In 2012 Soil released a live CD/DVD Re-LIVE-ing The Scars to celebrate their 10th Anniversary of their album Scars. After watching it it became clear with original vocalist Ryan McCombs returning to the band Soil once again had the intensity and passion that that they so miserably lacked on True Self and Picture Perfect with A. J. Cavalier as the vocalist.
Whole is rekindling of the fire the band once had, and after having watched the Re-LIVE-ing The Scars I felt optimistic that new material would eventually emerge in the shape of a full-length disc, and it has in the shape of a brand-new album. So what do we have here? McComb’s much missed amazing vocals all throughout the album, his lyrics speaking of his seemingly endless charades with women (or woman); Adam Zadel’s amazing lead guitar work all throughout the album and Tim King’s solid bass giving the album grounding and unwavering depth. On the drums is Mitch Gable, who more than plays solidly, tightly, and with just an outstanding amount of feel.
The album begins with “Loaded Gun” instantly kicking in with a solid drum rhythm (ride, bass, and snare) with the guitar and bass locking in like a pair of bulls fighting for dominance. It must be said that right away I felt that same similarity to Scars and Redefine (the two albums also bearing McComb’s as vocalist) where the music is incredibly dense and heavy, whilst the vocals just add another pitch and give Soil their real catalyst for success. Whilst this album feels indeed whole (excuse the pun) it also is incredibly heavy especially in the guitar area, where I think that there is a recapturing of Soil’s original spirit. It could be argued though that the songs on Whole pretty much sound the same, as there is no real change in the guitar sound throughout the album (and even the note-nicking from Mudvayne’s “Infernal Primates Forever”), but the consistency of the guitar actually gives the album solid groundwork in that it doesn’t stray too far from home.
Whole is definitely a return of many things. It is an album that lives up to what its predecessors achieved. The return of McCombs really helps Soil live up to what they once were. I always thought that both Scars and Redefine were amazing albums (it doesn’t need to be said…but I just did…), and Whole follows the same formula that Scars did. I’ve listened to it about four or five times now and I really like the album.
With the release of Whole I am really hoping that future Soil albums will be just as good if not better, now that the band has more fire under their belts. It seems that the three founding members of Soil have found new life. I do highly recommend this album if you were a fan of either Scars or Redefine, or both.
RATING: 4 / 5