Soulscar - Character Assassination - 8.5 / 10

I first heard of Soulscar when I met their drummer on Napster (back in 
2000). I was blown away by their demo at the time, especially a track 
called "Your Absence, My End". The production was sub-par, but the music 
was good and showed promise of great things to come from the band. 
Character Assassination lives up to this promise. The songs are for the 
most part well-composed; technical, but not too technical that you can't 
get into it right away. 

"Fatalist Mantra" is a strong opener, with it's ominous tribal intro, 
setting the tone for the rest of the album. Indeed, the next two tracks, 
"Interceptor" and "Sacrifices", follow the same formula with time changes 
a-plenty, interesting drum work, and intelligent riffs. 

"Living Nightmare" starts off with an industrial feel, but really is more 
of a melodic death song, featuring some more great drumming. That song 
ends with a nice thrash outro, which sets up the next two tracks, 
"Relentless" and "It Takes A Wolf". These two are the purest thrash songs 
on the album, rife with energy and the most aggressive vocals on the 
album. 

The title track is arguably the best song on this CD, as it ties together 
all the musical elements of the disc and sum them up nicely in one 
masterpiece of a song. The song continually builds on itself, with strong 
musicianship all around, and I felt that this would have been a more 
appropriate song to end the CD with. Not to take away from the last song 
"A Reprieve", a mellower, instrumental track that is reminiscent of the 
great Metallica instrumentals in terms of its composition. "A Reprieve" 
finishes in anticlimactic fashion, which is why I think it should have 
been placed before the title track. It's just a bad way to end such a 
great album. 

The musicianship on these songs is above average: both guitarists sound 
proficient and the drummer executes well. The vocals do need some work 
though, coming across as scratchy, barely audible whispers at times. 
Character Assassination has the best production I've ever heard from the 
band, distinguished by a real sound clarity. As for the packaging, the 
booklet is informative with full song lyrics, credits, and a couple of 
bandmember shots. Nothing special, but it is complete - a remarkable feat 
for an independent release. 

Overall, Character Assassination is nine catchy, interesting songs that 
will excite and reward the listener with every listen.

- D. Grimby

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