Album Review: Soilwork - Verkligheten

How do I say this without sounding insulting... In recent years, Soilwork has been... slowing down. I don't mean they're getting old, or that they have gone soft, but they are now putting out records with less frequency than they did in the old days. I totally get it, too. They're a big enough name that they can head out on tour or the festival circuit without a new record behind them and do just fine. There's no need to put out records when they aren't ready to, and that's fine. And it's not as though we haven't heard from the most visible member of the group. Bjorn Strid's side-project, The Night Flight Orchestra, has been incredibly busy. The only problem with that is while that other band is a fun nostalgic diversion, it's still an appetizer compared to the meatier main course that is Soilwork. So I'm glad to see the focus has shifted back this way for 2019.

And as if to make a statement about what kind of record they want this to be, "Arrival" opens the proper tracks with a blast beat. The song spends its running time pounding relentlessly, with the drumming up in the front of the mix, and Bjorn's vocals surprisingly in the back. This is the older, more mature Soilwork, so the guitars aren't the old melodeath style from the "Figure Number Five" days. There are chord voicings that feel more from prog, and even the chugging parts are played with a tone that softens the blow of each down-pick. The construction is aggressive, but the production isn't, which I find an interesting turn of events.

What I also notice is that hints of The Night Flight Orchestra are creeping in around the edges. The musical backdrop is still cheese free, but Bjorn's vocals have taken on the sound of his other band. His voice is strong, but his cleans are run through the same production style that makes them sound a bit plastic and inhuman. The recordings Soilwork made years ago were more raw, for sure, but hearing his voice in a more pure form was part of the appeal. One of the main complaints I have about what Bjorn has been doing lately is the way his voice is processed on record. He doesn't need the help, and honestly, I find it distracting, especially when his harsh vocals still sound as natural as ever.

While "Arrival" has double-bass drumming even during the soft jazzy instrumental break, I'm more fond of "Full Moon Shoals", where the main riff introduces some groove to the proceedings. It is about as far from melodeath as Soilwork gets, with fewer melodeath influences, and a chorus that sounds like 80s rock. That said, it's the sort of catchy song that I imagine will go over great on the festival stages. We don't use the word often, but for this kind of music it's a fun listen.

The band is busy experimenting throughout the record. We get "The Nurturing Glance", which has a riff that could have been on an 80s Dokken record, and that is followed by "When The Universe Spoke", where the musical backdrop is almost pure black metal. Hearing Bjorn softly crooning over that frosty landscape is something rather unique. I'm not sure I would say it works, since there isn't anything at all memorable about the droning guitar chords, but it stands out among the album. This is certainly not one of those records where every song is a carbon copy of the formula.

Despite the diversions, the main takaway I have from "Verkligheten" is one of consistency. From beginning to end, Soilwork has put together an album that is quality. There aren't any highlights I would point to as being the obvious best songs, but by the same token, there aren't any that stand out as being filler. This version of Soilwork might not reach the same exhilarating highs, but they know how to deliver time and time again. If you want an album like the old days, one that combined melodies with vicious death metal, you're not going to get that here. Soilwork has refined their sound, and now even their heaviest, harshest moments are something different than that. But if you have been on board with their evolution over the years, what you will hear is another chapter that builds upon their legacy. "Verkligheten" is what Soilwork sounds like in 2019, and that's just fine with me.