SOEN

The band consists of vocalist Joel Ekelöf, keyboardist/guitarist Lars Åhlund, bassist Stefan Stenberg, lead guitarist Cody Ford and last but not least, founding member Martin Lopez, the former Opeth drummer. These men create prog metal with a typical Scandinavian touch of melancholy, resulting in atmospheric music. Compared to their excellent predecessor, "Lykaia", there have been noticeable sound changes on this exciting album. Let me take you through the nine tracks of this captivating album so I can explain what I'm talking about.

In the opener, Opponent, it's immediately clear that the ominous music is wonderfully driven by Lopez's deep drum beats. His prominent role is surrounded by tasteful reverb, a constant feature throughout the album. Opponent comes across as a prelude to what is to come. Although it's an excellent song, the real magic happens afterward, where it should be noted that Soen doesn't focus on lightning-fast solos, blistering drum salvos, or high vocal ranges. Think in terms of atmospheric albums like Opeth's "Damnation" or Riverside's "Love, Fear And The Time Machine". Despite "Lotus" sounding heavier than these examples, the album is no less melancholic. Soen presents their own interpretation of virtuosity.

The subsequent track, Lascivious, demonstrates how the band combines dynamic shifts with catchy vocal lines. Joel Ekelöf's voice has a warm quality reminiscent of Mariusz Duda from Riverside, making him the absolute standout in Soen. The timing with which he sings the refrains in Lascivious is magnificent. Not only does he have a pleasing voice, but he also fits perfectly into the band's sound.

All the shades of gray on the album are apt because gray it is. Take the impressively accompanied music video for Martyrs, which showcases Soen at their heaviest, then transitions into a dark section with piano. In the title track, the focus is also on atmosphere, and creating that atmosphere is clearly the band's main business. Cody Ford is an incredible guitarist. Just joining the band, he showcases his skills in this wonderfully constructed song. Covenant and Penance continue the Soen sound with their dynamic variations. Both songs are mid-tempo, with bombastic and powerful outbursts, with the keyboards not forgetting to be beautiful. The ballad River, with its lyrical guitar work, is also one of my favorites. After the heaviest track on the album, Rival, it's up to Lunacy to conclude the whole album. What are we actually hearing here? Is it alternative rock or psychedelic metal? Soen presents their own unique twist without veering off track.

If we sum up the achievements Soen has reached with "Lotus", we hear a more captivating band sound with a more prominent place for drums and keyboards. They've won me over.

Originally posted on www.progenrock.com

'Memorial' is an average collection of heavier tracks with a stronger leaning towards the alternative side of the band's sound, not necessarily overly satisfying, revolutionary, or imaginative. They do manage to present themselves in a respectable manner, and obviously the production of the album is quite good, but it also signifies to me that all subsequent Soen releases will sound the same and very similar to this one as well as the last two albums. Which takes out of the equation the element of surprise, depending on who you ask.

With this being said, one really has to mention how intricate and playful the drumming is, but Martin Lopez is a well-known and very experienced metal drummer. The guitars also sound very crisp and bright, some of the riffs are quite fine! The bass gets a bit lost in the final mix, which is a pity for a band that has previously released albums as strong and nuanced as 'Lykaia' or 'Tellurian'. I am not particularly fond of the vocals on this one or of how predictable and mostly straightforward and monotonous the songs are. The first couple of tracks are a good example of this. I can't help but feel like I am listening to any alt rock/metal album produced by a major label nowadays. Things do in fact get better around the end, where the band give us the slightly more adventurous tracks like 'Icon', 'Incendiary', or the title track.

'Memorial' is a good album for what it's worth and it does certainly indicate the sonic image that Soen have acquired and built for themselves over the years, also meaning that their future releases could be painfully similar to this one. I could not regard this album as highly as some of the past releases of the band, but most people could like and enjoy this one.

