Soilwork Album: “Early Chapters”

It is all too common nowadays for people to get special editions of albums just so they can get extra songs that are either unheard or hard to find. However, this becomes a tedious and often expensive process; besides, it's hard to find EVERYTHING from the artist in question. That's why artists such as Soilwork are smart and release b-side collections of at least some of their harder-to-find material.

These FIVE songs (there's also another one, "Aardvark Trail [live]," that Amazon isn't listing for some reason...) span through Soilwork's early years. It is very interesting to hear some of their beginnings. "Burn" is an electrifying, fast-paced cover that simply SIZZLES with its ferocity (not to mention a DAZZLING guitar solo). "Disintegrated Skies" is so good, it really is a wonder why it was not on any of their previous releases. "Egypt" has kind of poor production, but is still a pretty neat cover of the Mercyful Fate song. The demo of "Shadow Child" features a lot of the same aspects as the later version, and is a nice glance at their earlier songwriting. Finally, to hear "Aardvark Trail" live is definite proof that Soilwork is overdue to release a live album, and soon.

This is a great little rarities album, and while not complete (where's "Asylum Dance" or "Bursting Out"?), it features most of their rare stuff and proves to be a great addition to any Soilwork fan (but not a newbie). Now if only more artists could do this...

It is all too common nowadays for people to get special editions of albums just so they can get extra songs that are either unheard or hard to find. However, this becomes a tedious and often expensive process; besides, it's hard to find EVERYTHING from the artist in question. That's why artists such as Soilwork are smart and release b-side collections of at least some of their harder-to-find material.

These FIVE songs (there's also another one, "Aardvark Trail [live]," that Amazon isn't listing for some reason...) span through Soilwork's early years. It is very interesting to hear some of their beginnings. "Burn" is an electrifying, fast-paced cover that simply SIZZLES with its ferocity (not to mention a DAZZLING guitar solo). "Disintegrated Skies" is so good, it really is a wonder why it was not on any of their previous releases. "Egypt" has kind of poor production, but is still a pretty neat cover of the Mercyful Fate song. The demo of "Shadow Child" features a lot of the same aspects as the later version, and is a nice glance at their earlier songwriting. Finally, to hear "Aardvark Trail" live is definite proof that Soilwork is overdue to release a live album, and soon.

This is a great little rarities album, and while not complete (where's "Asylum Dance" or "Bursting Out"?), it features most of their rare stuff and proves to be a great addition to any Soilwork fan (but not a newbie). Now if only more artists could do this...

Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork released this neat little EP titled The Early Chapters in 2004. Despite the title, which suggests a demo collection (like Dark Tranquillity's

), The Early Chapters is a collection of b-sides and other rarities. Here's what you get:

1. Burn - This is a very fast, very fierce cover of the Deep Purple classic. It was previously available only on the Japanese import version of

.

2. Disintegrated Skies - This is an original studio song that was also exclusive to the Japanese Steelbath Suicide release. It definitely matches the tone of that album.

3. Egypt - This is a cover of the Mercyful Fate song that originally appeared on the

tribute album.

4. Shadow Child - This is a demo version of the song that later appeared on

.

5. Aardvark Trail - This is a blistering live version of the Steelbath Suicide song.

It's not an essential release by any means, but if you're a serious fan of Soilwork, especially their earlier material, The Early Chapters is a worthwhile purchase. Even if these songs are available elsewhere, picking up this EP is a lot easier than hunting down the various Japanese imports and tribute albums.