Search - Soilent Green :: Deleted Symphony for the Beaten Down

Clarence R M. (deathmetalray) from CLARKSVILLE, IN
Reviewed on 2/13/2010...

Soilent Green is 1 of my favorite bands.

More brilliance from the one and only Soilent Green

Wheelchair Assassin | The Great Concavity | 10/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After getting "Sewn Mouth Secrets" a few months ago and proceeding to drool all over the interior of my car while listening to it, I wasn't sure any band could match such an original masterpiece. Well, there is one band that can do it, and that band is...Soilent Green. They're not quite my favorite metal band, but they're certainly one of the most powerful and unique. These guys can bust your head just as easily as they bust genres. Throwing concepts like melody and traditional song structure right out the window, Soilent Green rely on instead on a blistering fusion of grindcore and Southern sludge, using a nonstop succession of jarring tempo changes and complex rhythms to beat you into the ground. "Sewn Mouth Secrets" and "Deleted Symphony" are easily two of the heaviest and most aggressive albums I own, but that's not what makes them such great listens. Rather, what makes Soilent Green great is that they have a seemingly limitless supply of talent. Louis Benjamin Falgoust II, in addition to having a cool name, is easily one of the best metal vocalists on the face of this planet. Befitting music this crazy and unpredictable, he shifts so effortlessly between menacing growls and demonic shrieks that he sounds like two guys. The dynamics he manages to create with his voice alone are like nothing else. Even if the rest of the band were inept, it would be worth the money just to hear Ben's performance.Fortunately, the rest of the band is very far from inept. In fact, they back Ben up with with such a precise and varied attack that they manage to sound like a Southern equivalent of Meshuggah or the Dillinger Escape Plan (and those who have read my reviews should know that I do not make such a comparison lightly). Special mention should go to drummer Tommy Buckley, who is easily one of the most skilled and creative in the genre (and the production allows you to hear what he's doing too!). He lays down plenty of sick blastbeats, but he doesn't stop there. His performance is littered with amazingly fluid fills and frantic double bass work that brings to mind the equally brilliant Brann Dailor (Mastodon, ex-Today Is The Day). You've got to respect a guy who COULD just blast away all album and sound good doing it, but instead decides to add reams of complexity and creativity just for good measure. Tommy is yet another reason I love the drums, and think they can go a long way toward making or breaking an album. Then, of course, there's the guitar duo of Brian Patton and then-newcomer Ben Stout, which is nothing short of brilliant. You really can't ever tell what these guys are going to do next, as they lay down some of the heaviest riffs and most instricate structures in history. They can pummell you over the head with waves of crushing sludge, and then stop on a dime and blast you through a wall with some blazing-fast grindcore riffs. Scott Williams's bass is, well, there, although it's naturally pushed into the backround somewhat with all the insanity going on around it. I'm willing to bet he's great, though. In the songwriting department, the band mostly keeps things short and sweet. These guys don't need to write long songs, simply because their compositional style is so tight and efficient. Destruction is the name of the game here, not extravagance, and accordingly Soilent Green manage to eliminate any note that isn't utterly necessary. The band does, however, stretch things out a bit with the stunning "Swallowhole," which takes everything that makes this band great and expands on it to create a chilling six-minute epic. Here's one fan hoping they decide to do more songs like this one on future albums. Even with everything I've said above, you still have to hear this album yourself to truly comprehend what Soilent Green do. My words can't adequately convey how powerful and viscerally impacting "Deleted Symphony" and "Sewn Mouth Secrets" really are. I can guarantee with virtual certainty that these albums will screw up your mind, and given the band's obvious intentions that's a good thing. So scrounge up whatever extra cash you have lying around, put down that Nickelback CD, and grab some Soilent Green."

Soilent Green is people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, it's people

eric b | west haven ct usa | 05/27/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First off if you don't like soilent green then there is something wrong with you, they are so good. Soilent green plays some preaty brutal grind with some of the coolest tempo changes and breakdowns ever. The singing style is insane, it is mostly higher pitched but he dives into the gutteral region on the breakdowns . I recommend this to any one who wants a really chaotic and angry cd."