Ok, when this album came out last year I was blown away compared to what I was grimly expecting (not grimly in a good way). When I checked out the preview they released on myspace, "Two Lives Worth of Reckoning", I was like, "oh great, here we go again... but at least the solos are pretty good and extended"... when I heard it on the album after "Late For the Kill, Early For the Slaughter", it was like hearing a whole different song. I was entranced that way all the way until the pre-chorus of "The Akuma Afterglow", which seemed out of place/awkward and weak.... and again on the pre-chorus of "Enter Dog of Pavlov" (I get both now, what the band seemed to be goin for, the latter is overall the stronger IMO... and if you count "Sweet Demise" bonus track, which like "Wherever Thorns May Grow" on StD, should've been the proper final track, another uncharacteristic-for-modern-Soilwork solid song). That's it; nothing else set off any red flags, and most was not just acceptable, but very satisfying and strong enough to withstand at least a few more listens unscathed. Oh, and Speed's performance - I wouldn't say the harsh vocals are suffering as bad as they were on FN5, he sounded like he had a bad cold or somethin in the studio... but it's without a doubt his best cleans ever; as a singer myself, I know what's toughest to pull off and this was his most challenging endeavour yet, all in all. I'm surprised no one else has pointed this out/had this opinion that I've seen.

I had been happy with Soilwork even w/ Figure Number Five (mass-appealing jackassery just like the 2 to follow it, but at least done well even if it's their least 'metal' release)... but Stabbing the Drama (for its bland, nowhere songwriting throughout) and Sworn to a Great Divide (for some lame choruses, overbearing lyrical rants and its crappy production/guitar sound, a remedy of which might've actually saved the album from total mediocrity, since it had some gems).

...but the Panic Broadcast seems to usher in a new era from my point of view, Peter Wichers in the mix for 2010 is semi-bad news for Nevermore but good news for Soilwork, I feel the album is their most inspired since The Chainheart Machine or Natural Born Chaos (I actually like Steelbath a little over Chainheart, but Neon Rebels has one of the best riffs I've ever heard and no one can argue with it being the band's technical peak... A Predator's Portrait is really good but a little monotonous). It has a great mix of everything they've been and things they haven't been before. They could've busted their asses a little more on leads/fills/bells/whistles, but it seems to me that they decided not to be a contrived back-to-their-roots cliche and follow their own muse, a muse which bore strong fruit even in the catchy and mainstream-esque material; the whole thing flows like period blood goin down a beer bong. Even "Epitome" is a great song, look at the breakdown/outro parts - it almost destroys the radio-appeal built up by the rest of the song, which was solid in the 1st place. And "Let This River Flow" will never make the radio, it has too much class to fit in with anything they play now (not to mention the growling part would confuse people, but I guess they could edit that out). I could go on about the rest, but I've gone on way too long already. Exceptionally strong songwriting and more diversity than ever (and the solos!!!) makes this one almost guaranteed to make Soilwork's next one a disappointment for anyone who feels similar to me.

Man, I gotta learn how to start clippin these posts lol (oh, and I don't think Nevermore's last album was bad by any means, just could've been better without the trimming maybe)