Soul Snatcher - Pylons Of Dispersion/Azazel

Soul Snatcher are a brutal death metal band from Poland who originally released Pylons of Dispersion in 2007 before re-releasing it with a very short addition of the Azazel EP. The music from the original has no changed, but it's just as heavy and dark as the original. Sporting plenty of blast beats and gutteral growls, it is the quintessential death metal album. Many tracks like "Pean Of Will" offer non stop drumming, technical riffs and front-row-seat vocal assaults that sound 'on top of the music' but are slightly understandable (the higher squeals are not). There's even a few synth moments in the beginning of the song to make it slightly more moody and not just an earhole rampage. These 'symphonic' bits are taken more seriously on the track "Praise To Thee," which offers no death metal but a lengthy horn section with some spoken words and crackling distortion to add an even darker effect. Of course this is short lived before the band launches back into their death and grind formula while hammering out enough thoughtful blasphemy as possible. Yes, it's thoughtful, as compared to most death metal bands that take a philosophical or religious aspect with their music tend to focus on killing God and Satanism alone without really saying much.

The addition of the tracks 'Azazel" and "Thorns To The Prophets" are very similar to the others before them. They sound a little different production-wise which may make them sound like B-sides or extras that Redrum666 felt like throwing on the original just to make it more marketable. "Azazel" is a bit more raw and brutal without anything from the synth, but it does offer a spoken word break before a blistering solo. The drums are a lot more sporadic, especially with the use of kick pedals. "Thorns To The Prophets" is almost like a continuation of "Azazel" because the riffs are exactly the same and basically the song picks up where the former left off. Combined it could of made a great epic, but the fact it's separated isn't too big a deal. The solo on this track is pretty awesome also.

Perhaps the best thing, aside from being brutal and evil, is that Soul Snatcher stays away from the overly Satanic lyrics. While their music sounds a LOT like Deicide and Aeon, the difference between those bands and this band is that Soul Snatcher has a lot more interesting lyrics. Deicide and Aeon have some great music, but their lyrical themes on destroying God can get way too repetitive at times. With Soul Snatcher, the music can still be considered anti-God, but it isn't so rigidly confined to that area. The music is plenty esoteric enough, and still kicks ass at the same time. Best of luck on their first full length album to these guys.

  1. Intro
  2. Pylons Of Dispersion
  3. Pean Of Will
  4. Stronger Than All
  5. Praise To Thee
  6. Ablaze With Anger
  7. Outro
  8. Azazel
  9. Thorns To The Prophets

Redrum666 Records
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
May 28, 2010
Next review: Nebiros - Komando666

Share this: