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Rating: Whatever one might say or not say about Soilwork, despite the sea of controversy and vitriol that has engulfed them recently, while not abandoning the easy "catchy choruses" and widespread melodies in an appealing style and sometimes inappropriate for songs of a certain caliber that leave some mark, with this "Stabbing the Drama," they intended to give a strong and evident jolt to their sound, which today is powerful, well-structured, and "muscular." Of course, the shadow of In Flames hovers dangerously in every groove, but rather than keep away from danger, Soilwork wanted to leave precise and perfectly recognizable traces regarding their latest production, caring indifferently about the obvious (and embarrassing) inevitable comparisons.
Objectively, "Stabbing the Drama" is a fine work, concrete, organized, and powerfully produced, of Melodic Death that almost always goes head-to-head with a hard-hitting Thrash but never rotten or sick. Violence, yes, but within well-defined and precise boundaries and canons, without overdoing it, without exaggeration, without one having to get bored stating: "Ah, but, Devil! These sound like..."
None of that.
Eleven songs that drag you from start to finish, that (deliberately) often give in to melodic embraces and soft nocturnal and street atmospheres, but that, in many fields and aspects, instead show that the fury of the old days, the frustration, the wrath, and everything the old-school Trash baggage entails, with all its annexes and connections, is more than ever alive and convincing.
"Stabbing the Drama," "Blind Eye Halo," "Observation Slave" demonstrate this fully and without many compliments. But, on the other hand, there are also nostalgic moments and small outbursts of sadness, which find their place in songs like the beautiful "Nerve," but also with "If Possible" and with "Wherever Thorns May Grow," with "modernist" and almost "nu" attacks, then dissolving into a perfect singing always on the edge between angry "screams" and lanky and melancholic "clean," with, in the background, an overflowing rhythmic section clear in its powerful and crystal-clear intents.
No praise and no infamy, therefore, for an album that certainly won't be remembered over the years, but which certainly, instead, will delight the old Soilwork fans, lost and now found again.
Let's hope, however, it is not yet another flash in the pan before another style downfall.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Stabbing the Drama (04:34)
My declaration hurts, just wanna stab it right now!
Congratulations, you've found yourself
Been preaching too many times to an hysterical mind
So won't you fucking behave yourself...
It's all in there, without despair
So you've saved your soul?
It always depends who will deliver
Have you ever known
Such a beautiful mind that gives you shelter
I'm waiting for something to show,
I might as well...
Just drag me down so low!
I'm down the drain and I've got nothing to fear
With a polluted mind
I had my share of losing
Don't you ever cross that line
So you've saved your soul?
It always depends who will deliver
Have you ever known
Such a beautiful mind that gives you shelter
Break the record, in a second, cherish your mental weapons
Watch the progress from an aspect that's stabbing the drama inside..
I'm waiting for something to show,
I might as well...
Just drag me down so low!
I'm waiting for something to show,
My punishment
For being down so low!
I can't believe how it used to be,
Selfish minds were abusing me
Self pity and determined to crawl
Manipulation of a merciful - soul!
[Solo: Frenning]
I'm waiting for something to show,
I might as well...
Just drag me down so low!
I'm waiting for something to show,
My punishment
For being down so low!
02 One With the Flies (04:01)
Now I'm one with the flies
Rising up as the creature cries
Sucking up, breathing stops -
for the very last time!
Can you see it, can you reach it,
as it climbs to the top of your spine
Such a healer, can't believe it
I'm left so far behind
Born to please, to release
Wide open and undefined
Crashing down in a velvet hall
Side by side
Narcotic - injected, erotic - respected
It suits your kind, cause you're one with the flies
Can you feel it, can you cease it
As it crawls to the top of your spine
Such a healer, self redeemer
I keep thinking that it seems like it's not fair
(Reach out) And choke with me, reach out
cause it's killing me
Down! Bring down this sheer submission
Down! You know you have to bring it
Down! Deranged from a mind pollution
Down! Pitch black but unrefined
Such a healer, can't believe it
I keep thinking that it seems like it's not fair
(Reach out) And choke with me, reach out
cause it's killing me
Down! Bring down this sheer submission
Down! You know you have to bring it
Down! Deranged from a mind pollution
Down!
Deceiver, believer - don't need you tonight
You've spilled enough blood, you've wasted my life
You know you have to bring it
Down! Bring down this sheer submission
Down! You know you have to bring it
Down! Deranged from a mind pollution
Down! And screw that common sense
Down! Fight back those limitations
Down! And screw that common sense!
03 Weapon of Vanity (04:03)
They play divine as immortal sons
Pulling triggers and then they switch and run
As long as you have nothing to add,
they run the show
How! Can you get a single shot
with a life like that?
