Customer Reviews

Confrontation

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You can't even fully comprehend how much this band freaking rules. I mean every song is absolutely scorching. One minute they're grinding away with these wicked blast beats and then out of nowhere comes a monolithic chunk of ultra slowed down doom riffing. Tommy Buckley's percussion work is flawless, and Ben Falgoust is certainly one of the best vocalists in metal. Listen in amazement as he switches, seemingly effortlessly, from a black metal rasp to a death growl to an unhinged hardcore bellow and back again, all in the same song.

Meshuggah/Dillinger Escape Plan fans take note: with Confrontation, their fourth album (and first since the tragic death of bassist Scott Williams) Soilent Green have further solidified their place on the short list of modern heavy music's greatest bands. Since I've already written reviews of their previous two masterpieces, I'm pretty much out of adjectives and superlatives to describe this band's greatness, so I'm going to try something a little different this time around. Following is a list of things that you will and won't find on this album, which will hopefully convey some idea of whether it's up your alley. So without further ado, here goes.

First up, what you will NOT find on Confrontation:

-Anything that smacks of trendiness, be it keyboards, clean vocals, hardcore breakdowns, or nicked melodeath guitar work that In Flames wore out five years ago.

- Any of the tired cliches that mark subpar "extreme" metal: over-the-top cookie-monster vocals, boring-as-heck guitar riffs, shlocky satanic imagery, drumming that substitutes endless blastbeats for imagination and variety.

-Simplistic, verse/chorus song structures that get old around the third time you hear them.

-"Interludes" that consist of nothing more than pointless and interminable noodling, the kind that have dragged down numerous potentially excellent albums in the past (See: Mars Volta, Frances the Mute).

Now, here's a sampling of what you WILL find here:

-Some of the most vicious, abrasive, and confrontational metal ever recorded. You want heaviness? Soilent Green deliver it in spades, dillingently pounding away at your senses with the kind of aural assault few bands have ever dared to attempt and even fewer have done well.

-FAR more atmosphere and intelligence than you have any right to expect from an album this heavy. Soilent Green have always been one of the best (if not THE best) at plunging listeners into the demented mood of their recordings and this album is no exception. You can really feel the emotional pain oozing out of these tracks. Couple that with a sound that borrows liberally from grind, thrash, doom, death, and punk and you've got one of the most distinctive bands ever to hit the metal genre.

-Complex, constantly shifting, jarring song structures that will almost literally make your head spin. These guys can cram more tempo changes into a single minute than most bands will manage in a whole career. Drummer Tommy Buckley is one of the best in the business, equally adept at high-speed blastbeats and octopus-like fills, allowing him to create drum patterns so intricate you'd practically have to send away to NASA to calculate them. Guitarists Brian Patton and Tony White aren't far behind, creating oscillating, intertwining riff structures that rival anything the likes of Suffocation have produced.

-Yet another commanding, oppressive vocal performance from the one and only Louis Benjamin Falgoust II. Ben's vocals meld perfectly with the sounds of the band behind him, as he screams, growls, snarls, and spits out his poetically twisted lyrics.

So, there you have it. I listen to lots of different music, extreme or otherwise, and Soilent Green have emerged as one of my top three or so most consistently enjoyed acts. We've got a few months to go, but I think at this point I can safely name Confrontation my album of the year.

Soilent Green have been in car wrecks, have had their bassist murdered, and they even suffered through the whole Hurricane Katrina disaster, but they still managed to return and release their seventh effort in 2005. And with "Confrontation," I don't think anyone can deny that Soilent Green are now well deserving of being called sludgecore's frontrunners--they rank right up there next to Eyehategod. Like a mix of Crowbar, Pantera, and Dillinger Escape Plan, this album is skull crushing. It's more relentless than the sun on a hot summer's day, and heavier than a family of elephants. The drums sound like they're played with a sledgehammer, and the vocals are deep, gruff, constipated, and occasionally Phil Anselmo-esque, but the guitars dominate the rhythm section. You barely hear any actual guitar notes or riffs, you just hear a mind numbing wall of "dirty" sounding, intensely downtuned and distorted guitar noise. And, whether opting for rapid-fire rhythms ("Scream Trapped Under Water" has pounding, machine gun drums, and "12 Oz. Prophet" has a jackhammer rhythm), or slowly grinding songs, the whole album is equally as brutal. Highlights include the scorching seventh track, "This Glass House of Broken Words" (which sounds like you're sitting in between two opposing ships firing cannons at each other), the b-b-brutal "Theory of Pride in Tragedy," the circular, buzzsaw guitars and walloping drums on "They Lie to Hide the Truth," and the churning, steam rolling album closer, "Permanent Solution to a Temporary Problem." Not many C.D.'s of this genre were released in 2005, but between this album and Crowbar's "Lifesblood for the Downtrodden," "Confrontation" definitely takes the cake for the best sludge/doom metal album of the year.

