The Bitter Selfcaged Man

My teammate Chris stated in his review of Divine Souls’ first effort Embodiment that this album was almost a replica of In Flames' Clayman. I could not tell you whether or not it’s true because I left In Flames when they released this album and I have not listened to Divine Souls’ first album either. I am a fan of In Flames’ earlier stuff such as The Jester Race, Colony and Whoracle. I can however rejoin Chris’ opinion on that. This band is an In Flames’s copycat, but not for the worse, only for the better.

The Bitter Selfcaged Man is Divine Souls second album and they sound very mature. This album follows indeed the best tradition of melodic Swedish death metal in the veins of what In Flames has released best so far. This album is loaded with 10 songs built on a strong and direct impact, supported by aggressive vocals and intriguing guitar riffs. No keyboards and no samples. The 10 catchy songs are filled to the brink with aggressiveness and a clean melodic approach and keep alive the original Swedish sound. Catchy riffs, excellent songwriting, harmonic solos, some clean melancholic vocals and of course a great production. Unfortunately their classical Swedish death metal is too predictable and not very innovative nor original and thus with no real interest unless you are a die hard fan of early In Flames which I don’t claim to be although I like their earlier stuff alot. But their music is good because it’s filled with the best energy of a young band who just want to do their best. The lead guitar work of Mikael Lindgren and the rhythm guitar work of Stefan Hogberd is excellent and reveals some strong musicianship. Matthias Lilja's vocals are no vocal hysteria and fit the music very well.

While it may not offer anything outside the realm that has already been explored, Divine Souls’ second full length is a good album that really needs to make its place among many other Swedish death metal releases.