Soulbender is the only studio album by the American-Canadian

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

band of the same name. Originally released in 2004, it was re-released with additional recordings in 2014.

Background and recording

Soulbender features

Michael Wilton Michael F. Wilton (born February 23, 1962) also known as The Whip, for how fast his fingers "whip" around the guitar fretboard, is an American musician, best known for being a guitarist and songwriter in the progressive metal band Queensrÿche, w ...

, founding guitarist of

Queensrÿche Queensrÿche is an American heavy metal band. It formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The band has released 16 studio albums, one EP, and several DVDs, and continues to tour and record. The original lineup ...

, and Nick Pollock, former vocalist of

My Sister's Machine My Sister's Machine was an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1989. Its members were Nick Pollock (lead vocals, guitar), Owen Wright (guitar), Chris Ivanovich (bass guitar), and Chris Gohde (drums). This band recorded and re ...

. The album was recorded at three different studios in Washington: Triad (drums and bass), which also mixed the album, Watershed (guitars), and Slow Time (vocals). This album was co-produced by the band themselves and engineer Eric Janko. It was mastered by Eddy Schreyer, who has worked with artists such as

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

and Slipknot.

Release and reception

The album was independently released through Licking Lava Records on May 22, 2004. Steve Newton of

The Georgia Straight ''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools, ...

has described the music on this album being "a tad darker than either of those bands (Queensrÿche and My Sister's Machine) are noted for." Sefany Jones, a contributing editor of

KNAC KBUE (105.5 FM, "Que Buena 105.5/94.3 FM") is a commercial radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In te ...

, listed the album among her Top 15 albums of 2004; it came in at Number Two.

Rerelease

In 2014,

Blabbermouth.net Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001; in Octob ...

reported that the band were planning to release ''Soulbender II'', containing four new songs and remasters of all tracks on ''Soulbender'', through Rat Pak Records. The album also included updated cover art. Tony Sison of ''The Dedicated Rocker Society'' hailed ''Soulbender II'' as a "balls to the wall recording from start to finish."

Track listing

All tracks written by Soulbender.

Personnel

; Soulbender * Dave Groves – guitar * Wes Hallam – drums * Nick Pollock – vocals, design, layout * Marten Van Keith – bass guitar *

– guitar ; Additional personnel and production * Eric Janko – Producer * Eddy Schreyer – Mastering * Emma Burke, Sofie Dissel, Toshiko Okumura – Spoken vocals * Jeremy Cranford, Corey D. Macourek, Scott Norris, Robert Raper – Design and layout

Background and recording

Release and reception

Rerelease

Track listing

Personnel

References

External links

See also