Soul Embraced

While Soul Embraced contain two members of the excellent Living Sacrifice, the two bands don't share much else in common. Soul Embraced tread down a more straight-ahead melodic death metal path and do a good job of it. Heartwork-era Carcass springs to mind, along with a heaping dose of the Gothenburg sound and a touch of a progressive edge as well. The clean vocals help to keep things balanced, and the band displays a knack for writing nice melodies within their heavy songs. As with all the Solid State bands, the production and artwork is top quality. Ultimately the songs get a bit boring and don't have a whole lot happening to hold you in, lacking the hooks of the above reference points as well as the progressive brutality of Living Sacrifice. Still, this is of better quality than many current metal releases, and the players can all hold their own.