, but only on a couple songs. "Rejection Role" and "Overload" have somewhat enjoyable choruses, very much done in the style of the last album. There is also somewhat of a good guitar solo in "Rejection Role", but not played to the ability of the guitarist. And as a footnote, if you buy the two disc import or digipak, you get some Steelbath Suicide demos on the second disc. There you have it, the album highlights. That's it, because this album takes a major nosedive from this point forward.

The Lowlights: Most of this album, unfortunately. Almost all the good riffing and creative songwriting is now nothing but a memory. "Departure Plan" has a rhythm and guitar elements you would most likely find in today's nu-metal bands like Disturbed, sad to say. The title track's chorus has a vocal perfomance that you would expect to hear coming from Corey Taylor of Slipknot, not one Speed of the once-well-regarded Soilwork. The riffing found in "Light The Torch" and "Cranking The Sirens" are very weak, dumbed-down nu-metal fodder that you would more likely associate with a band like maybe Burning Red-era Machine Head. And are those industrial elements I hear at the beginning of "Downfall 24"? Other bad nu-metal tinged noise can be found in "Strangler", "The Mindmaker", and "Distortion Sleep". More dumbed down vocal performances and guitar work, and simplistic drum work is what you'll find there. So in other words, if you're expecting something in the vein of their last album, yes it's similar in sound to this one in some areas, but it comes in dumbed down form.

Who this album's for: Nu-metal fans who have just discovered In Flames' Reroute To Remain and their latest album, Soundtrack To Your Escape. Or perhaps people picking this up on import or the digipak, wanting the Steelbath Suicide demos on the bonus disc. But the latter people should be forewarned, the main disc is far from a quality album. Definitely not recommended for fans of old-school Gothenburg albums like Slaughter Of The Soul (At The Gates) or The Jester Race (the aforementioned In Flames).

The bottom line: This album shows the direction of the band, and unfortunately, it's a direction that a lot of metalheads aren't pleased with. Fans have gotten on other bands' asses for making moves like this, and unless Soilwork makes a major return for the better on the follow-up, fans (particularly melodeath fans) will be calling for their heads.

Soilwork’s change of direction on FIGURE NUMBER FIVE should be no surprise to anyone who has been following the band’s progression (regression?) over the past few years. With their fifth studio album in six years, Soilwork has cast the tattered and ragged shroud of metal they once wore to the side, plunging full-on into the realms of mallcore and commercial, radio-friendly extreme rock. This comes neither as a shock, nor as any great loss, as NATURAL BORN CHAOS was a shitty album, straddling the gap of mallcore and metal, and A PREDATOR’S PORTRAIT set the slide into motion before that.

What does FIGURE NUMBER FIVE have for the listener? Not a whole hell of a lot. The riffs, once the defining characteristic of Soilwork are hidden behind silly electronic beats and effects, and those that do pop through are sloppy and uninspired. Speed Strid has abandoned trying to sing or even growl, now content merely to scream inanely over the half-assed guitars. The overall sound of the album is club-friendly, predictable, and derivative. Listen to the pop influences on tracks like “Distortion Sleep,” “Light the Torch,” and “Brickwalker.” In addition, there are the “We wish we were the band Disturbed” tracks such as “The Strangler,” and the title track (is that rapping I hear on this track?). The opener, “Rejection Role,” is really the only track on the album I enjoy. It is representative of the structure (if not the quality) of the rest of the album, with it’s “where did the riff go?” whispered parts, silly, bad techno electronics, and a melodic, though simplistic and viral chorus. Even this song quickly wanes towards the last minute or two with shitty whiny clean passages. If you’re looking for an exceptionally rancid and sickly song, then I dare you to make it through the torture of “Departure Plan.” I thought there were laws against cruel and unusual punishment.

When the album is over, I find that I cannot recall one memorable riff, hook, solo, or chorus. The excessive downtuned, lazy riffs, robotic and scream-core vocals, and mallcorish keyboard effects and sampling really put me off of any other tracks that may have been salvagable. As bad as NATURAL BORN CHAOS was, Soilwork have really bottomed out with FNF. Relatively speaking, FIGURE NUMBER FIVE is so abyssmally awful that it makes NBC look like fucking Dark Angel’s DARKNESS DESCENDS. With any luck, this blatant attempt at commercial radio will explode in Soilwork’s face and they will abandon any future endeavors. After all, “Speed” Strid doesn’t have half the poster-boy appeal as Alexi Laihlo.

(originally written by me for www.metal-rules.com, April, 2003)

Soilwork, it seems, are incapable of making a bad album. They now have five gems to their credit. The reason for this is perhaps because they always leave the door open for evolution on their next masterpiece. This ability to avoid painting themselves into a corner is almost as powerful an asset as their flawless sense of melody and hooks. On Figure Number Five, they continue to refine the sound they pioneered on A Predator’s Portrait.

Let’s get this out of the way right at the start though. It’s clear what Soilwork is aiming for. They want to get a little piece of the nu-metal market with some of these songs. Several elements of Static-X have found their way into their sound, and beats reminiscent of hip-hop pop up from time to time. Speed Strid’s vocal rhythms maybe also tend to sound like Corey Taylor at moments and the song “Downfall 24” sounds uncannily like a Sevendust song. If anyone is wondering though, none of this is bad! It is all integrated so well that it makes the music more interesting and fun to listen to. The whole album is varied and compelling.

The band has done a commendable job of perfecting their signature sound. When they introduced the heavy keyboards, they tended towards the overbearing, getting in the way of the flow of the songs. Now however the effects are more subtle and decidedly more industrial. The verses are usually heavy and lead into a huge melodic chorus, but luckily they do it in so many ways that this formula does not grow old before the album finishes. Most of the songs have a futuristic tone to them which transcends traditional industrial sounds and is something completely unique to Soilwork. Included is an Opeth-like ballad which is perhaps one of the best written ever.

Everyone is in top form on Figure Number Five. Strid has never sounded this good. His original, somewhat flat screech has transformed into a pummeling growl. No other singer can pack that much emotion into a death metal growl. Then to further seal his status as a modern vocal god, he belts out more of his trademark melodic crooning which sounds something like a cross between Devin Townsend and David Gahan of Depeche Mode.

If any complaints are warranted though, it would be the fact that in their quest to get the right sound, they may have forsaken some of the heaviness of their previous albums, especially the first two. While the title track is reminiscent of those years, with its crushing riffage, most of the songs just don’t hit as hard as they should, and some of the songs are pure saccharine. And while the guitar solos are still generally superior to most bands, they have taken a steep dive. Some solos just sound plain goofy and others are disappointing. In “Downfall 24” you are most definitely expecting a killer solo but you are let down in a big way with a very, very lame excuse for a lead.

All in all, even those faults, which might be damning on a lesser work, are a mere annoyance on here. Nothing can stop Figure Number Five from greatness. It, as is all of Soilwork’s catalogue, is a masterpiece. The best part is that they have left the door open for another masterpiece. They should in no way be out of ideas. Hopefully the next masterpiece will have heavier riffs and better, more consistent solos. Either way, you must get off your ass and buy this album right now. I said NOW!