Take the mouthpiece from Converge, the low end from the legendary Nasum, Megadeth’s current skin smasher, put together by the guitarist from Napalm Death, one of the world’s premiere Death Metal outfits, and you have one of the most intriguing outfits of 2020.
Blood From The Soul was initially formed in the ’90’s by Sick Of It All’s Lou Koller and Napalm Death’s Shane Embury and today they’re back with Embury solely at the helm, recruiting a new batch of players for BFTS 2.0. It’s a weird amalgamation of styles that works simply because it shouldn’t. Combining Industrial, NYC Hardcore, Metal, and Punk, Blood From The Soul works best when they play in a sandbox that’s so far removed from any of their collective members’ day jobs.
But I digress.
“Fang Tooth Claw” is all rumbling menace, rolled into a neat little package as it slowly unfurls the power of Blood From The Soul by showcasing the heaviness of Jacob Bannon, Embury, Jesper Liveröd, and Dirk Verbeuren over time. “Ascend The Spine” builds from a refined Bannon vocal and mechanized riffage from Embury, leaning toward this sweeping chorus while “Calcified Youth” is a straight banger with screaming guitars, screaming Bannon and Verbeuren and Liveröd providing a rhythmic foundation that’s flawless.
“Debris Of Dreams” is the closest the quartet come to Godflesh/Pitchshifter territory, mixing that old PSI Industrial sound with Selfless-era Godflesh to create something akin to an exposed nerve with the kind of divine rawness instilled as Bannon fluctuates between Wear Your Wounds-style clean vocals and another voice that’s wholly monstrous.
“Encephalon Escape” is haunting, becoming this frenetic thing with a little bit of that Converge nervous energy before becoming driven again with Verbeuren’s pounding bouncing off of Embury’s echoed tones while “Subtle Fragment” is built from a lethargic bass drone by Liveröd with Bannon’s slow screech subtly seething.
“Terminal Truth” just immediately pounces while pulling no punches with the incessant pummeling from Verbeuren and later, “Self Deletion” is straight up fun old school NYHC which brings early Life Of Agony, Biohazard, and Sick Of It All to mind. “Lurch Of Loss” is a grinding collision of disparate sounds pulled together by Bannon’s visceral bark which heralds an epic finale in the form of “DSM-5” which is equal bits glistening, ghostly, and ominous.
DSM-5 releases on November 13th through Deathwish Inc. Pre-order your copy now by heading here or here. For more on Blood From The Soul, follow them on the socials by clicking here, here, or here.