Album Review: Soen - Memorial

I consider myself fickle as a listener, so the fact that Soen made three straight records that won Album Of The Year from me is a rather remarkable achievement. Even for my favorite artists, stringing together records I love is something that doesn't happen as often as you would think. Three is often the limit, with very few pushing past that into rare air. That is what Soen is attempting to do here, which means expectations are as high as they can be, but my sense of wariness is also on alert. Falling out of love is perhaps even easier than falling in love, and the cynic in me feels like it's only a matter of time until it happens.

With "Imperial", Soen was moving in a more streamlined and melodic direction than ever before, and that evolutionary strand is pulled even further on this record. There are aspects of melodies in the choruses of songs like "Unbreakable" that could be radio rock hits. They take that formula, and add their personality to it, creating songs with crushing heavy rhythms and powerful melodic hooks. The band's sound keeps getting bigger, with this being their heaviest production yet.

What separates Soen from so many others is their ability to play with dynamics, both in song and album. The record's ballads are beautiful changes of pace where the songs are able to lean on emotion and melody. The same was true on both "Lotus" and "Imperial", and continues on with this record. Soen is not afraid of moving the light and dark as far apart as they can. But even within songs they play with these dynamics, throwing in breaks where the band pulls back to a clean crooning, and even uses some piano for an extra layer of beauty. That means when they come back in full force, like on the last chorus of opener "Sincere", it hits harder than you realized the first time around.

As for new wrinkles, "Violence" has a synth in the background that sets a bit of a Gothic tone, but doesn't distract attention away from the song. It's a little bit of color that pulls your attention just enough for the swell of the chorus to come out of nowhere.

This is clearly Soen's most mainstream record yet. Between the thick production, immediate hooks, and the concise running times, the band is more interested now in making an impact than in proving their progressive bona fides. As proven on "Imperial", it's a wise decision, as it plays into their strengths. While they can conjure complicated rhythmic patterns for the guitars and drums, the soul of Soen's music at this point is in the way everything blends together into an emotional avalanche.

Joel was a guest on Katatonia's album earlier this year, and that's the album I think is the best parallel for what Soen is doing. Both are albums filled with heavy guitars, beautiful melodies, and a somber atmosphere that speaks to my feelings of emptiness. The difference is in the approach, where Katatonia is coming from beauty and adding heaviness, while Soen is coming from heaviness and adding beauty. They end up in very similar places, perfectly blending metal and soul. I keep saying these days I am looking for music that makes me feel something, and it is Katatonia and Soen who have been able to do that more than anyone else this year.

It doesn't matter where I rank this album among "Lykaia", "Lotus", and "Imperial". The fact of the matter is that Soen continues to make the kind of modern metal I am clamoring for; heavy in both literal and metaphorical terms. Soen has made it a two-horse race for Album Of The Year, once again delivering a treatise on what mainstream metal should be in this decade. Consider my expectations met.