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 return to hangar