Soilent Green kicks rear. whether you're a first-timer listening to them or you have their other albums, be prepared to loan out your ears.

this album is good.This band is amazing and they probably earn minimum wage. These girl pants wearing metal bands road crews probably make more money than this incredible band. So go support them, see them live, and by the album.

ive been waiting in great anticipation for this...and its fantastic. im not going to let out a lengthy monologue-type crap, so if you enjoy tinges of grind, speed metal, and southern metal riffage vaguely reminiscent of pantera (sometimes) then you will intensely enjoy this album. theory of pride in tragedy is the song i find myself listening to most, although the whole album is great. i like the little interludes alot, too. deep-fried, home-cooked southern metal. mmmmm.

and a big eff off to all elitists who claim to know everything based on their very narrow spectrum of taste.

I know this review is a bit belated. But art is timeless. Down-trodden monstrous bassy grooves... an avant-garde double bass kick... this is blues metal grind bliss folks.. this one comes back to haunt you when least expect, be it at a family reunion, at the toilet, a parent-teacher conference etc.. i can say that Brian Patton is a seriously underated guitarist.. as much as i hate Rolling Stone, they got it right on this one.. they are a top ten metal band.. rewriting the boundries.. it is prog., nola, grind, death collage that starts and stops on a dime. by the time you finally absorb this (it CAN take a while) you are hooked. i have read other blogs where it's called freedom metal, in many ways this is true.. it's the emotional equivalent to punching through a mountain of personal heartbreak and fueling bonfires with dead bodies of those who enjoy to tresspass against who/what you are.. but do not brake this glass unless you are a true metal fan.. I would equate this introduction for me to the first time of listening to Master of Puppets or Justice for All.. but with more poetic substance..

i've been waiting for new sg for a while, this album is my favorite of this year, i'm not going to go on with lengthy monologue-type crap...if you enjoy good metal with tinges of grind, speed metal, and pantera-type riffage you will intensely enjoy this album. theory of pride in tragedy is probably the track i listen to most, but its all awesome. i love the little interludes as well. deep-fried, home-cooked southern metal. mmmmm.

...and a big eff off to all the know-it-all elitists who only listen to one type and don't appreciate other types of good metal (or music for that matter).

Simply stated, these guys don't disappoint. For those who havn't heard these guys yet, I'll lazily describe them as Eyehategod with epilepsy. For those who havn't heard Eyehategod, please go buy their albums first (both bands share a guitar player, so he won't mind). Compared to the last album, this has a lot more groove, but I still can't for the life of me differentiate one song from the other-just one glorious headf*&k. Man, I love this s&*t. Worth the wait, and once again adorned with the usual outstanding artwork. Yes kids, Relapse has more than ONE amazing band...

From car accidents to a band members murder, not to mention the whole Hurricane Katrina disaster Soilent Green are a band that by all rationale should not exist. However, these guys have overcome adversity in its many different forms and are still primed and ready to kick your a$$. "Confrontation" finds the band at the top of their game, not only pumping out their trademark bluesy grind with unreal musical precision but experimenting with different sounds as well. From jazz on "Liquor & Cigarettes" to a down home Southern acoustic number with "Another Cheap Brand of Luck". If this is your first time hearing of Soilent Green, "Confrontation" is as good a place to start as any. If you ever get the chance to see them live, by all means DO IT!!!!! Not only do they put on a punishing set but they are a great group of guys to talk to. ALL HAIL!!!!