Figure Number Five
Figure Number Five is the fifth full-length album released by the Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork. The record was released on 22 April 2003 through Nuclear Blast label. On this release, the band introduces more alternative metal sound than their melodic death metal style.
| Figure Number Five | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 22 April 2003 | |||
| Recorded | Guitars & Keyboards - Queenstreet Recording (December 2002 - January 2003)
Drums - Dug-Out Productions (January 2003) Vocals & Bass - Studio Fredman (January - February 2003) | |||
| Genre | Melodic death metal, alternative metal | |||
| Length | 40:52 | |||
| Label | Nuclear Blast | |||
| Producer | Soilwork | |||
| Soilwork chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Rock Hard (de) | 9.5/10[2] |
A few different editions of this album existed upon release. The normal release with eleven tracks, as well as a limited edition release with a second CD including their 1997 demo In Dreams We Fall into the Eternal Lake plus two songs from the Steelbath Suicide demo session. The limited vinyl version of the album features two discs - this album and Natural Born Chaos, black and the other a white-colored vinyl. The Japanese version of the album includes one bonus track, entitled "Bursting Out."
Background
This album marked keyboardist Sven Karlsson's first attempts at songwriting for the band. While it is not necessarily interconnected with the keyboardist songwriting, this album features more use of the keyboard and lighter melodies. The album is considered a more commercial sound by most fans of Swedish death metal, but it arguably gives the music a broader appeal. However, vocalist Björn Strid has said the album has good melodies but lacks in intensity and could've been better composed; many fans and critics considered the album "rushed".[3]
Music videos were made for the songs "Rejection Role" and "Light the Torch." In Flames appeared in the "Rejection Role" video, which featured the two bands being seemingly hostile towards each other (early in the video, a member of In Flames can be seen holding up a sign that says "Sellout" as the band drives by Soilwork). On the In Flames video of "Trigger" Soilwork appeared and were made interchangeably as a joke to the fans that either band had any indifferences with each other. This was the last album to feature Henry Ranta on drums.
Reception
In 2005, Figure Number Five was ranked number 398 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[4]
Track listing
All lyrics are written by Björn "Speed" Strid.
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Rejection Role" | Peter Wichers | 3:35 |
| 2. | "Overload" | Karlsson | 3:44 |
| 3. | "Figure Number Five" | Wichers | 3:12 |
| 4. | "Strangler" | Wichers | 3:48 |
| 5. | "Light the Torch" | Karlsson | 3:41 |
| 6. | "Departure Plan" | Karlsson | 4:24 |
| 7. | "Cranking the Sirens" |
| 3:26 |
| 8. | "Brickwalker" | Karlsson | 3:45 |
| 9. | "The Mindmaker" | Wichers | 3:32 |
| 10. | "Distortion Sleep" | Karlsson | 3:46 |
| 11. | "Downfall 24" | Wichers | 3:55 |
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Bursting Out" | Karlsson | 3:33 |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Album(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Bound to Illusions" | Wichers | Wichers | In Dreams We Fall into the Eternal Lake demo (1997) | 2:49 |
| 2. | "My Need" | Wichers |
| In Dreams We Fall into the Eternal Lake demo (1997) | 2:55 |
| 3. | "In a Close Encounter" | Wichers |
| In Dreams We Fall into the Eternal Lake demo (1997) | 3:02 |
| 4. | "Skin after Skin" | Strid |
| In Dreams We Fall into the Eternal Lake demo (1997) | 3:23 |
| 5. | "Wake Up Call" (original version of "Demon in Veins") |
| Wichers | Steelbath Suicide demo session | 3:45 |
| 6. | "Steelbath Suicide" | Strid |
| Steelbath Suicide demo session | 2:56 |
Personnel
Band members
- Björn "Speed" Strid − Vocals
- Peter Wichers − Guitars
- Ola Frenning − Guitars
- Ola Flink − Bass guitar
- Sven Karlsson − Keyboards
- Henry Ranta − Drums
Guest musicians
- Jens Broman − Guest vocals on "Figure Number Five"
- Richard Larsson − Tambourine on "Brickwalker"
- Bryan Kaschak - Guitar on "Cranking the Sirens"
Release history
| Country | Date |
|---|---|
| Europe | 22 April 2003 |
| Canada | 5 May 2003 |
| United States |
References
- Allmusic review
- Kaiser, Boris. "Rock Hard review". issue 192. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- SOILWORK | Interviews | Rockdetector
- [...], Rock Hard (Hrsg.). [Red.: Michael Rensen. Mitarb.: Götz Kühnemund] (2005). Best of Rock & Metal die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Königswinter: Heel. p. 50. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
- Certification award levels Archived July 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine IFPI. Retrieved August, 2009.
- "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, News, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche". musicline.de. Archived from the original on 2016-01-04. Retrieved 2012-02-16.