Now! Will you ever conclude
as it turns to a lack?
Deceivement, believe it - do you feel it flow?
-As a weapon of your vanity
Chorus:
They crave for a soulaching desire
(Won't you play with me?)
As time's standing still they've praised a liar
So now - let me get a single minute of your precious time
So how - do you feel now as the vanity is easy to find?
Deceivement, believe it - can you feel it grow?
(Repeat Chorus)
I swear, you're nothing like me
And it will never set you free
You won't be able to be down there alone
They fill you up 'til you're ripped and torn
Your life is out there for disposal
Knocked out, before you're ready to leave
Cause I swear, you're nothing like me!
-As I reckon you insanity
(Repeat Chorus 2x)
04 The Crestfallen (03:46)
Don't question any lies,
There's no reason to find,
Another trip, to cause a denial.
Yet you're stripped and your hope is gone.
Another trap, for you to fall into,
You swallow every threat that comes to your mind.
A shadow just as dark as your past,
is leading your way through a web of desire.
Healing all the wounds in your chest,
...vengeance is rising.
Can I ever resolve, If it's a matter of do or die?
Can I ever resolve, if it's a matter of time?
Just remember,
Where you've spent your time.
Can't respect all the tears you have cried.
Just remember,
How you've changed your life.
Can't trace your fate with a pitiful crime.
Don't question any lies,
There's no reason to find,
Another trip, to cause a denial.
Yet you're stripped and your hope is gone.
Another trap, for you to fall into
Can I ever resolve, If it's a matter of do or die?
Can I ever resolve, if it's a matter of time?
There's no way that you can dig much deeper,
If you think it's alright.
Assorting the right from the wrong ones,
That you have learned so well..
You're stuck you can't remember,
Your life is turning dim,
You're trapped although you've been there,
A thousand times before.
Crestfallen be thy name.
05 Nerve (03:39)
Call it liberation or frustration,
As it hits like a bomb.
Tearing you apart as you're first in line,
Entering the zone.
Watch how it runs,
A nerve wrecking resistance.
Watch how it burns,
A venomous script's getting formed.
You've traveled a long way to get here,
And now its waking you up...
Waking you up!
Walk straight, for a final solution.
Walk straight, dont you be so cold.
Walk straight, with a clear resolution.
I'll state my case and never turn.
Watch how it runs, watch how it burns,
And its all a deception.
Break it and learn, there's no return,
For a presence like mine.
You've traveled a long way to get here..
Its getting all so clear now all the things at least,
An elapse of conscious progress will last forevermore.
My courageous insanity follows,
An infinite time.
I'll be attaching the world,
On my shoulders.
Without a look inside,
Inside.
Walk straight, for a final solution.
Walk straight, dont you be so cold.
Walk straight, with a clear resolution.
I'll state my case and never turn.
Walk straight, for a final solution.
Walk straight, dont you be so cold.
Walk straight, with a clear resolution.
06 Stalemate (03:28)
Just pick one and make it all come through,
infiltrated and fucked up for years.
And now it suddenlt turns to you,
In a second, in no time.
Rise up, get up, stay up, fed up,
With the brand new sensation,
I'll bring back whats mine.
No, sense for sanity,
No, sense for clarity,
No, sense for dignity.
Just ask and it's coming straight to you,
Overrated and blinded by fear,
Inspiration turns to dust as you've had your share.
Rise up, get up, stay up, fed up,
With your illumination,
I'll bring back whats mine.
No, sense for sanity,
No, sense for clarity,
No, sense for dignity.
And I'll say (now give me your best shot)
Wait a lifetime to pull it off.
And I'll say (is that all that you got?)
Wake up in no time to blow it off...
No use for frustration, if you can't get through.
And you think your pride will do,
To get to your spot
Rise up, get up, stay up, fed up,
With the brand new sensation.
No, sense for sanity,
No, sense for clarity,
No, sense for dignity,
No, sense for empathy,
No, sense for sanity,
Will stop you now.
Now gimmie your best shot.
07 Distance (04:29)
Can you please remind me where the fuck I've been?
Cause I can't find out you see,
So return me to a vital place.
From a distant observation,
Corrosion of emotions,
Is how you block your state.
From scratch to revelation,
It's all been there, bleeding for someone to dare.
Extension of deceptions, brings you to your final collapse.
Am I really an exception?
Is that your only entertainment? (Spoiling your desire)
To blow your minds on a one way track.
From a distance!
Building knowledge out of flexible existence.
Hunt for adrenaline is staggering,
Grand lack of emotions.
