Soilent Green - A Deleted Symphony for the Beaten Down

Soilent Green
A Deleted Symphony for the Beaten Down
Relapse



In many respects, Soilent Green is the Charlie Brown of grind. How much more shit could get heaped onto one band? Not musically (never musically) but, in almost every other respect, this is where it all started going down hill. For one, this was the last recording with bassist Scott Williams. Following this album's release, Williams was the victim in a murder/suicide with his roommate. After that came the van wrecks, the reconstructive surgeries and Hurricane Katrina. It's all here if you want to know more. Well, it's not all there, but that's a good place to start.

As for the music, it's not like A Deleted Symphony for the Beaten Down is a bad album. It's Soilent Green and, therefore, it's better than 99% of all recorded music. It is the band's least focused effort, for Soilent Green standards anyway. A Deleted Symphony for the Beaten Down is an album where its strength is derived from the overall sound achieved by the band (brutality) rather than any outstanding individual songs. Basically, it's really good but not quite as good as Sewn Mouth Secrets.





Soilent Green - A Deleted Symphony for the Beaten Down




.

RE-UP: Soilent Green - Pussysoul

Soilent Green
Pussysoul
Dwell



Here's Soilent Green's rare first LP, released on the notoriously sketchy Dwell Records back in 1994. How has this not been re-released by now? The rights to the album must be tangled up in some form of legal hell. Please enjoy the original review from No Funeral magazine, along with a fresh mediafire link. If you're wondering, Ben is the vocalist on this album, not Glenn Rambo. This was the first record from Soilent Green's "classic" line-up. Click on the link to read more.








\m/

Soilent Green - Pussysoul

Soilent Green
Pussysoul
Dwell

If you’re an old-school KPFT listener, then you’ll likely remember the song “Slapfuck” as a regional hit which received heavy airplay on the Sweet Nightmares and Big Jesus radio shows. “Slapfuck” is also the prototypical example of Soilent Green’s psychotic Sabbath-meets-Discharge death/sludge/grind.

Before they became the long-time Relapse Records staple they are today, Soilent Green crawled out of the New Orleans scene. Along side EYEHATEGOD, Acid Bath, Crowbar, and many others, Soilent Green helped turn heavy music on its ear back in the 90s.

“Pussysoul”, their debut full-length on the long-defunct Dwell Records, laid the foundation for all Soilent Green music to come. Grindcore blasts, ripping death metal, D-beats, and thick as molasses sludge riffs all beating the Christ out of each other and causing irreparable hearing damage in the process.

With all due respect to guitarist Brian Williams (also of EYEHATEGOD), the most dynamic and innovative member of the band is vocalist Ben Falgoust. He can do what many other extreme music singers are incapable of doing: three drastically different vocal styles. Plus, he can seamlessly switch between them. Falgoust blends death grunts, tortured screams, and creepy spoken-word passages into a tapestry of terror, usually all in the same song.

A common complaint with “Pussysoul” has been the record’s production. While it’s certainly not the best, the muddled production of “Pussysoul” gives the album character. The fast parts have a grim feeling, the slow parts are given a sense of punch-drunk clarity, and the heavy parts are immoveable.

Throughout the years, Soilent Green has suffered more tragedies and setbacks than any band should. From van accidents to ex-members passing away, they’ve persevered and they deserve every bit of their success.

In closing, let’s not forget original members Scott Williams and Glen Rambo, both of whom are no longer with us.

Here's a clip of Soilent Green playing "Mad Scientist", recorded in 1989 with original vocalist Glenn Rambo. Rambo died during Hurricane Katrina.









\m/