Soulburn – Noa’s D’ark

Soulburn

‘Noa’s D’ark’

Century Media Records

Death/Black/Doom Metal

FFO: Asphyx, Pentacle, Death, Grand Supreme Blood Court, Desaster, Hail of Bullets

Soulburn have had an interesting career, beginning life as Asphyx (yes, that Asphyx) and here is where it gets confusing; the band changed their name to Soulburn in 1996, releasing one album before changing back to Asphyx. The confusing part is the amount of time that the name Soulburn has appeared and disappeared throughout the bands career before reappearing again as an offshoot to its parent band.

                Head scratching over? Good, because this year has Soulburn returning for to deliver their fourth album ‘Noa’s D’ark’. What Soulburn offer with ‘Noa’s D’ark’ is a driving slab of powerful death metal garnished with elements of both black and doom metal and whilst this does not stray from an already comfortable mould, Soulburn do what they do well. Tracks such as ‘Anarchrist’, ‘Noah’s Dark’ and ‘From Archaeon into Oblivion’ pound this album forward with all the gusto of not only Asphyx, but also Pentacle and Grand Supreme Blood Court. Yet, this album excels during the track ‘The Godless I’ where Soulburn really channel Death with some meaty riffage that would make Chuck Schuldiner proud. Furthermore, to add more bang to your buck, ‘Noa’s D’ark’ comes with the added bonus of having 2018’s ‘Carpe Diem’ EP tagged on the end. However, it isn’t all roses and the track ‘Anointed – Blessed – and Born for Burning’ is hard going with vocalist Twan van Geel providing a performance that is painful to listen to as he sounds like he is being flayed alive.

                With ‘Noa’s D’ark’, Soulburn have delivered another album of fan pleasing material. Yes, it does not push any new boundaries, yet nor would you expect it or want it to. That aside, this is a decent slab of metal, it isn’t the best, but it is certainly far from the worst and that is certainly not a bad place to be.   

Adam McCann