For all you Living Sacrifice fans out there, looking for something to tide you over until they release a follow up to The Hammering Process, don't look to Soul Embraced for that replacement. Yeah, sure, Rocky and Lance make up 2/3 of this outfit, but they aren't repeating their work with Bruce and Company. This Is My Blood is much closer to a straight death metal feel. All the necessary elements are there; low growls, pounding double bass, and post-apocalyptic song titles and lyrics. The album was originally released by indie metal label Clenched Fist Records, which should make the band's musical approach clear.
I really like this album. It is a very solid release of some brutally heavy death metal. It's great to hear Rocky flex his chops. It seems that he has a little more freedom to let his metal roots flow. Lance is a machine, with almost constant double bass footwork and sticks that are all over the set. Chad Moore's vocals both excite and terrify. The songs' lyrics have a mysterious quality to them that all real metal songs do, invoking a sense that you've become a poet just by reading them.
This band could tour with anything Metal Blade Records has to offer, holding their own musically and shining a beacon of hope onto a dark world. The really cool thing about this band is that Soul Embraced isn't just a spin-off of the Living Sacrifice fame. Their music can tread water on its own merit. True purists of the death metal scene will eat this up. Meanwhile, us hardcore kids can slip this into our collection for a taste of what the older guys have to offer. Good listening all around.
Other coverage for this album
Decapolis March 2002Reviewed by Nate BaileySoul Embraced sports members of Living Sacrifice. They have previously released a full length entitled, "For the Incomplete." This current release is with Solid State. This is a great album! From stem to stern, this is quality work. The music is metal all the way, but not the boring tedious, repetitious stuff you may be thinking. There are hooks and melodies galore. Very catchy stuff! Each song…Art for the Ears 2002Reviewed by Marco PovervestThe follow up to the album Soul Embraced released through Clenched Fist Records (For The Incomplete) contains thirteen death metal tunes. Soul Embraced is the band with two Living Sacrifice members (Lance Garvin & Rocky Gray) and singer Chad Moore. While Living Sacrifice meshes hardcore with metal, Soul Embraced will please the metal fans with intense death metal. While the record isn't as…Dead Zine 2001Reviewed by the ProjectSoul Embraced hits the Solid State recording studio to return with their Sophomore effort This Is My Blood. WOW! This is amazing. A little weaker than the first disk but much more radio friendly and with all the hype will probably sell quite a few records. I gave the first album a 10 and I really loved this one better so you know this is good. The vocals were total growling insanity along with…Dead Zine 2001Reviewed by Grindboy"Radio-friendly death metal"? This may be the perfect album for Solid State to put out if they're looking to get the new generation of metalheads to take the next step. Put a sticker on it that says it's got LS members playing on it and they'll be dying for a listen to maybe the most accessible death metal album I've heard. This has just enough LS similarity to draw people in, but even more to…Dead Zine 2001Reviewed by D_ListerMaybe I had just set my expectations a little too high for this band. After hearing and loving their first album For the Incomplete I had really expected Soul Embraced to take that next step up in intensity level and increase the aggression they had laid the foundation for. This Is My Blood does not do that, but rather delivers 13 tracks of pretty much For the Incomplete material. That's not a…Similar sounding releases
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