“The band sticks to a tried-and-tested recipe and doesn’t offer anything radically new, but what they do, they do with distinction. Maybe the stronger AOR influence will win over a new fan or two who wouldn’t otherwise touch the melodic death metal scene.“
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release date: 11.1.2019
Production: Thomas “PLEC” Johansson
Album length: 50:17 min
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Rating: 8.0 / 10
Soilwork don’t need much of an introduction – members of the big four of Gothenburg melodic death metal, alongside At the Gates, In Flames and Dark Tranquility, they’ve definitely carved out their own chapter in music history with their energy and their unique take on the genre. Quality music and outstanding live shows have won them hordes of fans all over the world – something we’ve already witnessed a few times at the Metaldays festival, as well as at gigs abroad.
It’s been about three and a half years since their last, truly outstanding album ‘Ride Majestic’, the longest gap between albums in their career. There was also one lineup change in the meantime; longtime drummer Dirk Veubeuren got an offer to play in Megadeth, and the band replaced him with Bastian Thusgaard, who was also involved in the creative process for the new album.
The album ‘Verkligheten’ (Swedish for “reality”) kicks off with an instrumental of the same name, which quickly flows into the hard-hitting Arrival. With its fast guitar runs and clean vocal lines in the chorus, it instantly stamps Soilwork’s name all over the sound, and at the same time proves that picking Thusgaard as the new man behind the kit was no mistake. The album then wanders through the band’s trademark sonic territory, with the classic switches between clean and growling vocals, outstanding melodies and, at the same time, headbanging old-school melodic death metal riffs – a combination that’s hard to get out of your head once you’ve heard it. ‘Full Moon Shoals’, for example, starts out like a ballad, but about two thirds in the guys let off the brakes and the song becomes anything but a slow sappy number. Still, you can really feel the influence of the side project of vocalist Björn “Speed” Strid and guitarist David Andersson, The Night Flight Orchestra, on this album. Tracks like ‘The Nurturing Glance’, ‘Bleder Despoiler’, ‘Stålfågel’ and ‘You Aquiver’ carry a pretty strong whiff of AOR, or what’s now being called retro rock. But no need to worry that Soilwork have gone soft – ‘Arrival’, When the Universe Spoke’ and ‘Needles And Kin’ will take care of your neck muscles. It’s also worth mentioning the three hits of this album that feature guests; ‘Stålfågel’ with Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy) on backing vocals, and the duet ‘Needles and Kin’ with Tomi Joutsen (Amorphis).
‘Verkligheten’ is a natural evolutionary continuation of the cycle Soilwork began in 2013 with the double album ‘The Living Infinite’ and carried on in 2015 with ‘Ride Majestic’. The band sticks to a tried-and-tested recipe and doesn’t offer anything radically new, but what they do, they do with distinction. Maybe the stronger AOR influence will win over a new fan or two who wouldn’t otherwise touch the melodic death metal scene.
author: Sebastijan Videc
Tracklist:
1. Verkligheten
2. Arrival
3. Bleeder Despoiler
4. Full Moon Shoals
5. The Nurturing Glance
6. When the Universe Spoke
7. Stålfågel
8. The Wolves Are Back in Town
9. Witan
10. The Ageless Whisper
11. Needles and Kin” (featuring Tomi Joutsen)
12. You Aquiver” (featuring Dave Sheldon)
Lineup:
Björn “Speed” Strid – vocals
Sylvain Coudret – guitar
David Andersson – guitar, bass guitar, piano
Sven Karlsson – keyboards
Bastian Thusgaard – drums
