SOULHEALER
“UP FROM THE ASHES”
Album Review By Iron Mathew

9/10

SoulHealer are a melodic metal band from Finland formed in 2009, releasing their ‘Dreamcatcher’ E.P the following year. Playing “foot on the monitor” style power metal with a huge melodic edge, SoulHealer released three albums in three years, their debut ‘The Kings Of Bullet Alley’ in 2011, followed by ‘Chasing The Dream’ and ‘Bear The Cross’. Recent years has seen the band undergo some line-up changes, and now in 2018, SoulHealer are set to launch their fourth album ‘Up From The Ashes’.

Storming back into the worldwide metal scene, SoulHealer are rampant with their new album. With ten new songs across forty six minutes, get ready for a head bangingly addictive journey, this is gonna be a raucous ride. Opening with the title song ‘Up From The Ashes’, SoulHealer hit the ground running, and running fast. Setting a blistering pace, ‘Up From The Ashes’ thunders along furiously, invoking head banging of the vigorous nature. Add in a catchy sing a long style chorus and SoulHealer have launched their new album in perfect style. The album gets much heavier with the mighty ‘Through Fire And Ice’. Dropping a gear, ‘Through Fire And Ice’ is a lumbering mid tempo stomper, featuring many traits associated with the iconic NWOBHM sound. Very catchy, ‘Through Fire and Ice’ is an infectious listen and one that raises the hairs on the forearms to new heights. And then as song number three lurches forward, I thought “fuck me, it’s Iron Maiden”. The opening guitar riff to ‘Fly Away’ is so similar to the iconic British legends, I really did think Iron Maiden had made a guest appearance on the album. ‘Fly Away’ is full of pace and bombast, and is a sparkling “foot on the monitor” style romp, full of one hundred percent catchiness and is a cracking example of how to mix NWOBHM and power metal to perfection.

Majestic and mighty, ‘Sins Of My Father’ is a hard rocking, hard hitting, anthemic mid tempo stomp. The riffs are huge, the drums thunderous and the sound echoes that of American legends Manowar. Pace returns in abundance with the scorching ‘Prepare For War’ racing on at full tilt. A massive head nod to the NWOBHM sound, ‘Prepare For War’ is top notch melodic heavy metal. The chorus is an anthemic sing a long, and will be enjoyed by everyone in a live arena. This five piece from Finland have definitely “got it right” with this album, delivering pleasurable, adrenalin pumping heavy metal. Keeping the pace quick, ‘Pitch Black’ injects a massive amount of heavy into the album. Thunderous and explosive, ‘Pitch Black’ is raucous yet catchy at the same time. Catchy choruses, synonymous with the power metal genre, litter this album, allowing the listener plenty of opportunity to sing along. ‘Up From The Ashes’ is turning in a very good performance and is a must have addition to every power metal fans collection.

There’s that awesome NWOBHM guitar sound again, as ‘The Final Judgement’ launches forth and bludgeons the listener with its heaviness. Full of pace, ‘The Final Judgement’ sets a blistering pace as it flies along. Heads will be banging vigorously to this one. Striding in tall and proud, ‘Behind Closed Doors’ is the most melodic offering on the album, swaying perilously close to ballad territory. Remaining too heavy to raise lighters to, ‘Behind Closed Doors’ is a majestic mid tempo swagger. Full of hustle and bustle and a thundering rhythm, ‘Am I In Hell’ is a perfect blend of the sounds of traditional heavy metal and European style power metal. SoulHealer have the incredible talent of seamlessly meshing metal genres together, resulting in superb songs that are infectious, catchy and memorable. Bringing the album to a close is the heavy hitting and majestic epic ‘Land Of The Free’. Nodding its head to ‘X Factor’ era Iron Maiden, ‘Land Of The Free’ is heavy, menacing and may just strike fear into some listeners.

Overall, a breathless forty six minute avalanche of blistering heavy metal, infectious, catchy and head bangingly addictive.

TRACKLIST

Up From The Ashes
Through Fire And Ice
Fly Away
Sins Of My Father
Prepare For War
Pitch Black
The Final Judgement
Behind Closed Doors
Am I In Hell
Land Of The Free

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