Soulburn album review – Earthless Pagan Spirit

Asphyx spinoff Soulburn takes a turn towards the black with new album

Soulburn 'Earthless Pagan Spirit' album cover

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Soulburn’s 1996 debut, Feeding On Angels, was a cheap attempt from the then Asphyx lineup to free themselves from the burden of their glorious past while still playing roughly the same style of rotten death metal.

It didn’t quite work out so when guitarist Eric Daniels and drummer Bob Bagchus revived the name 15 years later they steered their ride into a more distinct direction.

While Hellhammer/Celtic Frost stomps and mournful leads still share the same DNA, their inner balance now swings way more in between doom and primitive black metal, as preached by Quorthon and Tom G Warrior in the 80s. But their greatest find is Legion Of The Damned guitarist Twan van Geel, here on bass. His acid, high-pitched vocals are perfect for the kind of desperate, Satanic message delivered here. This third full-length confirms the successful reinvention that was 2014’s The Suffocating Darkness while diving a tad further down the abyss.