The contrast between these two aspects of Soen's sound has never been starker, which is part of what makes Memorial such a splendidly dynamic and wholly entertaining record. There are very few traces left of the mid-paced songwriting and mild-mannered delivery that have characterized much of the band's pervious records. These have been instead replaced by a fury and raw energy that pervades nearly all aspects of the new songs. Martin López dispenses with much of his signature syncopations and polyrhythms to instead favour a steadier and more direct drumming style, providing a mighty solid backbone to the arrangements. Meanwhile, Joel Ekelöf injects tons of rasp and distortion in his normally silky and restrained vocal delivery. The melodies he sings on the new songs are also more direct and rudimental than what he has used us to, which suits perfectly his harsher signing style. Perhaps even most notably, many of the songs are fast-paced and infused with a cornucopia of very headbangable riffs that give the guitars a dominant role in the arrangements ("Sincere", "Unbreakable", "Fortress", "Incendiary", "Icon"). Even Cody Ford's solos often stray away from his typical Gilmouresque approach and towards more uptempo and dissonant playing.

Against this backdrop, the sparse moments of melancholy and mellowness acquire an even stronger and more spellbinding presence. "Sincere", "Unbreakable", "Fortress", and "Incendiary" all contain sudden drops in volume and intensity, as the fury of the songs' verses and choruses gives way to delicate, semi-acoustic passages in the bridges. Meanwhile, songs like "Hollowed", "Tragedian" and "Vitals" slow down the tempo to ballad-speed, providing cleverly-placed changes of pace to the album as a whole. The progressive and experimental elements of the music also gain prominence in the context of the generally heavy and hard-hitting songwriting, like the sinister and dissonant instrumental bridge of "Icon", the computerized vocals on the verse of "Violence", or the majestic use of synthetized strings in the title-track that provide a chilling throwback to the use of Mellotron in classic prog rock (King Crimson).

Memorial is a phenomenal album that works on many different levels. It's lot of fun to listen to, by virtue of the sheer energy of its songs. But there are also tons of different layers in the music, which get better and better with each new listen as one uncovers new depths in the arrangements and songwriting. The first six tracks, in particular, are among the best the Swedish band has ever penned, with the title-track and the emotional ballad "Hollowed" (featuring a beautiful cameo by Italian pop singer Elisa) deserving special mention. The album's second half may be a touch less compelling, as tracks like "Incendiary" and "Tragedian" cannot perhaps reach the level of awesomeness of earlier songs. But the progressive tour-de-force "Icon" and the incredible soul/jazz ballad "Vitals" close the album in a spectacular way, almost compelling the listener to press "PLAY" again. In fact, I am finding it nearly impossible to put this record down: it has been haunting my CD player for weeks now, with no intention to leave any time soon. Album of the Year? Very, very possibly so.

[Originally written for The Metal Observer]

I wouldn't say that I've been a band fan as such, but hey, this one has changed it all. What a great production! First of all, you immediately will recognize, what is serving an omnipresent impression are the lead vocals of course, contributed by Joel Ekelöf. In addition the overall sound is that rounded, a matter that needed some preparation time for sure, with the result of a priceless atmosphere. Kudos to all the involved musicians as well. All being superb finally. In order to highlight some extraordinary excerpts let me name the hymnic Monarch, furthermore, adapted from the 2019 'Lotus' release, the enchanting Lunacy questioning the ability to remember who you are. On Jinn the bass takes a giding role. Modesty sees the ensemble on its peak regarding the mode of expression. Designated prog metal fans may shun away from this production. Then again here we most probably have something appealing to neo prog fans at hand. Anyway, my conclusion: yet a great thing to enjoy!

Despite being on my radar for years, this is the first time I've really dug deep into Soen, and although it looks fairly standard on the surface, I've been surprised at how much depth there is here and how much it's grown on me with each listen. I've seen countless comparisons to Tool - perhaps what stopped me rushing to get into them, but here I feel this is a more progressive take on a band like Katatonia, in particular the Fall of Hearts album. The songs are catchy, moody, groovy and only subtly progressive, there's no obnoxious showmanship or technicality here. It perhaps misses the mark on some of the emotion it's clearly going for, but for catchy and well performed melodic metal, I've been impressed by this.