You'll never face conclusions,
You'll get what you want.
Am I really an exception?
Is that your only entertainment? (Spoiling your desire)
To blow your minds on a one way track.
I tell you a lie and you' make it a statement. (Sleeping in denial)
You're all wasting the time of your lives.
Cold and crawling, you made it back.
Fear is selling and you're one with the fact.
Counting the days for rebirth,
Lost once again and how it hurts.
08 Observation Slave (04:10)
Find a piece of land,
A million demands
And try to make it
once again,
a piece of land
to make it a plan,
always trying to be one with the making
Waiting for a statement, how will I know
It wasn't my engagement, the scars just grows
Such a slave and a sucker for observation
Just let it pass, no questions asked
Decide and try to find, a step behind
A shape that will assure you how
The essence is defined, it takes no disguise
Don't wanna see yourself in no trouble
It comes to end, with my trust in hand
Please let me stand
With all my perception, I let myself wait
From all the infection that comes in my way
Like a swarm
Under pressure, too many times
I can barely fight it back
No intensions, no obsessions
That can change my mind
It comes to an end, with my trust in hand
Please let me stand
With all my perception, I let myself wait
From all the infection that comes in my way
This is my life and I'm still amazed
I should have turned and walked all over
This is my life and I've now prevailed
And reached my goal
This is my time cause it's all erased
This is my time and I'm turning to you
It makes me strive in a conscious way
But not alone
Confusing directions were running my state
From all the infection that comes in my way
With all my perception I let myself wait
09 Fate in Motion (03:21)
I'm facing a trauma, it's crawling inside,
Don't walk that line, don't take that ride.
Conclusions will show me, the sweetest pain.
Don't walk that line, don't take that ride.
What I can see now, I don't want anyone else to see.
It doesn't matter somehow, what it does to me.
Feel how the journey's just begun,
Heading for disaster,
Formed through the night and it's all mine.
The game is to easy, for me to just play.
It steals the day, it steals the day.
Dividing the image, in possible ways.
It steals the day, it steals the day.
And I can't move at all now,
And I can't move at all now.
What I can hear now, I don't want anyone else to hear.
It doesn't matter somehow, what it does to me.
Just pull me out, I have nothing to fear.
In front of my eyes, never to leave.
What I can see now, I don't want anyone else to see.
It doesn't matter somehow, what it does to me.
What I can hear now, I don't want anyone else to hear.
It doesn't matter somehow, what it does to me.
10 Blind Eye Halo (02:24)
I came here to justify,
Such a thing would never cross your mind.
Those scars that you wear,
Seem like they lie and they won't disappear.
Once again you will cross that line,
Without reflection.
Filthy and denied. Information: Dead to the nation.
B: Manic
L: Cynic
I: Auto
N: Matic
D
Whatever happened to your mindf**king system?
It's all so shattering, shattering to the core..
Watch that halo grow,
On an everlasting lane.
Such an animated pleasuredome,
Doomed to carry infected flames.
11 If Possible (04:47)
If possible just turn the page,
When all you see remains the same.
I wish I could blame it on a face without a name.
In the center of the place I hate,
There's no escape that's what they say.
Without a name...
(I will never make, one single predictable mistake)
(I've vanished since the anger came.)
Bitterness, sometimes the truth I swear,
And I won't dread, my time.
I won't leave today,
As long as I can take the words you stake.
No matter how the hell I make,
The desperation go away,
Without a name...
Bitterness, sometimes the truth I swear,
And I won't dread, my time.
Meaningless, and unsincere,
Hold back those tears, rewind.
Come to the point, with an illusion,
It's there but it's not a revolution.
You'll bear what is not your responsibility,
All that is left of what, you used to be.
12 Wherever Thorns May Grow (04:15)
I'm gaining trust for a lifetime,
Wherever thorns may grow.
Bleeding wounds turn into prosperity,
With a disintigrated revolt.
Better not fail with a guideline,
Better not die with any seconds denied.
Shelter runs by for the final time,
Just take a step outside.
Just stab the reason and make it bleed (stab it and watch it bleed)
Becoming one with the guilt that you feel.
Chorus:
Better take a look inside,
Will you ever realize?
The greatest effort ever known. (ever known)
Before you let the pain decide.
Run back and you'll only find,
Resurrection through it all.
Better start to deal with your tension,
Rather not fade as you've gone through it all.
Shelter becomes blank without redemption,
You're destined to make the call.
You think it's time to just give it away (giving it back as you've failed)
Reconsider the vibe as you forget and forsake.
I've got my mind made up,
Shock, denial, anger, acceptance.
I'll watch those demons drop,
For my presence, for my sake.
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