After a four-year break in the action, Swiss Melodic Metal powerhouse SOULLINE make a triumphant return with their latest opus "Screaming Eyes". Released on March 11, 2022, via Massacre Records, this new album continues to see the band progress as artists who are not afraid to experiment with their sound or their lyrical content. As a result, we are presented with a piece of work that tows the line between melodic death metal and metalcore, somehow managing to be both but also neither, depending on how you draw your lines. In an age where genre boundaries are often crossed to the point where labels become meaningless, SOULLINE have carved themselves a nice little path through the ambiguous twisty-turnies of metal and arrived at a formula that does not set out to reinvent the wheel, but rather combine their favorite elements into a powerful and effective vehicle for delivering catchy hooks, brutal growls, tortured screams, melodic phrasing, awesome breakdowns, and emotional content.

There is a predominant death metal element to this album that hearkens back to the glory days where the genre started to incorporate more gothic sounds and melody that were spearheaded by bands like PARADISE LOST, THERION, MY DYING BRIDE, and AMORPHIS. The powerfully brutal growls and screams provided by front man Gabriele Gianora remind me of a "Gothic" era Nick Holmes and serve to convey a wealth of emotion and dynamics while maintaining a remarkable amount of articulation and clarity, though I do feel there are too many effects on his voice. And though the majority of his vocal work lies withing the standards of death and doom metal, he also ventures into the clean realms, showcasing a different side of vocal capability and taking the band into different directions. More on that later.

Guitarists Lorenzo Barenco and Marco Alberti work together nicely to provide both a raw and aggressive rhythm sound as well as a ton of melody, harmony, and dynamics. Worth noting that Barenco also supplies the keyboards for the majority of the album, and that element is used quite effectively to add a sophisticated layer of depth and ambience. Bass duties are rounded out by Mila Merker, and there are some great breakout bass fills that come out of the background at just the right times to punctuate the songs. I was somewhat perplexed by the fact that there was a second keyboard player (Enea Adami) who was brought on for two tracks as well as a second drummer (Mattia Vescovi) who also did the two tracks that were not done my Edo Sala. I'm not sure if the reasons were complimentary to add extra flavor, or if there was some sort of situation that prevented Barenco and Sala from performing on certain tracks. Either way, each musician represented here performs to a very high standard and contributes to a well-produced album, though I do feel the drums and bass could be a tad higher in the mix.

"Screaming Eyes" is somewhat, if not fully, a concept album. It doesn't necessarily tell a story in the traditional sense, yet the lyrical themes of the songs are definitely related. Rather than tell a linear story with characters and specific situations, the songs aim to relay a journey of self-discovery that takes a person from the depths of a tortured and painful existence through a transition to acceptance and self-discovery and ultimately to a point of inspiration to fight for one's life and reason to be. It's a tale of inner turmoil, good and evil, revenge and sorrow, despair and salvation. But unlike many concept albums where you must consider an entire work when judging individual elements of the compositions, each track presented here is powerful and has an individual identity that tells its own mini story that relates back to an overall theme.  According to the band's EPK, "The eyes are the windows of the soul, they say. And the metal soul of this record screams, it screams loudly for a revenge from life." The concept itself is inspired by "The life of an ordinary human being who had a very deep low, a shadowy part of existence that he accepted, understood, and against which he now fights. And it is precisely the decision to arise again that is definable as heroic."

But how are the songs?

There are of course some songs that stand out more than others. The opening track "Your Death (Is My Life)" kicks in with an OSDM style riff and then immediately hits you in the face with some of those brutal vocals, while the keyboards provide a very gothic presence. The guitars have just the right amount of gain and manage to be both heavy and articulate at the same time, and perfectly blend with the clean sounds and a classic style lead tone. The chugging at the end of this song had me headbanging and the catchy chorus had me singing "Your Death Is My Life" almost involuntarily. This really is a perfect opening song.

The album's title track, "Screaming Eyes," starts off slow with some cool dissonant chords, then blasts into a thrashy gallop and then into some MESHUGGAH inspired djenty chunkage. The melodic break in this song actually has a very uplifting feel, counterintuitive the overall feel of the song. But we do get a taste of the clean vocals, which range from totally clean to a cascading progression of clean to gravelly to gritty to brutal. The use of open chords in this song is really cool over the tribal-like drumbeats that are tracked nicely by the bass. "Salvation Inside" starts off with a cool retro wah guitar line and a bit of groove that reminded me of CATHEDRAL, then breaks into a multi-layered vocal over some layered guitars. There's also some really cool drum and cymba work in this song, and I wish it would have been a little more at the forefront.

"Dragonfly" promises to be the song voted "most singable" at a concert with its "Hoo!Ha! Hoo!Ha!" chant and driving rhythm complete with a slow melodic phrase and a very IRON MAIDEN-like transition into a nice solo with some galloping rhythms. This is very much their "stadium" song, and it's very catchy.  The breakdown that occurs ¾ of the way through is awesome and the vocals come back in with a killer snarl.

If you opt for CD or Digital, there are two bonus tracks. "The Curse" has an almost Folk Metal feel that had me reaching for my inner AMORPHIS with its heavy groove accented by octave chords and the very melodic keyboard work and actually proved to be my favorite on the album. "The Truth Will Out" has a very straight forward groovy rhythm that almost gets into CARCASS territory, though the clean vocals tend to pull you out of the moment as does the classic rock inspired guitar solo.

With the heavy PARADISE LOST inspiration, I was curious as to how they would approach their cover of "Say Just Words".  And I was not let down. In fact, I actually prefer it over the original and was pleasantly surprised that they chose to make it heavier, considering the direction P.L has taken over the last couple of decades.

There are two songs that really deviate from the overall feel of the album, "Against Myself" and "Stay With You". Both songs explore an overall lighter feel with clean guitars and clean vocals. I can't put my finger on the reason exactly, but I'm honestly just not vibing with the clean vocals on this album. I like clean vocals, but I guess I feel like the heavier growls and snarls are just SO good and fit the rhythms so much better. Gianora's clean voice is ok, but I guess I found myself wanting to move past them and feel they are the weakest part of an album that delivers some absolutely epic moments.

SOULLINE have taken concepts that have been done a million times and still managed to sound fresh and modern. While there is no real showmanship in the form of crazy solos, syncopated beats, erratic time signature changes, or machine-gun drumbeats, there is plenty here that solidifies the band as great musicians who have the ability to write catchy hooks decent melodies. I do wish the drums and bass were prominent, but that is my only real complaint about the production. Other than that, the mix is great, and the album sounds polished and professional.

The wide-ranging styles presented here will no doubt appeal more to fans of modern melodic death metal or metalcore rather than to fans of OSDM or some of the more underground acts. On the DM side, fans of AMORPHIS, PARADISE LOST (early), and THERION will likely enjoy the band's approach to honoring the old school, while those who are open minded to the more metalcore side of the spectrum and bands like DYING OATH, DRAEMORA, AS I LAY DYING, and IN FLAMES will definitely latch onto this solid offering.