7.7 (5th listen)

Part of my listening diary from my facebook music blog - www.facebook.com/TheExoskeletalJunction

To the positive, No disjointed "jamming" exists on this album and almost every song has the length and construction to keep the listener focused. Therefore, I am ranking the album as 3.5 stars rounded up, because while every song is ranked 9/10 or higher in my opinion, it is not a perfect example of progressiveness. I am not a firm believer in the adage of length of song = progressiveness and am not using that to reduce the score, but diversification of each TYPE of song is a flaw. I would have like to see more diversification between songs, with 1 or two songs breaking from the 4.5-6 minute mark that they see. For example, a short and heavy 3 minute piece that ends in an orchestral or atmospheric section to interlude between Monarch and Illusion. Then, Illusion could have been fleshed out with more progressive flair and connection between songs. I find that flow the flow and pacing between songs is an important form of progression, especially with the content of the lyrics and theme of the album. Each song feels separate from the others, yet are constructed so similarly. Soen are just lucky they sound so good! Let's at least get them on the radio if they are going to make music like this!

Packed with smashing grooves, soaring guitar solos and incredibly catchy melodies, this is easily the strongest album released by the band so far. And I am not saying this as a newcomer to Soen's sound. I have been following the band since their second album, 2014's Tellurian. Their blend of groovy progressive metal - built in equal parts of technical proficiency and emotional intensity, intricate riffs and melancholic melodies - is right up my alley, given how I feed on a diet of dark, atmospheric prog metal in the vein of Katatonia, Leprous, Riverside, Opeth and Anathema. Yet, until today, my attitude towards Soen has only been lukewarm, at best. I dug what they have been trying to do, but until now I have always had issues with the end-result of their albums, be it for a subpar sound production (their third album Lykaia was literally butchered by the sound engineer), or for a songwriting approach that has always sounded to me as in need of a good injection of dynamics and a healthy dose of fat trimming to craft songs with nothing but their strongest parts.

Imperial is exactly the album I was hoping one day Soen would write. It takes the best parts of their sound and condenses them in to eight, strikingly lean, gloriously dynamic, and instantly impactful tracks, where nothing is superfluous and every single instrument truly plays only for the song. In interviews, Soen's main man and drummer Martin Lopez (ex-Opeth) hinted that this has partly to do with the involvement of Grammy-nominated sound engineer Kevin Churko, who mixed and mastered the album and encouraged the band to remove any superfluous elements that were getting in the way of the song. The choice of Churko may surprise Soen's fans, given his previous involvement with acts that sound quite different than Soen, such as Papa Roach, Five Finger Death Punch, and In This Moment. But they need not worry: although Imperial does sound more modern, more immediate and punchier than Soen's previous records, the album still retains the classic Soen sound. The intricate but groovy riffs and drum patterns are still there, and so are Joel Ekelöf's soaring vocal melodies and Cody Ford's emotional bluesy solos. Yet, everything sounds more compact, leaner, and more exciting than anything the band has every written before.

Ultimately, the strength of Imperial comes down to its truly brilliant songwriting. Its eight songs strike that perfect balance between (dare I say it?) pop accessibility and progressive complexity that elevates the album above most other modern rock/metal releases, not unlike Leprous 2019's masterpiece Pitfalls. It is an extremely difficult achievement to accomplish. Writing hooks and catchy refrains that have an immediate impact on the listener is relatively easy. Combining them into compositions that retain artistic depth and remain interesting after repeated listens is much more difficult. On Imperial Soen miraculously achieve this by packing each song with a myriad of great ideas - be it a clever riff, a groovy drum fill, a cathartic guitar solo, or a memorable hook - without lingering too long on any of them, but moving quickly to the next one, in an breath-taking tourbillion of sounds that leave the listener astounded by its musical richness. This approach gives the songs an unpredictability and spontaneity that keeps them fresh and relevant even after multiple listens.

