What seems to have escaped me to some extent when I saw SOULBURN opening for the mighty BOLT THROWER way back in 2014 was the complexity of their music. Non-musician that I am, the band struck me as a more or less straightforward Death Metal act that matched the British veterans pretty well. It is only now after I have listened to their latest release (their fifth full-length album) a couple of times that I can fully appreciate what else they want to convey. The work is best characterised by the changes within the songs: both tempo and lyrics are often varied to adjust to different passages and moods. ‘The Braveheart Of Nightmares’ begins very fast and punchy, but also has slower parts, thus setting the tone for “Quantifying Cosmic Doom” as a whole. Slightly unexpected, there is an alternation between clear singing and more growled, Death Metal like vocals in the second song, which reminds me of fellow Dutchmen GOD DETHRONED and is really impressive. Almost all of the songs of the album include fairly long but elaborately played and gripping instrumental parts, which allows the listener to fully to immerse himself in SOULBURN’s dark soundscapes. The atmosphere sometimes develops into Black Metal, with a touch of DIMMU BORGIR (minus the keyboards) shining through in the second song and a DESASTER like intro in ‘Stalactites Of Molten Flesh’. ‘A Pyramid Absurd’ and the aptly named ‘An Impious Journey Through The Cathedral’s Mouth’ create a Black Metal feeling, too, as does ‘M87 – What Hopes To Be Born’ with its outro seeming to cite BATHORY. The remaining songs of “Quantifying Cosmic Doom”, however, are either much slower, delving into the realm of Doom Metal – this goes for the beginning of ‘Iconox Spew Black At The Razor’s Edge’, for example – or faster with some slower passages, as in ‘An Innocuous Swathe Of Sky’. ‘Down Among The Stars’ – despite its clear vocals – gives away the roots of some of SOULBURN’s members in the mighty ASPHYX, which goes to show that they can still write slow, heavy and highly effective pounders. Again, it’s fascinating how multi-layered their music is – definitely not just Death Metal, not a clone of other Dutch bands or plain VENOM worshipping. There is certainly a lot more to discover here, check it out! www.facebook.com/officialsoulburn, www.facebook.com/testimonyrecords