Soulburn: Here Comes the Flood
Of the many, many bands to spring up as an offshoot of legendary Dutch death/doom outfit ASPHYX, SOULBURN is perhaps the most interesting. Forgoing the well-trodden path of attempting to be ASPHYX in all but name, SOULBURN, led by guitarist Eric Daniels, retained some of that death/doom stomp and heaviness, but took it in a far more blackened direction, the influence of early pioneers BATHORY and VENOM flowing through the crushing riffs and gloomy atmosphere to create a more unique sound. Now, barely under 25 years on from their first demo, Daniels returns to unleash SOULBURN‘s first release without his long-term collaborator Bob Bagchus, Noa’s D’ark.
“I always rehearsed and wrote with Bob, so it was really interesting trying to find a new way to write a SOULBURN album.” Daniels begins, telling how SOULBURN overcame the challenge of writing an album in a new way, without the drumkit battery of Bagchus. “We’ve been together for a few years now, so we just know how we fit in with out parts, our specialties. If I compose here at home and send it to the guys, they know exactly how to fit themselves into it.”
“We just trust each other, we’re all on the same level and we find comfort in that… We’re so pleased, every word, every tone, every riff it’s all exactly as we wanted it to be. There’s something magical about this album.” Frontman Twan van Geel continues. “When Bob left he had a very trademarked way of drumming. Mark [Verhaar] did an excellent job of keeping that style with a less is more approach, keeping that basic VENOM, BATHORY style. We didn’t seem to lose that core of SOULBURN that we had with Bob, in fact, I think we brought it to a higher level.”
Speaking of that VENOM, BATHORY-esque drum sound that Verhaar managed to master across the record, Noa’s D’ark sees SOULBURN lean into Daniels‘ love of BATHORY in a much stronger fashion than ever before. The riffs are colder, the atmosphere more tangible, the vocals rawer and the death/doom basis more of a subtle addition than the foundation of the record’s sonic roots.
“When SOULBURN started in ’96, I wanted to play like Quorthon. That guy gave so much, not necessarily with the riffs but with the vibe he created with his songs. I wanted that for SOULBURN, to create that atmosphere.” Daniels explains. “Twan is a big BATHORY fan as well, so we know how to create that atmosphere – we don’t want to be exactly like BATHORY, BATHORY are in a league of their own, you can’t copy that, but we want to get the same kind of vibe.”
“We’re not copying BATHORY, it’s tapping from the same vein,” van Geel continues where Daniels leaves off. “You don’t want it to be perfect. It has to be ugly, crushing. Art only works when you crush a line, instead of going between the lines. If you stay within the lines, people will say ‘It’s okay.’ I don’t want an album that’s just okay.”
It seems impossible to have a conversation with anyone in the music industry at the moment without the spectre of the COVID-19 pandemic looming over. The pandemic has forced live music – for a long time the only serious source of income for many bands – to take a brutal hiatus, while venues close the world over and tours are rescheduled or cancelled almost daily. But for van Geel, discussing on the pandemic is more in relation to its influence on Noa’s D’ark than a doom and gloom musing over its fatal wounding of the international live music scene.
“The lyrics are written in relation to this COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a statement about the overpopulation of humans on this planet, we brought this on ourselves. We are the virus.” States van Geel on the lyrical concept of lead single, From Archaeon into Oblivion, before explaining how this theme impacted the whole album. “We are fucking rats. We breed like fucking rats, there’s too many of us, we take too much of this Earth, and now Mother Nature comes with her revenge. There is no Noah’s Ark to save our species and take us to a better place. We can’t run away from this planet and start a new life elsewhere – that’s why the album is Noa’s D’ark; our future isn’t very bright. Change is necessary if we want to keep our species alive on this beautiful planet.”
Truer words haven’t been spoken. And this is such a fitting theme for the record. Yes, Noa’s D’ark sees SOULBURN perform the best in their career, but the record feels like more than just blindingly good extreme metal. This is where the BATHORY-worship comes in, and where everything ties together majestically. The atmosphere is tangible, dark and foreboding, pushing Noa’s D’ark from a great extreme metal album to a great soundtrack to the end of the world. Buckle up, ladies and gentlemen. Here comes the flood.
Noa’s D’ark is out now via Century Media Records.
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