Written in Blood

Every once in a while, one must do the laundry. When no washing machine is present, one must go out and find a laundromat. This happened to me just now. This bat had to leave its cave. While waiting, I decided to review the album that would be chosen at random by my iPod. Seems like I’ll be writing in blood today, though I’ll have to find me a victim to provide me with some first…

Soul Reaper, I think, has never been very big. The copy that I own says ‘hard to find’. They aren’t really known to many, and they’ve never gotten the credit they deserved and still deserve. Aside from ex-Dissection members running the band, the whole package just blows my mind every time I give the album a spin (proverbially on this occasion). ‘Written In Blood’ has a strong production and the songwriting is obliterating, but memorable.

The moment you press play, ‘Darken The Sign’ smashes you in the face. This only ups the score: The absence of a sampled intro. In my opinion, most of such intro’s don’t fulfill their purpose very well. The drums sound clean and organic. The snare sounds thick. The bass drum has a round, thick sound which still kicks through the mix. All drum components can be heard equally well. At times though, the bass drum loses some of its power, especially during really dense moments. The bass guitar can be heard pretty good and adds to the music during the right moments. During slower parts, it leads a life of its own. During blast beats, it makes the drums pound even harder. The way the drums are carried by the bass guitar, the electric guitars are carried by the drums. In the mix, it sounds like they are literally on top. Downtuned as they are, they sound more distorted than they should be. This adds to the music because of its raw, aggressive sound. Because of the general production been clear, the guitars add a degree of savagery to the sound.

The songs on this album are extremely well written. They have so much to offer! In general, the music is an aggressive mix of death and black metal. Guitar wise, both genres are equally present. All-round, however, the album sounds as vicious as death metal can get. It’s not old school, neither is it modern. Throw in melodic riffs, which would fit a Dissection album perfectly, and well crafted solo’s and you should have an idea of what ‘Written In Blood’ is all about. As I mentioned earlier, the riffs are both death and black metal oriented. The black metal riffs are written in a way that they sound even more deadly than the death metal ones! This idea has been brought to a new level by the drums. They stand strong in the mix and unleash hell on the eardrums. The drummer does everything he can to keep your attention: original fills, unexpected blast beats, unusual bass drum patterns,… To top it all off, the vocals fit the album perfectly. Christoffer Hjertén was an awesome vocalist but has never been in any other band worth naming, according to the archives. What a pity… The man sounds this possessed, an experienced exorcist wouldn’t come near him. He completely fits both genres the music consists of, but retains a vocal style in between those two. All-round, he utilizes comprehensible growls which can end in semi-screams or deeper growls. His choice of vocal style is spot on every time and never sounds weak or boring. There are one or two instances where the vocals are enhanced, but it surely isn’t a fly in the satanic ointment. Speaking of Satan, this is the theme the lyrics mostly revolve around.

‘Written In Blood’, to me, is like a precious gem that needs to be cherished. Maybe it’s because I’ve owned it since I was teenager, but this album means a lot to me. Up to this day, it’s one of the more unique highlights of my collection. It covers a lot of elements that draw me to this kind of music and therefore is definitely worth checking out!