BLOOD FROM THE SOUL is the vision of legendary musician Shane Embury, longtime member of extreme pioneers Napalm Death. In the early 90’s Embury partnered with Lou Koller (Sick Of It All) to create the Blood From The Soul debut “To Spite the Hand That Breeds” (Earache, 1993, listen below). The album was an experimental fusion of industrial, metal, hardcore, and punk. And along with Godflesh, Pitch Shifter, Meathook Seed, and Scorn, they helped spawn a new wave of industrial-metal.
Napalm Death bassist Shane Embury teams up with Sick Of It All frontman Lou Koller for this one-off album of industrialised hardcore. A unique collaboration.
Fast forward to 2020 and Blood From the Soul has awakened from hyper-sleep. Joining Embury on this new creative journey are now Dirk Verbeuren (Megadeth, Soilwork, Aborted, Tronos), Jacob Bannon (Converge, Wear Your Wounds, Umbra Vitae), and Jesper Liveröd (Nasum, Burst).
“DSM-5” is a twelve song conceptual album from Blood From the Soul. Lyrically the album is written from the perspectives of human beings as well as sentient machines. Metaphorically it explores the relationship between consciousness and physical/psychological deterioration amid a multitude of stresses. Reading as both dystopian science fiction as well as poignant editorial on the turbulent present and our uncertain future.
Verbeuren’s razor-sharp percussion propels the musical vessel as Embury and Liveröd’s walls of strings and ambience infectiously build with imposing power. Vocally the material is vicious as they come with Bannon at the helm. Engineer Russ Russell (Napalm Death, At The Gates, The Haunted) also created soundscapes for the epic slo-burn closer “DSM-5”, while John Cooke and Tom Dring (Venomous Concept, Corrupt Moral Altar) contributed additional ominous noise to this final transmission.
Credits:
Shane Embury: Guitars, Bass, and Electronics
Dirk Verbeuren: Drums and Percussion
Jacob Bannon: Vocals, Lyrics, and Visuals
Jesper Liveröd: BassAdditional Guitar by John Cooke
Saxophone by Tom DringRecorded, engineered, and mixed by Russ Russell at Parlour Studios
Drums recorded by Dirk Verbeuren at Die Crawling Studio, Los Angeles, CA
Vocals recorded and engineered by Kurt Ballou at God City Studios
Saxophone recording done at Vagrant Studios, Southport, UK
Additional vocal recording by Jacob Bannon
Mastered by Brad Boatright at AudiosiegeAll songs written by Blood from the Soul
except “DSM-5” written by Blood From the Soul and Russ Russell
