The Panic Broadcast

The Panic Broadcast
Studio album by Soilwork
Released

2 July 2010 Europe

13 July 2010 North America
Recorded January–March 2010 in Mooresville & Asheville[1]
Genre Alternative metal, melodic death metal
Length 47:46
Label Nuclear Blast
Producer Peter Wichers
Soilwork chronology

Sworn to a Great Divide
(2007)
The Panic Broadcast
(2010)
The Sledgehammer Files: The Best of Soilwork 1998-2008
(2010)

The Panic Broadcast is the eighth studio album from Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork, released July 2 in Europe and July 13 in North America, 2010.[2] The album marks the return of long-time Soilwork guitarist and founder Peter Wichers, who also picks up the role as the album's producer, though Wichers would leave Soilwork again in 2012. The album also features the debut of new Lead/Rhythm guitarist Sylvian Coudret. Mixing was done by Jens Bogren.[3] According to Nielsen SoundScan, The Panic Broadcast sold around 5,257 copies in its first week of sales in the United States. The album debuted at #88 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it their highest charting album in their entire career at the time.

Album

Musically, this album found the band moving back more to their speed-laden, melodic death metal roots, though the already present alternative and metalcore sound still remains. In an interview with SuicideGirls.com, Wichers spoke about what direction the band might take musically with its next album. "We talked about maybe taking a little bit of a different approach for the next record," he said. "Having me and Sylvain back in the band, I think that we're probably going to try to do stuff that might be a little more technical. We want to keep the element of the catchy chorus but at the same time maybe have bit more guitar solos than on Sworn to a Great Divide and also let Dirk [Verbeuren, drums] get more space on the record for drumming. That was one of the things I think that 'Sworn to a Great Divide' was lacking a little bit. It's a good record but I think that with such talented musicians the next album definitely needs to have more performance."[4] Peter Wichers also stated that this album will have more blues elements that previous albums and even said that one of the riffs for 'The Thrill' was inspired by a bluegrass riff.

Lead vocalist Björn Strid confirmed 18 February 2010 that the drums for the album had already been recorded. He also confirmed the names of six tracks: "The Thrill", "Late for the Kill, Early for the Slaughter", "The Akuma Afterglow", "Let This River Flow", "Where Angels Fear to Tread" and "Two Lives Worth of Reckoning".[5] The complete track listing was revealed on April 8.[6]

On 17 May 2010, the band released "Two Lives Worth of Reckoning" on their MySpace.[7]

Four editions of the album were released; the standard release includes ten tracks, the Limited Edition package includes 11 tracks with bonus DVD, the Japanese release has 13 tracks and DVD, and the Nuclear Blast Mailorder includes 12 tracks and DVD. Album editions may include a remix by Thomas Betrisey of Sybreed, and track 12 will either be Drop's remix of "Distance" or the 2010 version of "Sadistic Lullaby".

Track listing

The Panic Broadcast
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Late for the Kill, Early for the Slaughter"  Peter Wichers 4:09
2. "Two Lives Worth of Reckoning"  Wichers 4:56
3. "The Thrill"  Wichers 4:33
4. "Deliverance Is Mine"  Wichers, Sylvain Coudret, Dirk Verbeuren 3:50
5. "Night Comes Clean"  Wichers 5:12
6. "King of the Threshold"  Wichers, Coudret 4:57
7. "Let This River Flow"  Wichers 5:20
8. "Epitome"  Wichers, Coudret 4:44
9. "The Akuma Afterglow"  Wichers 4:29
10. "Enter Dog of Pavlov"  Wichers, Coudret 5:36
Bonus Tracks
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
11. "Sweet Demise (Limited Edition)"  Wichers, Verbeuren 4:09
12. "Sadistic Lullaby (2010 Version)"  Wichers 2:58
13. "Distance (Drop's Electrip Enhancement) (Nuclear Blast Mailorder Edition)"  Björn "Speed" Strid, Wichers 5:16
14. "The Crestfallen (Drop's Syber Revision) (Japanese Limited Edition)"  Strid, Sven Karlsson 4:38

Personnel

Soilwork

Guest

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [8]
Leave the Hall [9]
Metal Eater (A+)[10]
Metal Underground [11]
Metal Assault [12]
The NewReview [13]
Rock Sound [14]
Ytsejam [15]

The NewReview gave the album a 4.0 out of 5 and stated "Soilwork is the kind of band so ahead of the curve they have the keys to the asphalt paving machine. The Panic Broadcast is another in a long line of Soilwork albums crammed full of metal goodness and makes you sorry you fell for cheap, trendy trash."[16]

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Certification Sales/
shipments[17]
Finnish Albums Chart[18] 14
German Albums Chart[19] 24
Swedish Albums Chart[20] 29
Japanese Albums Chart[21] 42
Greek Albums Chart[22] 44
Austrian Albums Chart[23] 47
Swiss Albums Chart[24] 60
Billboard 200 88 5,257
French Albums Chart[25] 141

References

  1. "SOILWORK - Unveil THE PANIC BROADCAST Artwork! - MySpace-blog | van SOILWORK". Blogs.myspace.com. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
  2. "The Official Soilwork website". Soilwork. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  3. "Peter Wichers: Soilwork". SuicideGirls.com. 8 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  4. "The Official Soilwork website". Soilwork. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  5. S
  6. "SOILWORK op MySpace Music – Gratis gestreamde MP3’s, foto’s en Videoclips". Myspace.com. 2005-03-26. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
  7. Allmusic review
  8. "Soilwork – The Panic Broadcast | Wimps & Posers, Leave the Hall". Leavethehall.co.uk. 2010-07-14. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  9. "Soilwork - "The Panic Broadcast" CD Review - in Metal Reviews". Metalunderground.com. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  10. "Soilwork: Album Review". Metalassault.com. 2010-07-02. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  11. "Soilwork - The Panic Broadcast - Reviews - Rock Sound Magazine". Rocksound.tv. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  12. Anderson, Keith (July 13, 2010), "Soilwork - The Panic Broadcast", The NewReview, retrieved July 13, 2010
  13. Steffen Hung. "Soilwork - The Panic Broadcast". Finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  14. "Kylies "Aphrodite" holt Bronze". GfK-entertainment.com. 2010-07-13. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  15. Steffen Hung. "Soilwork - The Panic Broadcast". Swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  16. "ソイルワークのアルバム売上ランキング | ORICON STYLE". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  17. Steffen Hung (2010-07-16). "Soilwork - The Panic Broadcast". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  18. Steffen Hung (2010-07-18). "Soilwork - The Panic Broadcast". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  19. Steffen Hung (2010-07-17). "Soilwork - The Panic Broadcast". Lescharts.com. Retrieved 2015-03-18.