Album Details

• Artist: Soil
• Album: Throttle Junkies
• Label: Crash
• Year of Release: 1999
• Original Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2007-12-05

Despite their notable popularity, I was before this totally unexperienced when it came to Soil, one of the more well-respected and mainstreamed metal bands of recent years. Throttle Junkies was their sophomore release, after their indie-drop El Chupacabra and before their breakout "Scars". Due to it's limited availability and small amount of original pressings, Crash Music did the band a service and re-released the disc for the metal masses to enjoy today.

Soil are not the most original bunch of metalheads, owing much of their southern-friend hard-rock/metal sound to acts such as Pantera, Alice in Chains and others of their ilk. It's a bit grungy, a bit glammy at times but overall it's all down-tuned churning riffs, pummeling drums and patient, perfected solo runs. For so early in their careers, it sounds as if Soil had a firm grasp on their style and direction even then, an impressive feat. While the 13 original tracks do grow repetitive at times, they can't be faulted for playing solid, blue-collar metal. Songs like "Man I Am" and "She", softer ballad-type songs, go a long way to add variety and spice. 

My favorites here are, surprisingly enough, the bonus tracks the re-release features. The acoustic version of "Damning Eden" works better than the original, sounding almost like a prelude to a sound Down would come across soon after. Their cover of the classic semi-hit "Black Betty" is my personal favorite, as it not only manages to honor the original but injects a bigger dose of energy. For Soil fans, Throttle Junkies would be a must-purchase considering not many of 'em would own a copy of the original. For others, I can't say if this is the best place to begin, but it couldn't hurt as it's a very solid album front to back. 

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