Sorry guys, but this album doesn t deserve 5 stars. - Come on guys, we need to be honest here. This is not a great album, it s not even a good album. There are an infinite number of metal albums that run circles around this stuff. The 2001-2003 time frame saw the release of many great extreme metal albums, such as Bloodbath s Resurrection through Carnage, Hypocrisy s Catch 22, Enslaved s Monumension (in 01) and Below the Lights (in 03), Dimmu Borgir s Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia (in 01) and Death Cult Armageddon (in 03), Extol s Synergy, Old Man s Child s In Defiance of Existence, and on and on. Soul Embraced isn t anywhere close to the same league as these aforementioned releases.Look, I m a Christian, guys, and I want to root for the Christian bands too, but I have to call it like I see it. I ve been listening to death metal for fifteen years, and I know the good stuff when I hear it. Soul Embraced is not the good stuff, it s tired, substandard, and frankly, embarrassing. The frustrating thing about it is that it should be a good album. Lance Garvin and Rocky Gray are both talented, and they don t have much excuse for hashing out second-rate metal like this. I must say though, I feel much the same way about the two albums Living Sacrifice released with Rocky on guitar as I feel about This is My Blood. Perhaps Rocky is the weak link.Anyway, we need to call this album for what it is-junk. It hurts me to say it, but it s the truth. There are death metal and black metal bands out there who make great music and are made up of Christians: Antestor, Crimson Moonlight, Immortal Souls, Alethian, Becoming the Archetype, and a few others. Support these quality bands, but don t settle for second-rate garbage just because it has a Christian label on it and it s supposed to be Jesus Approved. God wants us to use our talents to glorify Him, and in my opinion, if I m embarrassed to show a Christian album to a secular metal kid, I don t think that s too glorifying to God. I m not trying to insult the Soul Embraced guys, I believe their hearts were to glorify God, and He loves that, but in the end, I don t think the quality of the music matched the quality of their intentions.
Good side project - This cd is great, but aftr i listened to immune, i dint listen to this one much. But dont get me wrong this is a graet album. In my opinion its better than living sacrificeBut its not as good as immune. But still give this cd a try.
This is a great Death metal group. - Born of two members from Living Sacrifice, the unholy trio of Soul Embraced embraces death metal s characteristic musical angst with a Southern rock flavor. As expected, the group s standard fare of grindcore vocals, rapid-fire pentatonic guitar blasts, and polyrhythmic drum figures is on demonic display. Yet this time out, Soul Embraced works within a familiar pop song format that leaves plenty of room for melody and chord changes readily known to arena rockers. The bridge of Angels With Raven Hearts brazenly adapts a major key progression to the group s lethal canon. Buried In and The Cold Stares of Dead Eyes are two cuts that tread modern rock radio waters by way of Chad Moore s crooning and Rocky s guitar breaks, which neatly pick out a few blue notes à la Eric Clapton. Scars Remain opens with a motif dangerously close to a clichéd air-guitar anthem from the 1980s, however, the commercial slate is wiped clean as soon as the first verse kicks up. In a genre that thrives on formula and repetition, Soul Embraced adds a welcome blast of soul on This Is My Blood. This is an incredibly heavy CD that every metal-head needs. MUCH HEAVIER than Immune, so buy this one if your a TRUE Death Metal fan.
mmmmm.....Metal..... - If you have to read a review or ask around if these guys are good, then you know nothing. If you want to know what metal is, this is a good place to start, being a very well rounded CD.
Betcha didn t know they were Christian?!? - ... I know the vocals sound evil, but the lyrics are awesome! These guys are the Christian alternative to bands like Static X and Hatebreed. Soul Embraced s new album is coming out in February so all you people need to prepare because they re going to rock you again!