Soilwork's 'Verkligheten' - Album Review

Sweden's Soilwork have been slogging away for the best part of a quarter of a century. The metal quintet will celebrate their 25th anniversary next year, and they will be able to look back on a career packed with memorable albums and energetic live shows. Like many Swedish bands who came out of the country's melodic death metal scene that really boomed in the early 1990s, Soilwork have continued to tinker with and refine their sound and approach over the years. While Soilwork's evolution is no where near drastic as that undergone by fellow Swedes In Flames, they have certainly polished and cleaned up their sound over the years. The Soilwork of 2019 is a much more melodically-aware beast, and focuses less on the brutality of their early work - to the chagrin of some of their fans. That being said, Soilwork are as popular as ever and released their eleventh studio album Verkligheten earlier this month. Verkligheten, which means 'reality' in English, is the band's first album in four years and follows on from the enjoyable but somewhat underwhelming The Ride Majestic (which I reviewed here) that was released back in 2015. The Ride Majestic contained some good song, but suffered from having to follow the band's epic double album The Living Infinite from 2013. The Living Infinite is quite possibly one of the most-consistent double albums to be released by a metal band, and contains a whole host of memorable tracks. Doing another album only two years later was probably a mistake, which is possibly why fans have had to wait four years for Verkligheten! The wait was well worth it however as, in my opinion, Verkligheten is one of the best albums that Soilwork have ever done. It is an album that represents the very best of Soilwork in all their guises, and contains some of their heaviest work for quite some time - as well as some of the most melodic. There are some songs that hark back to the band's early days, with frontman Björn 'Speed' Strid unleashing some of his most devastating harsh vocals; while others are more reminiscent of Strid and guitarist David Andersson's melodic rock side project The Night Flight Orchestra with Sven Karlsson's keyboards high in the mix and choruses to die for! The variety on offer here makes this an album that needs revisiting a few times to fully appreciate, but repeated listens are extremely rewarding. Strid and Andersson wrote all of the songs here, and have produced some of their best work as a writing duo yet. While it is a bit of a shame that Karlsson or the band's other guitarist Sylvain Coudret did not get a look in where the songwriting is concerned this time around, it would seem that Strid and Andersson were so inspired that it would be foolish to pass up on the material that they were coming up with. Joining the four long-time members is drummer Bastian Thusgaard (Blood Label; Dawn of Demise) who made his debut in the studio with Soilwork on this album. He joined the band in 2017, and shows a wide range of skills throughout the twelve songs here. The band are still currently without a full-time bassist, so the bass duties here were handled by Andersson, who also contributed some additional keyboard parts.

After the short instrumental title track, which builds up slowly with a dense wall of pulsing synths and subtle clean guitar melodies, the album proper gets underway with Arrival - a track that is one of the heaviest things the band have released in a while. Thusgaard makes his presence known straight away with a furious blast beat that backs up some thrashy, mid-1990s melodic death metal guitar riffs, all while Karlsson's all-enveloping keyboards provide a spacey atmosphere. Strid, who often seems to favour his clean vocals more and more these days, takes a harsh approach for most of the song which fits with the heavier feeling. That being said the blast beats, which also form the basis of a speedy chorus, see clean vocals overlaid which works better than many might think. The choice to use harsh vocals for the majority of the verse lines however works really well, and ensures that the album goes for the jugular from the off. Despite this heaviness there are still more atmospheric moments. A keyboard-heavy slower section precedes the guitar solo, which then sees Andersson and Coudret trade up-tempo shredded licks with ease. Bleeder Despoiler takes more of a mid-paced approach, with a strident groove-based driving everything from the off. Shades of Lamb of God can be seen throughout parts of the song, especially when the song slows down a little and allows the grooves to shine through, but the verses reek of classic Soilwork with tricky drum footwork fills and Strid's throat-shredding harsh vocals. The Lamb of God-esque riff also forms the basis of the chorus, which seems less groove metal and more power metal with the addition of some soaring vocal melodies. This contrast works well, and a keyboard-led section late on helps to add to this more melodic feeling. Full Moon Shoals is one of the album's main singles, and features a much more melodic approach overall with Strid's clean singing dominating. The song once again slows things down to more of a mid-pace, and is driven by a very simple riff that has a bit more of an anthemic feeling while Thusgaard keeps time with a precise yet potent beat. Parts of the song strip everything back, often letting the keyboards dominate the mix while the guitars provide colour with some clean chord strikes, but the chorus sections see everything build back up to accompany Strid's soaring vocal harmonies. This is certainly a song that was written to be a single, and lacks many of the heavier moments that define the album, but things do speed up after the second chorus which allows room for a burst of harsh vocals and leads into a fast-paced solo from Andersson. This heaviness does not last for long however, and a final reprise of the melodic, AOR-esque chorus places this song firmly back at the lighter end of the band's sound.

