Souldeceiver - The Curious Tricks Of Mind

You know how they say "don't judge a book by its cover?" Well, this album is the perfect
example. Off first glance at the name of the band and album artwork, I honestly didn't expect much. Well, after about 2 minutes I realized I was starting to eat my own words. At times, Curious Tricks Of The Mind has a Hypocrisy feel with the vocals and overall direction of the music. Nothing is repetitive, yet it's a consistent album that grows on you the farther you venture through the album. The vocals also remind me of Dark Tranquility.

There are multiple areas of this album that strongly remind me of "Symbolic" by Death. The vocals are awesome, a blacken'd death style. He has that wreteched rasp to it while having that wet death metal tone at the same time. It reminds me of a dirtier version of Tomas Lindberg. Really well rounded bass that not only cuts, but fills the low end very nicely. The bass drums combined with the bass player hit really hard. There's awesome production with very natural sounding drums and great kick sound. The guitar tone is thick and heavy, yet still bright. Interesting and well played lead ideas fill the album keeping you listening for more. The main lead harmony in "Phase C" totally reminds me of "Diminishing Between Worlds" by Decrepit Birth. It's a very well done instrumental track that keeps you enthralled, yet is repetitibve in that good hypnotizing sort of way. "Phase C" and "The Closest Embrace" have this out of the blue electronic type part. A possible industrial or house influence? I would be interested to hear them incorporate more of this into the music and see if it creates another dynamic to their sound.

I'm very excited to hear what they'll be writing for the next album, and I'll be keeping an eye on this band. This album would appeal to newer fans of metal, yet also offer some interesting ideas and great tone for veterans. The awesome melodic harmonies along with the vocal attack are the main reasons to go back and enjoy this album again.