Kev Rowland This 2016 album is a compilation of material stretching back as 2005, so in many ways is a bookend for drummer Dirk Verbeuren as he joined just prior to the beginning of this material and left afterwards as this is the last Soilwork to feature him. This isn’t a straightforward compilation featuring a ”best of”, but instead contains two new songs plus thirteen remastered versions of some which may not be easily obtainable to the fan. This includes the whole of the 2014 ‘Beyond The Infinite’ EP (which rather interestingly is here in exactly the same order as the original release, tracks 4-8), plus others which were released as bonus tracks (often in Japan) from the albums ‘Stabbing the Drama’ (2005), ‘Sworn to a Great Divide’ (2007), ‘The Panic Broadcast’ (2010) and ‘The Ride Majestic’ (2015). Something which is also interesting is that the compilation works in chronological order, so the new tracks are at the beginning, and then it works back in time, so it ends with the oldest. I’ve not seen a compilation put together like this, and it is really refreshing and normally everything is jumbled up, so the listener gets different styles, recording levels and quality all over the place – but here one is taken on a journey back into Soilwork’s past.

The sound is great throughout, and one can understand the desire to release this compilation as it is an incredibly solid album in its own right. It is also interesting to hear how in some ways the band has changed its approach since the early days, yet in others their musical path was already set by the time this collection starts (‘Stabbing The Drama’ was their sixth album after all) and they have continued down the same furrow ever since. Unlike some bands who have moved out of the melodic death genre into something quite unmentionable, and there are a few, Soilwork have doubled down and know what they are going to achieve under that name. If they want to do something different then they form a project instead of changing what this band is about, and the result is a consistency which many others would love to be able to achieve. In many ways this collection is for those who already have the other albums, but unlike many rarities compilations is also worth getting in its own right and fans will do far more than just play this once and put it back on the shelf. Given these were bonus cuts for the most part, so didn’t make it to the original album, that is some achievement.

UMUR "Death Resonance" is a compilation album by Swedish melodic death metal act Soilwork. The compilation was released through Nuclear Blast Records in August 2016. Soilwork´s latest studio album at this point was "The Ride Majestic (2015)", which is their 10th full-length studio album, so Soilwork had plenty of material to chose from. "Death Resonance" is not a "best of" compilation though, but instead a rarities collection of tracks recorded between 2005 and 2016.

The compilation opens with two completely new tracks, which were recorded exclusively for this release in "Helsinki" and "Death Resonance". Both are high quality compositions, but since Soilwork´s standards are so incredibly high, I´ll allow myself to call them good but not as great as their best material. "The End Begins Below the Surface" is a Japanese bonus track off "The Ride Majestic (2015)", and again it´s a quality composition, but nothing too special when taking the band´s full discography into consideration. The five tracks off the "Beyond the Infinite (2014)" EP follow and to my ears they are the highlights of the compilation. High quality compositions which were left off the double album "The Living Infinite (2013)", but which could just as well have been included on that album as these aren´t what you normally associate with leftovers/B-side single tracks. A track like "My Nerves, Your Everyday Tool" is so damn catchy it´s almost a criminal act, that it was left off the full-length album.

Then follows several Japanese bonus tracks off "Stabbing the Drama (2005)", "Sworn to a Great Divide (2007)", and "The Panic Broadcast (2010)". Among them a re-recording of "Sadistic Lullabye", which is found in it´s original version on "Steelbath Suicide (1998)", but in this version it was included as a Japanese bonus track on "The Panic Broadcast (2010)". The tracks off "Stabbing the Drama (2005)", "Sworn to a Great Divide (2007)" are remixed. All tracks are quality material, but few stand out as anything out of the ordinary for Soilwork. And that goes for both the quality of the material but also stylistically, where there are very few surprises if you´re already familiar with Soilwork´s melodic death metal style and lead vocalist Björn "Speed" Strid´s distinct aggressive snarling and clean vocals.

Some tracks feature more interesting sound productions than others, but they are all very well produced, featuring powerful, clear, and detailed productions, which suit the material perfectly. Upon conclusion "Death Resonance" is yet another high quality release by Soilwork, and while not all tracks on the compilation are equally interesting (or at least don´t stand out much in the band´s discography) a 4 star (80%) rating is still deserved.