Soul Collector

Well....to start off i knew of the drummers amazing feats behind the set..being in the world record book for speed drumming and all..so i had to hear it...however this album was a total gamble for me...id only heard one song, ("Schwars Ist Unser Panzer (Ich Batt'einen Kameraden)"),and i very much enjoyed it....the starting riff was a phenominal head grinding blastbeat from hell..and it progressed into an almost "satanic" style black/death metal melody like you would hear from "Abominator" or others...anyway...back on topic...the minute i popped this album in my computer i knew that i would be shredding to this one for a long time to come...heres a few reasons why...

SONGS:

1. Das Leben will gewonnen sein -
If you want a song more brutal than this...good luck finding it...it starts off with a death roar and a riff that goes straight for your juggular and doesnt let up until the final second ticks off the track time counter, tempo changes and brutal drumming are the keys to this song, the lightning fast riffage add effect here as well..good healthy song...

2. P2krieg -
Easily my favorite song on this album...starts off with a German World War II themed movie clip...and instantly melds into a skull crushing blastbeat riff that will melt your inner ear in a maëlström of cosmic death metal energy (i just made that up...but it sounded cool) anway..the song stays hard and heavy the whole way through...gradually slowing as more time ticks off, until it comes to a virtual halt near the end in an impossibly heavy/slow section of extreme riffage...might just be one of the most fun songs to listen to in my cd library...

3. Der Panzertöter -
This song might just be the only small weakness of this album which might be why i only gave it a 92 instead of a 98-100. It starts off with a guitar melody and vocals that sound more NSBM (National Socialist Black Metal) than anything else...im not the biggest of black metal fans (huge understatement) so this song did little for me...it picks up in the middle a bit..and gets into some great double bass kicks and harsher vocals, but then it lapses right into the same Norwegian black metal style again...not recommended for any brutal death fans out there...

4. Panzergrenadier -
This song starts out brutal as fuck, total low toned ear shredding riffs and double bass kicks...when the vocals come in, its a refreshing contrast in unison (growling and screeching) which i always enjoy, then it picks up into a just as heavy, higher pitched sort of melody which along with the insane drumming, sounds ultimately extreme...and the best part comes around 3:05 in the song...when they introduce a "anti-god" sound clip along with equally as unholy and brutally lightning fast riffs with just as brutal drumming...excellent song...

5. Schwars ist unser Panzer (Ich batt'einen Kameraden) -
I mentioned a little about it in the reviews introduction....this song is absolute perfection...mixing brutal death metal, war themed vocals (all in German) and hints of black/death guitar melodies...into an unholy concauction of utter brutality that will trap you in a headbanging frenzy for the entire 5 minutes and 15 seconds of the song...German Death Metal at its finest!

6. Unser höchste Chre -
This song starts out in a mid paced falling intonational trance sort of melody, yet the drums are insanely fast with double bass kicks a plenty the whole way through...at around 0:40 it kicks into some lightning fast riffage that will have you thrashing along...and it continues to lapse and progress like this until around 1:24 when an interesting time change variation takes over and it gets (gasp) even FASTER! Totally killer riffs and insane drumming the whole way through...a mosh pit monkeys dream..haha...

7. Kalt wie der finsternis -
Another oddly black metal sounding song, yet this one was a bit different...in the fact that the higher pitched vocals werent used on this as much, but rather the more death metal themed low toned growls, the double bass kicks on this one were just as extreme as its predecessor, and around 1:59 the guys add a nice refreshing guitar solo on top of a moderate riff that really makes you appreciate the way these guys can mold their music into so many different styles and still sound just as intense...

8. Zum Oegenstoss -
This song is the most interesting on the entire album, it has it all...slow progressing beginning, guitar solos, time changes and tempo swings galore, melodys ranging from nsbm to thrash to brutal death...even the drummer has a variety of different tempo swings he throws into to meld into the music, just when you think you know where this song is going...something new pops out at you and surprises you in a good way...this song is one of those melodic death thrashers your parents have been warning you about...and one of the most interesting ive heard in a long while...

I'd describe this album as a must own for almost any death metal enthusiast...
Best Tracks: P2Krieg, Panzergrenadier, Schwars ist unser Panzer (Ich batt'einen Kameraden), Unser höchste Chre, Zum Oegenstoss

...or whatever the hell "Schwarz ist Unser Panzer" means. This is by far the best song on the album, even people who are not into death/black metal will love the eye gouging breakdown at the end of this song.

Overall, every song does have something pretty enjoyable in it, though overall it is hard to listen to from beginning to end due to the constant blasting and double bass. Still, a fun album, and one does wonder what the hell the song titles are all about, though the band's site says they are reliving WWII through music. This is pretty accurate, the black-metally melodic guitars and deathy breakdowns, combined with a relentless drum performance and some funny samples (one is from The Devil's Advocate, I think) make it sound like you're in combat. Without the guitars laying down a brutal groove and then soaring into high - pitched riffs, it is entirely possible that this album would be unbearable. The vocals are extremely low end cookie monster style, with the occassional screech and monotone spoken word section. The cookie monster sounds a bit studio - generated from time to time, but that's OK, at least Panzerchrist doesn't attempt singing. All the lyrics are in German, though strangely enough all of the movie quotes are in English (globalization of American entertainment, I suppose).

Highlights include tracks 2, 5, and 7, 5 being "Schwarz..." and 7 being "Zum Something something bla bla bla." This album is sweet, blast it while driving through a nice suburban neighborhood and enjoy the confused looks you inspire - I did, it was great.

If anyone enjoys death metal with loads of melody, technique and fast picking riffs then Panzerchrist is definitely the band for him. With fast riffs, deep growls and high screams as well as fast drums this album is by far an amazing one.The best thing in this album is by far the great guitar riffs. They are all so catchy and well executed through out the whole album that you could easily listen to the whole album time after time. The drums are placed excellent for every riff and the vocals are deep and you can notice he cups alot. Songs which should definitely be listened to are ones such as “Panzergrenadier” which in the middle has a long sample playing in the background which fits perfectly with the riff played. “Schwarz ist unser Panzer” is another song, which starts off great, which continues and obviously ends fucking great as well. I can’t stop! All the songs have a piece in them that is amazing so basically I recommend all the songs.The production is good and sound quality is amazing. All the instruments are levelled superbly. The thing that sucked a bit was that the song names are in German and they use some weird font that is hard to read. I don’t like the cover art as well. When you see a tank in the front of CD you don’t expect music this good. But anyway two horns up go out to all in Panzerchrist.