Soen: Uncharted Waters
It goes without saying that in all its variegated flavours, metal takes pleasure in going against the grain. Subverting expectations, and challenging the status quo, it’s sort of the scene’s ‘thing’. After a while, however, it’s easy to tie yourself in knots to ensure you’re staying outside the herd. Is it better to focus on innovation? Try a new genre entirely? Or is it ironically more subverting to take things back to basics? As we sit at our desks, both ushering in the weekend, you can tell that these are not conflicts that have ever troubled Joel Ekelöf, co-founder and vocalist of SOEN.
He brings a calm, collected, thoughtful presence to the afternoon and, like the band’s music, is unfettered by external influences or a need to conform or rebel. SOEN’s newest release, Memorial is just that. The culmination of over a decade of free-flowing vision. It’s bold, beautiful, brilliant, and yet simultaneously so simple.
With less than a month before the album’s release, Ekelöf takes a rare moment to reflect. While we, as fans, see the band’s 10-year-strong discography for what it is, the vocalist hasn’t had the privilege to look backwards. “We don’t really get a chance to reflect often but when you’re asked about it in interviews you start looking back and think ‘wow yeah we’re on our sixth album as a band’. Then, when you listen to our first record, Cognitive, and go right the way through to Memorial you can see that there’s a thread that connects them all! It wasn’t some sort of strategic decision we made, but I can finally recognise the ‘SOEN sound’ that people talk about which I haven’t been able to in the past as it’s never been a part of the plan.”
To hear that SOEN have been, for the most part, sailing without a course is an unusual revelation. The band is largely seen as a well-oiled machine, one with driven purpose and order, how else could such virtuosity have been penned? SOEN’s first three records are of the psychedelic, pensive realm but with substantial bite and experimentation, a realm that slowly revs louder till the jackhammer trio of records, Lotus, Imperial and Memorial unearths the band’s previously dormant vitriol and malice. To think of this as a pre-destined path was to behold great artistry, but to know that it is the product of an unravelling subconscious is something much more magical.
If this is the case, however, where does it all lead? Where is SOEN headed on such uncharted waters? According to Ekelöf it’s “somewhere heavy,” he says with a wry smile. “If we look at the progressive metal of today, I see a tendency for bands to take a softer approach, heading towards prog rock, but I look at SOEN going completely the other way. As new albums are written, as we age and mature, our music gets heavier, angrier and, again, it’s not even something we plan.”
“I think part of it is our shared passion and love for metal. Of course, we’re all fans of progressive music but our roots are ingrained in metal and with every record we want to get closer to it, even hug it [laughs]! As a lyricist and a vocalist, Memorial definitely taught me things about our relationship with metal, that aggression, that I didn’t know. We live in dark times and, especially when writing these new tracks, it didn’t feel right to sing about the cosmos or stars aligning when there’s so much more truth to speak on the things happening just next door. It’s allowed me to really fit more vocal expression into the album too. Memorial has a lot of aggressive songs and, although I love clean vocals, the album craved something with more violence behind it. It’s definitely been a learning process to identify myself with these emotions and how I can express them.”
Ekelöf‘s assessment is no exaggeration. Violence tears throughout Memorial’s tracklist, to the point that revisiting earlier cuts from the likes of Tellurian sound alien. It’s not without its moments of subtlety, however. The song Hollowed marks the band’s first duet fulfilled by Italian royalty ELISA, a pairing Ekelöf describes as a “perfect fit”, alongside FLOYD-ian ballad Vitals that revisits SOEN’s knack for effortlessly beautiful, often tragic compositions.
With such an impressive track record behind you, and an upcoming release to only add to the trophy cabinet, you’d be forgiven for the slightest vanity about you. But for Ekelöf, Memorial’s incoming release is met with touching modesty. “You know, my biggest fear isn’t for the album to be a total flop, but for it to be forgettable. If you’re not touching anyone, if you’re not moving anyone, be it good or bad, then something is wrong. I’d just hate to be forgotten.”
It will be no point of controversy that Memorial is not something to be forgotten. Ekelöf is right in the old adage of it being better to “burn out than fade away” but SOEN is miles beyond either. Memorial is another milestone, another arrow in the quiver, another reason to celebrate this criminally overlooked band. SOEN’s next steps are a mystery, to us and to themselves, but if “not knowing” is their key to success, then long may they live in ignorance. It is, after all, rather blissful.
Memorial is out now via Silver Lining Music.
Like SOEN on Facebook.