Review: “Murder Act” by Soulride

The story goes that back in 2008, a trio of Polish Metal heads who had been living in the United Kingdom for many years decided to dust off their instruments having previously been members of bands like Mutilation, Tomsnar and Cordis. Based in Coventry, they harnessed the energy of their rich past lives and found a new sound in Traditional Heavy Metal with hints of Groove Thrash and under the moniker Soulride, released a pair of EPs in 2010’s “Lost” and 2012’s “Paralyzed“. However personal problems inevitably led to a revolving door of line up changes and while they never officially went on hiatus, between 2014 and 2018 they only played a handful of shows. While to some that seemed like the end of the road, guitarist and vocalist Aleksander “Shopen” Sadowski, himself a former member of both Chemikill and Judgment Day, simply refused to let the nightmare end. Instead he continued a writing partnership forged with guitarist Adam “Vrona” Wroniak (ex-Phantasmagoria) in 2018 and re-animated the corpse in 2022. Joined by bassist Dariusz “Darion” Klapucki and Ashborn drummer Marcin “Ozzy” Komorniczak, the refreshed and rejuvenated line up began rehearsing and creating new material and in 2023 dropped a two song demo. A debut album was then recorded as the quartet played shows in parallel, reaching the finals of Metal 2 The Masses and narrowly missing out on the opportunity to play Bloodstock 2024. That album is “Murder Act“.

During the troubled years in which they only played a handful of shows, Kamila Schmidt of My Wooden Pillow and Awaker fame was the vocalist of Soulride and perhaps surprisingly she graces a trio of cuts on the album including the opener “Three Witches“. An eerie introduction brings the track to life with a sense of spellbinding horror before a scream echoes out, the band quickly finding their stride in the space between Traditional Heavy Metal and Thrash with distinctive old school vibes. The blend is fascinating as they change gear from Black Sabbath inspired moments to punchier Megadeth aggression, the clean vocals in stark contrast to the harsh uncleans over an adrenaline pumping anthem that hits the 8 minute mark with consummate ease. Schmidt offers a nice counterbalance vocally to Shopen, the intertwining vocal parts impressing greatly during at tale of Macbeth like stature. Title track “Murder Act” finds Shopen making great use of vocal layering, his cleans underpinning the ranting and raving of a madman before a flamboyant solo mesmerizes courtesy of Kristian Harvard of Xentrix. An electric pace makes the track a non stop thrill ride as the rich melodies clash head on with the adrenalized riffing with a balance to keep the listener on their toes. What’s fantastic is that the band manage to escape some of the cheesy pitfalls of the past while having an obvious nostalgic quality to their sound. Darion provides a groove laden bass line to underpin instantly recognisable headbangable riff loaded moments that hint at early Metallica being an inspiration on “Way Of Life“, the soulful vocals from Schmidt adding an aching beauty to a track that you otherwise simply can’t help but nod you head to.

It has to be said that there is a timeless quality to these tunes; they sound like they could have surfaced at any point since 1978, such is the calibre of musicianship and nature of the recordings. There is nothing in the songs to place them in the here and now, something which gives the band a broader appeal as there is something for old school, new school and f*** school Metal Heads to appreciate. Shopen has something of an Ozzy Osbourne quality to his clean vocals which is inescapable and as “This Is The End” builds up from the piano introduction through crashing chords you can almost hear the essence of “November Rain” by Guns ‘n Roses in the middle distance. Drifting from the epic into the virtuoso as a solo flies from a smouldering fretboard, the riff onslaught of the final third is incredible with intertwining leads that are nothing short of spellbinding. By the time “Lump Of Clay” comes to life, you’ll have ordered the back patch and got the sowing kit ready to make an addition to your denim jacket, such is the nature of this beast. An intriguing cut with a flamenco style solo that hints at ethnic roots, this one is about as far from the mid album power ballad you may have feared, instead having all the fist pumping qualities of the tunes that went before it. The extended instrumental passages and sublime solos of “Lost Land” ensure there is no soft centre to the album, a couple of savage unclean vocal moments from Shopen a timely reminder of his impressive vocal range. Crossing sub-genres like Mexicans crossing the border in Texas, “Paralyzed” is as slick as they come. Gang chants, a bluesy instrumental passage, Thrash riffs and a whammy bar drop solo, not to mention barked unclean vocal aggression are all wrapped up in one of the albums stand out moments.

Listening to the album, KK’s Priest frontman Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens is an obvious choice for a guest vocal appearance so it’s no surprise to find him gracing “Final Escape“. A powerhouse cut with a graceful rise and fall that oozes quality, this one has more sumptuous duelling leads before tasteful Trash riff laden mid section which adds a spice that’s nice. Something of a false ending gives rise to a warm melodic instrumental passage of classical guitars that is nothing short of stunning and hopefully at some point there will be the opportunity to perform this song live because it’s a really special moment. A speed riff monster laced with moments of Melodic Death Metal leads, “Strange Reality” hits like a Japanese bullet train as Soulride toy with the senses. Whammy bars in full effect will crack a smile, the non stop tub thumping anthem having the kind of earworm riff that you can never escape from, no matter how hard you try. The same can be said of the grand finale “Soulride“, a track named after the band themselves which surpasses eleven minutes as they collapses the mountain once more. An unstoppable force of nature, the bass solo moments add flare as they pop in the first half, the mesmerising Iron Maiden style mid section confirming the talent these musicians have. It becomes apparent over multiple spins that this epic album is all from the heart, written with a love of the music above all else. There is no style over substance and no thought of shortening or sharpening anything that didn’t need to be, all of which means this is the truest reflection of the Soulride sound and exactly what the band wanted [8/10]

Track Listing

1. Three Witches (ft. Kamila Schmidt of My Wooden Pillow)
2. Murder Act (ft. Kristian Harvard of Xentrix)
3. Way Of Life (ft. Kamila Schmidt)
4. This Is The End
5. Lump Of Clay
6. Lost Land
7. Paralyzed
8. Final Escape (ft. Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens of KK’s Priest)
9. Strange Reality
10. Soulride (ft. Kamila Schmidt)

“Murder Act” by Soulride is out 21st September 2024