Soen are also very clever to avoid as much as possible formulaic song structures, by continuously varying the way Imperial's eight songs are constructed. Take, for instance, Cody Ford's solos. How many bands have you listened to where, in every song, the guitar solo falls invariably after the second repetition of the chorus? Too many to count. Cody's solos are instead all over the place: after the chorus ("Deceive"), but sometimes after the first verse ("Illusion"), or between verse and bridge ("Modesty"), or in the middle of the middle-eight ("Antagonist"). It's like Cody is playing whack-a-mole with the listener: you never quite know when to expect his poignant, Gilmouresque lead solos to pop up next. This is generally in line with the compositional manifesto that Soen seem to have followed on this album: to keep the listener guessing what new sound will come up next. Subtle variations to melodies and arrangements, countermelodies played with varying intensity in the repetitions of the chorus ("Antagonist"), eerie, mellotron-like string arrangements ("Modesty", "Fortune"), sudden breakdowns where only Ekelöf's voice and Lopez's emphatic tom fills are left ("Antagonist", "Dissident") - Imperial has it all.

Amazingly, despite their complexity, the songs sound infectiously simple and immediate, partly due to the production but also thanks to the sensational vocal melodies that Ekelöf sings on the album, which contains what is easily his best performance to date, by far. But there is more to this: Ekelöf's voice soars and impresses because the other instruments allow it to do so. There is such a tasteful restraint and subtlety in the other four musicians' performances on this album that was not present on Soen's previous records, where the band was instead following a "more is more" approach. This may disappoint some, as Lopez's drumming is for instance less flamboyant and off-the-cuff than on previous records, but the songs have gained immensely from this newly-found discipline.

Imperial is a terrific release but, if I were to nitpick, the first half of the album is slightly weaker than the second half, which is more varied and contains the most inspired songs ("Antagonist", "Modesty", "Dissident", "Fortune"). Part of the problem is that the first three songs of the album ("Lumerian", "Deceive", "Monarch") sound just a little bit too similar to one another (same tempo, similar structure, similar vibes). I would have perhaps dropped "Deceive" from the trio, as it is probably the weakest song of the record anyway. Another minor complaint I have is that some songs ("Lumerian", "Monarch") do not so much come to an end as simply stop, without fully giving the listener that sense of resolve which is instead achieved on tracks like "Modesty" (that gorgeous line Ekelöf sings in the coda of the song gets me every single time). And, yes, Churko does occasionally exceed with modern production touches that feel a tad forced in the context of Soen's sound (for instance, the processed, hard panned guitars that surface on a couple of songs, or the echoes on Ekelöf's vocals that are perhaps used one time too many).

But these are really minor complaints. Imperial is an impressive piece of art that I consider the highest-point in Soen's career so far. It is as inspired and inspiring as Lotus, but it is leaner, better arranged, and more immediate than that album, and it sounds much better for this. It is one of those records that it is really hard to put down because it sounds so fresh, so dynamic, so exciting that it just compels you to keep pressing "Play" again and again. At times, I have the impression that Imperial contains the material of twenty potential hit songs, just condensed into eight. It is a stunning achievement, which brings Imperial as close to perfection as only a handful of albums I have encountered in nearly 25 years of listening to (progressive) metal do.

[Originally written for The Metal Observer]

Given the condensed time frame of song composition, I am not surprised by the music on Imperial sounding very much like another reiteration of the same Soen formula originally conceived of on 2017's Lykaia and perfected on 2019's Lotus. In fact, its easy to view this release as a B-Sides project from the previous two records. Of course the Soen formula, with its emphasis on punchy groovy riffs, moody vibes, and big melodic choruses, is an effective one. And Imperial certainly lives up to the potential inherit within the formula.

Soen is usually regarded as a progressive metal act not a standard heavy metal one. While I don't care much for gatekeeping, I genuinely feel Soen's music is best characterized as solid and well-grounded heavy metal proper. In all likelihood, the progressive moniker took hold owing to Martin Lopez having been an ex- Opeth member as well as the group's propensity for sounding like Tool on their earliest releases.

Ultimately, whether or not a fan will consider this a great record or "merely" a good record will depend on what extent they're expecting a band to evolve its sound. You can certainly count me a someone who very much sets that standard for the bands I like. And as much as I believe the chorus on "Monarch" to be the best the band has ever put to tape - a truly impressive feat when you consider just how many great choruses this band written and performed - I still would have liked Soen to explore some new territory in their post-Lotus output.