The Nurturing Glance opens with some gorgeous floaty guitar lines which establish a calm tone, but this does not last long before Thusgaard's double bass pedal drumming kicks in and powerful, melodic guitar line gets the blood flowing. After the lighter previous number, this song re-establishes the heaviness with some harsh creams during the verses that see Strid unleashing screams that are higher and more tortured sounding than his usual deeper growls. As with most of the songs here however, the chorus is extremely melodically-focused. While not as catchy as some that have come already and some that are yet to come, it is still a moment that will embed into the brain. The highlight of the song for me however is the fairly lengthy guitar solo that comes part-way through. The guitar solos up to this point have been quite short, but this song allows the band's two guitarists to let rip a little, with Andersson taking the first, slower section before Coudret lights up his fretboard with some mean shredding. When the Universe Spoke also opens fairly slowly, with a guitar pattern similar to that of the previous song, and like the previous song also explodes into a heavier section with more blast beats from Thusgaard. This is much heavier than the previous song however, and features some riffing early on that actually sounds a little like something your average black metal band would come up with, with a chaotic mix to match. Unsurprisingly Strid's harsh vocals dominate the song, but he still finds the time to add a more melodic chorus although its impact is lessened somewhat but the crazy mix. On the whole this album is very well produced, but this song is probably an example of where things have not been balanced quite properly. There is a lot going on here, and at times it can feel a little overwhelming as everything competes to be heard. Stålfågel, another single, supposedly features Alissa White-Gluz (The Agonist; Arch Enemy) contributing some extra vocals - but considering her name is nowhere to be found in the CD booklet and her distinct voice cannot obviously be heard I am finding this hard to believe. I am not sure why every time this song is mentioned online it mentions White-Gluz, and if she has indeed contributed to this song it must be in a very limited capacity - probably on backing vocals. Some of the chorus screams might be her, but beyond that I cannot see what her contributions might have been! That being said, the song is another strong one and features more overt melodies. The chorus is quite a hypnotic one, which works well with Thusgaard's more hypnotic drumming and Strid's clear vocal delivery. The Wolves are Back in Town is the first of two songs in a row that have ludicrously catchy choruses! Strid and Andersson are known for their love of all things AOR, and that influence really shows here. The song itself is pretty simple, with a fairly standard melodic death metal verse with stabbing guitar riffs, but as soon as the chorus is reached the bar is raised higher. The key change feels like something straight out of the 1980s, and the melodies are full of joy and uplifting inflections. This is one of the songs that stood out the most when I first heard the album, and the chorus remains one of my favourite moments.

Witan is similar. While the chorus is not quite as catchy as the previous song's, there is not much in it! A guitar and keyboard riff dominates the song, and overall the song just has a lighter tone. This is probably why it was chosen to be one of the main singles, but this does not stop it containing a heavy verse with some excellent twin guitar interplay and Strid's distinct harsh vocals. What sells this song however, as with the previous number, is the chorus. The verses are strong and full of energy, but for me it is the chorus melodies that really shine. Karlsson's keyboards provide a dense atmosphere and Thusgaard's drumming is relentless, but the poppy melodies shine through strongly and are certain to be sung loudly by crowds when the band play this number live. The Ageless Whisper opens slowly with some simple drumming and clean guitar melodies, and builds up over the first minute or so towards an anthemic mid-paced guitar riff. The verses are once again a bit of throwback to the band's earlier sound, with tricky guitar interplay and harsh vocals the order of the day, but Strid seems to not want to focus on one vocal style for too long at the time here, and mixes clean and harsh vocal lines together throughout. The guitar work here is inventive, and mixes melody and heaviness together really well, but the standout musical moment for me here is Karlsson's keyboard solo. Keyboard lead work is not so common in Soilwork's sound so it is great to hear him cutting loose a little here. The retro synth leads really stand out, and lead nicely into Coudret's flurry of notes that follows. Needles and Kin features guest vocals from Tomi Joutsen (Amorphis) who uses his deep growls to combine well with with Strid's screams to make for a powerful harsh vocal attack. It would have been nice to hear his clean delivery here too, but Strid takes on all of that responsibility himself during the choruses - and even throws in a couple of power metal-esque screams that are certainly not something he usually employs! This is a song that is packed full of energy as it never really lets up throughout. After a few lighter songs that have focused more on melody, it is good to hear the band once again putting the heaviness at the forefront. The album comes to a close with You Aquiver which features backing vocals from Dave Sheldon (Exes for Eyes). As is common with this album, the songs starts out quite slowly but grows into a heavier beast as it moves along. There seems to have been a conscious effort here to create more of an anthemic piece to close out the album on, and I think the band have succeeded. The almost hair metal-esque rhythm and melodies that fill the chorus certainly is packed full of energy, and the slightly punky verses feature Strid and Sheldon's voices mixing together well. While not the best song here, it does work well as an album closer and keeps the energy flowing right until the end. Overall, Verkligheten is a really strong album from the veteran Swedish metal band is certainly up there with their best efforts. The focus on more melodic songwriting has certainly yielded some memorable results, and the heavier moments are likely to appeal to those who have felt the band have softened up somewhat in recent years.

The album was released on 11th January 2019 via Nuclear Blast Records. Below is the band's promotional video for Witan.