SOUL SIGN - Life In The Dark (CD)

Yngwie Malmsteen’s excellent bass player Björn Englén formed the band Soul Sign way before he teamed up with the Swedish guitar hero, and he released a MCD with the band ages ago. A good effort it was. Now he’s decided to give it a new shot. Besides Björn handling the bass, the band is an all American unit featuring guitarist Rob Math, drummer Mike Taylor and former Leatherwolf singer Michael Olivieri. Soul Sign plays heavy guitar driven metal with a touch of Black Label Society at times, but also a bit similar to bands like Black Water Rising and Brand New Sin. Modern heavy rock with some good solid riffing going on. I’m unfortunately not really a big fan of Michael’s vocals in this context. He did a great job in Leatherwolf, but to me he doesn’t fit this genre as well. Probably a matter of taste though. Great bass playing from Björn who works great together with drummer Taylor while Math delivers on the guitar parts as well. The song material is good, but at times a bit generic and without any real highs, or lows for that matter. A good album, but I think there’s room for stepping up the game a bit on the next one.

Janne Stark

Label: Grand Mercy Records

Year: 2011

Country: USA/Sweden