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Soil pretty much turned metal into a dancefloor phenomenon when they unleashed the single Halo upon the moshing masses back when POD, Creed and Evanescence were sucking the soul out of rock’n’roll.

In their naissance their swagger got people excited, and while their albums have not stood the test of time, ‘that song’ is still inciting boozers in baggies to throwdown like electrified cagefighters. We shouldn’t care about Soil more than 10 years on but Whole is one of their better albums, recovering from the wishy washy fug they found themselves in with AJ Cavalier.

With original singer Ryan McCombs back in the fold, they’ve regained that gun-slinging spirit shaped by a curious mix of Monster Magnet, Disturbed and Alice In Chains. Although none of the songs are particularly special, they win through conviction and balls-out Corey Taylor-esque, jugular-popping aggression. Bar the irksome little rappy bit on One Love (the title is bad enough) all the songs on Whole are credible slices of engine-revving metal.

With over 10 years’ experience writing for Metal Hammer and Prog, Holly has reviewed and interviewed a wealth of progressively-inclined noise mongers from around the world. A fearless voyager to the far sides of metal Holly loves nothing more than to check out London’s gig scene, from power to folk and a lot in between. When she’s not rocking out Holly enjoys being a mum to her daughter Violet and working as a high-flying marketer in the Big Smoke.