SOULHEALER, out of Kjaani, Finland, is another Metal act that seemed to be inflamed by the 80's Metal spirit. Shaped by a modern production, rendered to the 80's needs, the band's debut EP, "Dreamcatcher", sounds like a promise to the current Heavy Metal supremacy.

I think that maybe one of the great aspects of SOULHEALER is their diversity between Classic Rock, Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Throughout their four song showcase you can bounce between IRON MAIDEN, THE CULT, AC/DC, DOKKEN and probably others as those were the clearest. These mentioned bands are part of the reasons why "Dreamcatcher" is filled with melodies, harmonies and catchy chorus sections. The integration of Metal and Rock is interesting and convincing.

However, two things bothered me on SOULHEALER's release, the two are connected to the production. First, although the sound is cool and drive the 80's wheel with style, I couldn't avoid the phase problem. The channels of vocals, drum set (especially snare) and bass were completely left mono as it should have been taken care of otherwise. Second, the band's vocalist, Jori Karki, was nearly isolated as his channels overcame the other instrumental channels, which is ok as it is considered an 80's release, however, his voice didn't seem to be in correlation to the rest of the production.

As for recommendations, I can offer you to listen to the entire EP and you will probably enjoy it, if you are an 80's fan. The best of them all are "Dreamcatcher" and "Set Me Free". SOULHEALER is a prospect and with hope that they would turn into something bigger.