REVIEW: Soulkeeper – Holy Design [2023]

Artist: Soulkeeper
Album: Holy Design

So far, 2023 has been a great year for music, and anyone who says otherwise hasn’t been paying attention. Out of all of the incredible music that’s been released—and the music that’s yet to see the light of day—I think I’ve had the hardest time trying to summarize just what the Hell Soulkeeper actually sound like. Don’t get me wrong, there are some fun ways that come close, but nothing really does Holy Design justice. Before we proceed, it’s probably best to recap: the last time we heard a cohesive EP or album from these Minnesotan metalcore marauders was in 2018 with Never Better. At that juncture, the band were an (incredible) iteration of the nu-infused metalcore that the midwest region became infamous for in the late 2000s into the early and mid 2010s. Somewhere in the last five years, things changed—and for the better, I’d like to add. I think of all the ways I came up with to describe Holy Design, my favorites is probably that it sounds a little like if Barrier’s Dark Days was written by a cybergrind band—or if the entire Illinois metalcore community from 2008-2014 was put in a blender with a handful of TI-84 calculators. While both are funny—and hint at the changes abundant in Soulkeeper’s approach to heavy music—neither come close to truly hitting the mark that is the riotous, ruthless bliss that is Holy Design; so I implore you to clutch your Bible, say your Rosary, put on your headphones and smack play.
Soulkeeper take jarring riffs, bewildering electronic effects, glitchy, sudden tempo changes and devastating breakdowns and essentially turn Holy Design into a clown car, cramming as many of the above as they can within a modest twenty-five minute long runtime. Holy Design wastes no time in bombarding the listener, with the opening track serving as an introduction into the madness to come. Here, the listener is steamrolled by rambunctious percussion laden with flashy fills and fast footwork that serves as the foundation for spastic, dissonant fretwork. As “Holy Design” fades into the remainder of the album, things carry on the same—or more accurately, only continue to amplify. Singles “Heavy Glow” and “Gorgeous” make their appearances, but its the newer cuts like “Hyperfine Transition” and “Three Parts Disdain” that almost immediately earn roles as new fan favorites. Here, the percussion never lets up on the gas, and a smooth, silky bass serves as a beautiful contrast to a crushing, overbearing and overweight guitar tone. “Hyperfine Transition” especially boasts a series of breakdowns that straddle the line dividing chunky and groovy with a calculated and precise candor—while “Zero Point” and “Time Out of Mind” highlight the band’s more cybergrind-pilled (if that’s even a term) moments, with digital overtones and frenzied percussion hammering home the band’s unique take on contemporary metalcore.
Where the band’s instrumental approach is new, experimental and abrasive—albeit intentionally so—the band’s vocal element is familiar, and anchors this era of Soulkeeper to the era of Never Better and older. Defined by sprawling variety and primal intensity, the band’s vocal approach is built from a shrill, piercing yell that is capable of diving into burly, beefy low bellows and high wails without skipping a beat. Where “Hyperfine Transition” sees the bands mid-range yell shine, “Gorgeous” and “Holy Design” see variety by the boatload, matching the unpredictable and occasionally tongue in cheek nature of the band’s lyricism. Ultimately, Soulkeeper’s vocals work as the perfect accompaniment to the unpredictable and jarring nature of their instrumentation, bringing back the midwest nu-metalcore feel while still being able to keep pace with the spastic, cyber-infused and more grindy moments that pop up throughout the album’s more sudden twists and turns.
Holy Design is a hard record to describe, and even harder to do justice—and I consider myself at least decent at doing both of things for most bands within the heavy music community. Ultimately, Soulkeeper sound like a sledgehammer made out of static and nightmares, fueled by anxiety and paranoia. It’s the stifling, chest-pounding disquiet one gets the moment sleep paralysis sets in—its the knife in your spine that awakens you from a terrifying, immersive dream. It’s heavy, catchy, groovy and dissonant all at the same time, yet manages to avoid being dense or overwhelming—if anything, my only critique is that after so many years, I wish there was more of it. To that point, Holy Design absolutely lives up to its name, and stands to set a bar for the hybrid of metalcore, cybergrind and nu-metal that seems to be picking up more and more steam in the underground.

9.5/10
For Fans Of: Barrier, Sworn In, ZOMBIESHARK!, Dr. Acula, Fromjoy
By: Connor Welsh