Around the 2010s, a new generation of progressive metal bands started to form. Some found inspiration in golden oldies (like King Crimson, Dream Theater, Yes, and Rush), and some were sounding pretty original and creative. Eventually, most of these bands (Haken, Leprous, Caligula’s Horse, etc…) either started drifting towards lighter rock or lost their way in tropes of a forming genre that is now a facsimile of what it means to create progressive music. I’ve ranted enough about this topic, but it is relevant to Soen, as they are one of the bands that got their start in the same wave of prog, starting out as a band very derivative of Tool and eventually Opeth (which is fair when one of Opeth‘s former drummers is a founding member of the band). Despite the derivative style (really, just listen to Cognitive and tell me it isn’t uncomfortably close to Tool), Soen were good at writing songs in this style. Something happened when they reached their third album, 2017’s Lykaia, where the band realized that singer Joel Ekelöf‘s vocals is one of their strengths, and the material seemingly shifted to accommodate him more. It’s this shift that saw Soen‘s individual style hit its stride, reaching full bloom on 2019’s Lotus. Soen have clearly had a growing confidence since then, and it’s noticeable in the lyrics seeming to turn from being introspective to outwardly confronting and socially conscious. I mention this because this new stylistic wrinkle seems to be the jumping board from which the following two albums dove into a mainstream-catering rock/pop direction that I dislike. Imperial and Memorial hit with the poignancy of political social media-posts set to music that it’s obvious these musicians can’t properly write despite their talent. These albums were loud, they killed the bass in the mix, and I couldn’t help feeling that they were cynical attempts to make the band more popular outside of their established fan-base.
In my review of Memorial I noted that this new direction mixed with Soen‘s previous style like oil does with water, and that they would be better off following through completely in either direction. This is actually where we find Soen on Reliance. They have now fully taken the plunge into alternative rock and pop, even opting for a better production as they go. With this comes new challenges, however, and my confidence in them handling it sunk as soon as I heard the early-era Soulfly nu-metal riff that defines the cadence in “Primal”. Another stylistic touch point arrives early on “Mercenary”, where some In Flames-inclined melodeath riffs steer the ship, fittingly as Soen seem to be undergoing a similar transition as the once Gothenburg-royalty did before them. This song reaches a point where it breaks down into said riff, reverb, and Ekelöf‘s voice in a moment of Soen gelling with their new direction. Then it’s gone as quickly as it arrived, and this is the gist of Reliance as a whole. It’s a more honest attempt to make Soen palatable to a mainstream audience, with some competent emotional moments that aren’t sustained for long enough to make an impact. Similarly, moments of djent riffing pulls the music in the direction of VOLA (see “Discordia”), but doesn’t commit to that direction either. Reliance is a funny name for an album by this band, as they often rely on other bands’ signature sounds in a blatant way that always comes close to diminishing themselves. At some point, it doesn’t matter how well you do it if you won’t stop hiding from yourself. Sadly, the biggest casualty of this album is Martin Lopez‘s drums, that take the less-is-more principle past the point of diminishing returns, often doing nothing more than keeping the time where the music could have needed more flavor.
Unlike Memorial, Reliance isn’t a bad album per se, but rather than failing at developing their own sound post Lotus, they now seem stuck between a rock and a hard place of individuality vs palatability, and I’m saddened to see them struggle this bad after what they had going on Lykaia and Lotus. The music on Reliance isn’t particularly memorable, which lays bare the fact that the material is not catchy enough to stick in the mind for long nor does it distinguish itself enough from similar bands. This album ironically relies too much on Ekelöf‘s Eurovision-friendly vocals to set itself apart but those too are becoming a Soen trope. Being unmemorable can sometime be worse than being bad, and this is unfortunately the impression Reliance leaves me with. A faint glimmer of what could be arrives near the end of Reliance in how “Draconian” and “Vellichor” recalls the more personal touch of Soen‘s past. Perhaps we are seeing the end of a three album-trajectory the band needed to evolve past a natural turning point. Or perhaps Soen are actually doing what they want, turning into a lowest common denominator-alternative pop/rock band. Perhaps they will one day make a good album again along the new path they have chosen, but Reliance ain’t it.
